Carbonneau turns 40, shows no sign of letup

03/18/2000, By Bill Nichols / The Dallas Morning News

As a high school junior in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Guy Carbonneau approached Line Boivin after history class and asked her for a date to see a local Junior A hockey game.

She agreed, then asked what time she could expect him.

"I will not be picking you up," Carbonneau said. "You have to come with a friend. I'm playing in the game."

Boivin was surprised, not only by the unique request, but that her 17-year-old suitor was actually a player. Carbonneau maybe weighed 150 pounds.

"I didn't think it was a great deal," said Line (pronounced Lynn). "I thought, 'What did I get myself into this time?' My dad was worried, too."

But there was nothing to worry about. Carbonneau scored a couple of goals that night for the Sagueneens, captured Line's heart, then married her four years later.

Since then, Carbonneau has played in 1,311 NHL games, collected three Stanley Cup rings and three Selke Trophies as the league's best defensive forward. And though he turns 40 on Saturday, the NHL's oldest player is having his best season as a Star.

One of Dallas' most reliable forwards and best players until he hurt his wrist on March 5, Carbonneau already has scored as many goals (eight) as he did in any of his previous five seasons. With play that should attract consideration for another Selke, he has helped stabilize a team rattled by injuries.

That the Stars enter Saturday's game against Chicago with a nine-point lead in the Pacific Division has much to do with "Grandpa," as teammate Richard Matvichuk calls him.

"A lot of guys who are getting older start to think that they've had enough and worry about what they're going to do next," Stars center Joe Nieuwendyk said. "He talks about winning Cups. Guys who are 21 or 22 are thinking, 'Christ, I'm the young guy, I can't take a night off because that old goat is going hard every night.' "

When Carbonneau signed before the season, general manager Bob Gainey and coach Ken Hitchcock talked to him about slowing down, skipping practices and playing perhaps 50 games.

That plan was quickly shelved after the second game, when players began going down with injuries. Instead, the banged-up Carbonneau trudges on as the consummate warrior, battling injuries on a daily basis.

He had missed only four of 66 games until a hairline fracture in his right wrist knocked him out of the lineup. Instead of playing maybe 10 minutes a game - the original plan - Carbonneau has been overused by necessity, logging 18-20 minutes against opponents' top lines. But it was he who suggested to Hitchcock that he be used against top lines in order to free Mike Modano.

"That's the reason why I play the game," Carbonneau said. "I could have come back and taken things easy. It's a pride thing. When somebody tells you you're only going to play this many games and in a certain role, you want to prove them wrong. Once the contract was signed, I had to prove to them that I deserved the ice time."

Hasn't lost passion

Instead of gliding through the twilight of his career on a farewell tour, Carbonneau competes with a passion that keeps a strong forecheck on Father Time. The club has the option of signing him next year, and he said he will not make a decision until after the season.

"I want to play as much as I can for as long as I can, but I don't want to be kicked out of the game," he said. "I don't want to be put on the shelves and somebody comes and tells me to quit. I could have retired last year after winning the Stanley Cup, but I enjoy playing.

"It's definitely a tough decision. I've been looking at it the last five years. It scares the hell out of me. I'm 40 years old. I've played the game [away from home] since I was 16. You have to do something else, and that's scary."

Carbonneau, a native of Sept-Iles, Quebec, seems in no hurry to return to his home base of Montreal, where he played for 12 seasons. Line and daughters Anne-Marie and Kristina enjoy living in Dallas.

Although her husband keeps coming home with black eyes and bumps on his nose and has a calcium deposit the size of a golf ball on one of his wrists, Line said she never pressures him to quit.

"It's going to be his decision," she said. "I think he's smart enough to know when it's going to be time. I've heard from other players who have retired who said they just came to a point where they just knew it was time."

While Gainey decided not to re-sign several veterans after last season to make room for younger players, he felt it was important to retain Carbonneau. Gainey knew better than anyone what Carbonneau could bring. In Montreal, Carbonneau replaced Gainey as captain before the 1986-87 season.

A perfect fit

And it was Gainey who traded Paul Broten to St. Louis to bring Carbonneau to Dallas in 1995. That deal probably extended Carbonneau's career. He had been considered washed up by Montreal, which traded him to St. Louis for Jim Montgomery in 1994, and the Blues. The Carbonneau trade is still a source of controversy in Montreal.

