Montreal Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur has been fighting lung cancer ever since a cancerous white spot was found on his right lung in September 2019, and his family on Thursday issued a statement thanking fans for their support.

Lafleur underwent a first surgery to remove both the upper lobe of his lung and lymph nodes at Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), the University of Montreal's medical centre. Lafleur received more bad news in October 2020 that the cancer had was back and had to restart treatment.