Motivation Quote by Guy Lafleur

There is a quiet ache inside Lafleur's plainspoken gratitude: retirement isn’t just the end of a schedule, it’s the end of being needed. When he notes that “a lot of the players are not involved with any NHL team,” he’s pointing to the hardest part of leaving elite sport - not the loss of legs, but the loss of belonging. The NHL is a machine that runs on the present tense. Once you’re out, the phone stops ringing, the daily rituals dissolve, and even legends can feel like unused equipment stored in a back room.

Calling the Oldtimers’ circuit “a kind of gift” does two things at once. It honors the organizers and fans, but it also reframes nostalgia as care work. These tours aren’t just sentimental victory laps; they’re a mobile support system that lets former players borrow, for a few nights, the structure that once defined them: locker-room jokes, bus rides, the familiar choreography of warmups and introductions. “Play and travel” sounds almost childlike in its simplicity, as if the job has been stripped down to the pure pleasure that first made it a dream.

The subtext is economic and emotional. Not everyone retires into coaching, broadcasting, or front-office prestige. For many, the Oldtimers’ games supply extra income, yes, but more importantly they restore identity. Lafleur’s line lands because it treats dignity as something that can be given back - not with medals or ceremonies, but with a jersey, a rink, and a reason to show up.