Dallas, with its defense-first philosophy, was the perfect fit for Carbonneau.

"I'm more amazed than surprised by the way he has played," said Gainey, who is the only player to win more Selkes (four) than Carbonneau. "He's a very valuable player in the makeup of our team because he finds a way to have an effect on the outcome of almost every game. It seems the richer the game, the more impact he has."

Carbonneau's leadership has hastened the development of rookies Brenden Morrow, Roman Lyashenko and Blake Sloan.

Sloan, Carbonneau's linemate, was in diapers when Carbonneau left home to play for Chicoutimi of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. And Morrow and Lyashenko were not even alive.

"Before games, he's always got something to say," Morrow said. "He doesn't want us to be happy playing the way we are, and he finds a way to get us to play our best. Everything he does, the way he carries himself and how smart he is on the ice, everybody has respect for him. It's not just the rookies."

After all he has accomplished, Carbonneau still thinks he has something to prove. He has spent his entire career proving he can play in the NHL after being drafted by Montreal in the third round (44th overall) in 1979. Hockey boils in his blood.

"That's what makes him Guy Carbonneau," teammate Brett Hull said. "He loves the game. I could never do that."

Carbonneau said that turning 40 doesn't bother him, although it makes him fair game in the locker room. "He's old as dirt," Hitchcock said earlier this season. "Most guys his age are worried about their 401(k)."

"I don't wake up in the morning and go, 'Wow, I'm 40 years old, why do I do this?' " Carbonneau said. "It's just a number. I'm playing with guys who are 20, so I have to stay young. Maybe when I'm 50 and I'm at home watching TV and not doing anything, then it might scare me."

Those who know him don't doubt that Carbonneau can play next season. They know how much the game means to him. He still yearns to be taking the face-off in the final minute of a one-goal game.

"I know he's turning 40, but he loves coming to the rink," Nieuwendyk said. "What else is he going to do?"

Although many believe he would make a perfect coach, Carbonneau scoffs at that idea because of the long hours. Others say he should be in management because of his knowledge of the game.

With 11 games to go before the playoffs, Carbonneau hasn't given the future much thought beyond keeping his Stars playing until June.

"I've done it this long because I love the game, I like being around the guys and I enjoy this kind of life," he said. "It will be a different world when I quit.

"My wife tells me that all the time, 'When are you going to grow up?' I'll grow up when I quit the game."

In celebration of a really good Guy's birthday

03/18/2000, By Jennifer Floyd / The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Guy Carbonneau blushed. Honestly. He blushed.

He couldn't understand why all the fuss about his birthday today.

Well, Guy, it's the whole 40th birthday thing.

"Lots of people turn 40," Carbonneau countered.

Yes, but not lots of people are 40 and playing in the NHL. In fact, the Stars center is the only one.

And so, in honor of his 40th birthday, we've assembled 40 reasons to love Guy Carbonneau:

40. "You think Father Time will catch up to him," Stars assistant general manager Doug Armstrong said. "But Father Time never does."

39. He didn't ask for anything for his birthday. "I don't need anything. I have everything I want. Besides, I bought myself new golf clubs not too long ago."

38. He has played in 62 of Dallas' 71 games this season. Only six Stars have played in more.

37. In his 18-year playing career, he has only one regret: "I never had a chance to play in an All-Star game."

36. "His proper hEnglish," Stars winger Mike Keane joked. "That's H-E-N-G-L-I-S-H." Being a French Canadian, Carbonneau sometimes struggles with his phrasing. Much to the amusement of his teammates.

35. His funniest speaking gaffe just may have been in last season's playoffs when he was quoted as saying: "We got them on the rope" about Colorado.

34. By playing at 40, Carbonneau reminds us that anything is possible if we try. "I got people who come to me and say, `I am 40 years old or 45 and I have a tough time running a half a mile and you play in the NHL," Carbonneau said.

33. He doesn't just play in the NHL. He averages 15 minutes, 45 seconds a game in the NHL.

32. Carbonneau believes in love at first sight. He said he realized as soon as he met his wife, Line, that he'd met the woman he was going to marry. "I think beside the look, she was smart and fun to be around. To this day, she still is, and I think that's why we're still so in love."

