Guy Lafleur

The 1974-75 season was Lafleur's best offensive year to date, with fifty-three goals and sixty-six assists in the regular season. In eleven playoff games, he had twelve goals and seven assists. This was the first of six consecutive seasons in which he scored fifty plus goals.

By 1975-76, Lafleur had hit his stride, winning the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer in 1976 and the Lester B. Pearson Award. He had fifty-six goals and sixty-nine assists. He also won the Stanley Cup against Philadelphia in four games. Lafleur contributed two game winning goals.

Lafleur continued to dominate in the 1976-77 and 1977-78 seasons, winning the Ross Trophy, Hart Trophy, Lester B. Pearson Award, and the Stanley Cup again in both seasons. In 1977, he also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player in the playoffs. In both playoffs, Lafleur scored ten goals and eleven assists.

By this time, Lafleur was recognized as a great hockey player. He told Robert Fachet of the Washington Post, "It is more difficult playing for the Canadiens. There is lots more pressure on you. But I'm sure most guys on our team would not want to go to a team that's not winning. You never get tired of winning." He capitalized on his fame by doing many commercials in the late 1970s. He won his last Stanley Cup in 1979.

Though Lafleur continued to post high numbers in the late 1970s, he could not match them in the first half of the 1980s. Though he had eighty-four points in the 1981-82 season, he feuded with coaches, including Jacques Lemaire, who put a defense-first system on the ice. Lafleur also had tax and injury problems, which affected his game.