Hall-of-fame defenceman Guy Lapointe, whose jersey was retired by the Montreal Canadiens in an emotional ceremony Saturday at the Bell Centre, also had considerable success in another sport: harness racing.

In 1988, a Lapointe homebred called What Ever Lou (named for his wife Louise), scored a 76-1 upset in the $153,274 Coupe des Eleveurs final for Quebec-bred two-year-old pacing fillies at Hippodrome de Montreal.

Lapointe said then it was the biggest thrill of his 25 years in harness racing. What Ever Lou raced until age five but never came close to matching her Coupe heroics.

In 1996, What Ever Lou’s first baby, For Ever Lou, also made it into the $190,000 Coupe final for two-year-old pacing fillies and finished second to sires-stakes powerhouse Excitante. Lapointe, then working as an assistant-coach for the Calgary Flames, flew in from Calgary to watch the race.

(Guy Lapointe at Richlieu Park with a Standardbred in the mid-1970s. Montreal Gazette photo.)

Lapointe's number 5 was raised to the Bell Centre rafters along with stellar defensemen Serge Savard and Larry Robinson.

(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Paul Delean)