Canadiens set to retire Guy Lapointe’s No. 5

Fun-loving Guy Lapointe will take a stroll down memory lane tonight when the Montreal Canadiens retire his No. 5 jersey at the Bell Centre in Montreal. And he knows who he’ll be thinking of – his father, Gerard, his former teammates, and his mentor, Claude Ruel, the Habs’ coach when Lapointe broke into the NHL in 1970-71. “I’ve been thinking about this every day,” Lapointe said. Lapointe’s will be the 18th Canadiens jersey to be retired and marks the last of the Big Three defensemen from the juggernaut team of the 1970s to receive the honor. Serge Savard’s No. 18 was retired in 2006 and Larry Robinson’s No. 19 in 2007. – AP