1971-72 O-Pee-Chee 145 Guy Lapointe Hockey Card (Front)
1971-72 O-Pee-Chee 145 Guy Lapointe Hockey Card (Back)
1971-72 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
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Card Notes
Guy’s emergence as a first-string defenseman with the Stanley Cup champions helped Canadiens overcome the absence of Serge Savard on the blueline. One of few members of the Habs who played all 78 games in 1970-71 and drew many votes in the balloting for the rookie award.
En Français
L’escellent jeu de Guy comme joueur de défense régulier aida les Canadiens à se remettre de l’absence de Serge Savard à la ligne bleue. Un des rares joueurs des Canadiens qui participèrent à toutes les 78 joutes en 1970-71. Il reçut beaucoup de votes comme “recrue de l’année”.
Details
It turns out, there were three other Montreal Canadiens players that played in all 78 games in 1970-71, including Pete Mahovlich, Jacques Lemaire and Terry Harper. 12 played in all 20 playoff games, including goaltender Ken Dryden, as the Habs captured the championship. The following season saw Lapointe’s time reduced to 69 games during the regular season and he would only play the full schedule one more time during his career, 80 games in 1974-75.
Saying that Guy Lapointe drew many votes in the balloting for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year is a bit of misinformation. In fact, he was not in the top five. Gilbert Perreault of the Buffalo Sabres won the award with 204 votes while Dale Tallon of the Vancouver Canucks finished fifth with just 12 votes. In between the two stars of the 1970 NHL Expansion Draft were Jude Drouin, Gilles Villemure and Tom Webster.
Between 1968-69 and 1983-84, Guy played in 894 regular season and 123 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the Canadiens, St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins. The six time Stanley Cup champ was named a First Team All-Star once and was selected to the Second Team three times.
The Montreal Canadiens retired jersey number 5 in honour of Guy Lapointe in 2014 (shared with Bernie Geoffrion). Guy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993.
Guy Lapointe 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee 145 [YouTube Shorts]
