Since he has lived sometimes in Alabama, sometimes in Florida, and sometimes in the Toronto area, Steve Schott hasn’t necessarily had many chances to see Jay Laveleur in recent years.
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But he’s one of the last of his former classmates that LaFleur saw before he left us. It was two weeks ago. “The guy looked very good. That’s why I was surprised this morning,” explains the very poignant Shutt on the phone.
“My wife and I have booked a cabin for next August in the Hudson. When I went to see Jay, I told him, ‘See you there.'” But he didn’t reply, as if he knew he wouldn’t be there. »
They didn’t see each other very often, but as the tale reveals, this is the kind of relationship where two men can go three days or three years without seeing each other, and it doesn’t change anything.
“You don’t have to be a neighbor to be close to someone,” Schott says.
He paused to suppress his sighs. “We’re all members of a family. It’s hard. You don’t need to see him often. You know what he’s doing, what he’s thinking. We’ve had a very special and unique relationship, and we’ve been successful. We were able to do it in front of a lot of people watching us play.”
Two wings who find themselves
“We’ve had success. Term is poor. They’ve played 12 seasons together. Five times, finished on St. Catherine, with metaphorical floats and a big trophy.
In fact, Lafleur and Shutt formed the most prolific duo in Canadian history. According to data provided by the NHL Stats Service, Shutt scored 184 goals from Lafleur’s pass. No one in the team’s nearly 110 years has scored many goals with the help of the same teammate.
Lafleur scored 110 with a pass from Schott. This is the fifth combination in history.
“We already had opposite tactics, and Schott analyzes. He was holding the disc, and I was finishing plays. We didn’t step on our feet! We each had our mission. When Jay was skating, no one was watching me. He knew I was coming. It was the key.”
It is also rare to see such cohesion between two wings. In general, great offensive duos consist of a center and a wing.
When we were playing with Pete [Mahovlich]It was a purely offensive trio. but jack [Lemaire] It was more defensive. He was telling us, “Go attack and I’ll stay behind.” »
Steve Schott will have every reason to praise Jay LaFleur’s qualities as an attacking player. After all, Ontario is 5 years oldAnd In Canadian history with 408 goals and 8And in points with a score of 776. Part of his success is due to his relationship with Lafleur.
But when asked what he remembers of LaFleur as a teammate, he thought of the person before thinking of the hockey player.
He was humble. He was just a very humble, kind man,” he says, once again seized by emotion.
“All the stars in the world should have had the opportunity to talk to him to realize that even if you are a star, you can be humble. You don’t have to act like a big star even if you are.”