31. He told his wife he'd retire after this season, but she doesn't think he will.

30. He checks the best lines in the NHL night after night.

29. He's able to do it, Stars coach Ken Hitchcock explains, because of his "competitive fire. That's a major element that has given this man an opportunity to play at such a mature age. If you don't have that fire, you can fall off the map pretty quickly "

28. By the way, Carbonneau deserves to win both the Selke Trophy (for the best defensive forward) and Masterson Trophy (awarded annually to the player who best represents the qualities of sportsmanship, perseverance and dedication to hockey).

27. Only Stars general manager Bob Gainey has won the Selke more times (4) than Carbo (3).

26. Because even if you never met him, he makes you feel as though he's "Carbo" to you.

25. His trio of Stanley Cup rings -- 1986, 1993 and 1999 -- which he calls his best memories in hockey.

24. He has 258 goals and 402 assists in his 18 regular seasons.

23. He has 36 goals and 51 assists in 208 playoff games.

22. He admits to being a shy kid. "For me to feel accepted or a part of something, I felt I had to do a little extra," Carbonneau said. "If you needed somebody, all you had to do was call me and I'd show up."

21. Stars forward Brian Skrudland played with Carbonneau in Montreal and Dallas. "He's the most dependable guy I ever played with," Skrudland said.

20. He didn't quit after Montreal gave up on him after the 1993-94 season, trading him to St. Louis.

19. He didn't quit after St. Louis gave up on him a season later.

18. He willingly admits his ego took a beating after both. "I wanted to prove they were wrong," Carbonneau said. "I think I thought about that a couple of times during the playoffs where I thought, `I hope we win this so I can go back to Montreal with the Stanley Cup and put it under their nose.' "

17. He did it, too.

16. He admits to thinking "Who me?" every time he hears the Stars crowd chants "Guuuuuuy."

15. He's a key cog in the Stars' NHL-leading penalty kill.

14. He may be your father's age, but he still listens to some pretty cool music. "He's a Neil Young, Bob Dylan kind of guy," said Stars winger Brett Hull, who rides to practice with Carbonneau on most days. "He's got a little heavy metal to him, Led Zeppelin. He's likes to rock 'n' roll."

13. How many other 39-year-olds party with a heavy-metal band like Pantera?

12. Wasn't it at just such a party that Lord Stanley's Cup picked up a ding?

11. He also spent some quiet time with the Cup, taking it to his father's grave this summer.

10. Carbonneau, just like you and me, has regrets. Mostly, he regrets that he wasn't closer to his father, Charles-Aime, who died during the Stanley Cup playoffs last season. "Yeah," Carbonneau said when asked if he wished he had been closer. "But I made a choice when I was 15 to go make a career out of hockey and he was always behind it."

9. Oh, yeah, did we mention he left home at 15 to go play Juniors?

8. He was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 1979. Yes, your math is correct. That was 21 years ago.

7. He proved everybody wrong by making it into the NHL.

6. He's still proving everybody wrong by staying in the NHL.

5. "Every year I go on the ice, I have to prove myself to somebody," Carbonneau said. "That's the way I play."

4. Who doesn't remember Carbonneau's goal against the Detroit Red Wings with 85 seconds remaining in Game 5 in the 1998 Western Conference Finals that forced overtime and eventually forced a Game 6?

3. His teammates are both effusive and genuine in their praise. "He's one of the greatest guys I've ever had the pleasure of not only playing with but being friends with," Hull said.

2. Carbonneau credits his wife for his success, not to mention longevity in hockey. "I think I really realized that about nine years ago when she went back to school full time. I didn't have somebody to cook for me. I had to clean up a little bit. She didn't come to the games too much because she had to get up early in the morning. I found that really, really hard and I think that's when I realized just how unbelievable she is."

1. And the No. 1 reason we love Guy Carbonneau is ... he's ours. A lot like Rangers hurler Nolan Ryan, Carbonneau arrived here late in his career, but he has become a Texan. When he retires, he'll retire a Star. "There is no chance of me going anywhere else," Carbonneau said.

P.S.: Just in case you needed one more reason to love Guy Carbonneau, he may just give you another season to love Guy Carbonneau. He hasn't decided whether to retire after this season.

"I think that before the injury I knew what I wanted to do. This injury just kind of put a dent in my decision. I don't know if I'll retire. I really don't know. ... Even if I tell you `Yes, I do want to come back and want to play.' In July, when I get up at 7 o'clock and get into my running shoes and I get to the end of my street and say, `Oh my, I don't feel like doing this anymore.' Then, I'll know."

He has two bottles saved in his extensive cellar for just that day.