Wild scout Lapointe to get number retired by Canadiens

MONTREAL – Guy Lapointe's dream was to be a policeman.

As a 19-year-old, Lapointe had just returned from training to be a cop when his dad, Gerard, a fireman and old security guard at the Forum, excitedly showed him a letter that Guy had been invited to the Montreal Canadiens' training camp.

"I said, so what?" Lapointe said. "Dad said, 'What do you mean so what?' I said, 'Dad they invite 70 kids to camp. They just need bodies.' He said, 'Son, your idol is Jean Beliveau. You're going to get to skate with Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard, John Ferguson, Serge Savard, Jacques Laperriere. You can apply to be a policeman again. Don't regret this later in life. You're going to be able to tell your kids you went to a Montreal Canadiens camp, and you never know what may happen.'"

Saturday night at Bell Centre, Lapointe won't only get to tell his kids he attended a Canadiens camp. The former star defenseman will get to stand on the ice with his wife, three kids and brother and watch his No. 5 sweater rise to the rafters in front of the Canadiens' faithful and the Wild organization that loves him so much.

"You don't dream of this as a kid," said Lapointe, 66, a Hall of Famer who won six Stanley Cups. "I mean, I was born 25 minutes away from the old Forum. I didn't start playing organized hockey 'til I was 12. I was cut from the Jr. Canadiens at 17, and at 18! Never in the world did I dream this would happen to me.

"But I can tell you, I was a lot more comfortable on my feet in my skates than I will be in my shoes [Saturday]."

Anybody who watches hockey knows the Canadiens' pregame ceremonies are second to none. After conferring with captain Mikko Koivu and alternate captain Ryan Suter, coach Mike Yeo will have his team sit on the bench to watch the ceremony before warmups. After all, Lapointe is partly responsible for many of the players being drafted by the Wild.

The Wild practiced at Bell Centre on Friday. Lapointe's No. 5 was already painted into the ice behind both nets. A member of the "Big Three" with fellow Hall of Famers Larry Robinson and Savard, Lapointe's banner will go right next to Robinson's and Savard's during the ceremony. In fact, both players will attend, especially nice of Robinson considering he's the San Jose Sharks associate coach and they play Dallas on Saturday.

"I wouldn't miss it for all the world," Robinson said. "Guy is one of the good people."

Lapointe was also awesome, scoring 167 goals for the Canadiens.

"They have two 12s retired and two 16s," Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman said. "They should have two 5s [Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion's No. 5 was retired in 2006]. It's long overdue. I really thought Guy should have had his number retired years ago. Somebody woke up. Local guy, great player and a spirited, life-of-the-party guy.

"And his game, it was made to measure for the type of defensemen teams would be looking for today."

Defenseman Keith Ballard, sidelined the past eight games because of an illness, might come off injured reserve Saturday to play his second game of the season.