Guy Lafleur Decides That He Will Remain Retired

Guy Lafleur, who considered a National Hockey League comeback after a salary dispute with the Montreal Canadiens, Friday decided to remain in retirement.

Lafleur, 34, retired 19 games into the 1984-85 season, his 14th in the NHL, and took a front-office job with the Canadiens. But he quit the job Sept. 23, saying he wasn’t “a simple office employee” and that he would like to play again.

“I talked about it with my family and friends, and I took a long time to think about it, but I decided it wasn’t the right thing for me to do,” the former right winger said Friday. “There’s nothing I’m going to be able to prove to myself or to the fans.”

The six-time all-star scored 518 goals, No. 2 in Canadien history, and led the league in scoring three times during his career.

He had one year left on a $400,000 contract that expires next June, but was uneasy in his public relations job.

Lafleur went public with his problems last month when Montreal offered him a new contract worth $75,000. He said he wasn’t “a simple office employee and I don’t expect to be paid like one.”

Canadiens’ president Ronald Corey responded by accusing Lafleur of blackmail and the two agreed several days later that Lafleur was no longer useful to the organization, so any comeback would be with another team.

Several teams, including the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Winnipeg Jets, expressed interest but hedged on making offers to Montreal until Lafleur announced his final decision.

“It seemed like a 50-50 chance I would come back, but then I realized a couple of years wouldn’t serve any purpose,” he said. “Now is the time for me to look at other things in my life.”