Of all the things I may have expected to get firmly lodged in my head this morning, I can safely say that Guy Lafleur teaching me how to score a goal to a soundtrack of disco music complete with cheerful, encouraging background vocals was not among them. And yet, here we are.
In 1979, an entire album of disco hockey lessons was dropped by Lafleur in both English and French. I can’t seem to find out how many copies it sold, but this report on its release from the CBC says that the people behind the project expected to move at least 100000 of them. Yes, Lafleur was popular, but that seems a little optimistic.
If you’ve got a big game to prepare for and could use a little coaching, you can check out the whole thing below.
Here it is in French:
And English:
And here’s a tracklist so you can follow along. There are more photos of the album and its accompanying booklet at that link as well.
- Face Off
- Skating
- Checking
- Power Play
- Shooting
- Scoring
Produced by Peter Alves and Jack Lenz — the latter of whom co-wrote the Toronto Blue Jays’ seventh-inning anthem “OK Blue Jays” — Lafleur! also taught aspiring stars about “Skating,” “Checking,” the “Face Off” and “Power-Play.” The record also came packaged with a booklet with photos of Lafleur in action, corresponding to each of his recorded lessons, and a colour poster of him looking ready to give in to his Saturday Night Fever.
