Stars turn to past to buoy the future

by Jeff Caplan for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 28, 2002

Guy Carbonneau has left the Montreal Canadiens to accept a front-office post with the Dallas Stars.

Stars general manager Doug Armstrong completed his management team Monday by bringing back arguably the most popular player in Dallas Stars history.

Guy Carbonneau is again a Star. He signed a three-year deal as assistant to the general manager and joins new goaltending coach Andy Moog as former Stars players hired by Armstrong.

Once thought to be the Stars' No. 1 candidate to take over as coach, Carbonneau will work as a liaison between players and new coach Dave Tippett, as well as bringing management's voice into the locker room.

"One area that I always thought separated our organization, or gave our organization a boost, is when Bob Gainey was active," said Armstrong, who didn't play in the NHL before joining the Stars' management team. "He could relate to the players from a playing perspective and talk to them. And that's something the group, before Guy's return, didn't have."

Carbonneau, 42, played the final five seasons of his 18-year career with the Stars. He centered one of the league's most formidable checking lines, was a penalty-kill aficionado and a faceoff specialist. He was an integral player in bringing the Stars franchise its first Stanley Cup championship - his third - in 1999. He is considered automatic for election into the Hall of Fame.

"There's a bunch of experience I can bring to the new players and to the players that have been here," Carbonneau said. "I know last year was an off year. I still think this is a team that can win the Stanley Cup. This is where my job is going to be, trying to be the liaison between Dave and the players."

Carbonneau said he watched many Stars games last season and identified at least one problem area.

"There's so much parity in the league that if you don't have a good start, or you think you can start slowly and pick it up after Christmas, it's going to be too late. I think that's what happened to the Stars last year," he said. "So, obviously, our job this summer is to make sure when the first game comes, everybody is rolling."

After he retired in July 2000, Carbonneau accepted a management position with the Montreal Canadiens, his first NHL team where he won two Stanley Cups, including one with Gainey in 1986.

Carbonneau spent the past two seasons as a Canadiens assistant coach and seemed to be positioned for a head-coaching opportunity. He and Armstrong discussed the Stars' vacancy a few months ago, but Carbonneau concluded that he was not comfortable coaching former teammates and his soon-to-be son-in-law, left wing Brenden Morrow, who is engaged to Carbonneau's daughter Anne-Marie, a student at SMU.

Despite rumors connecting him to openings in New York and Anaheim, Carbonneau said neither team has contacted him. Carbonneau did not rule out a return to the bench as a coach in the future.

"I have to find that passion to go to the step higher," Carbonneau said. "For me, [the Stars are] a perfect situation for my family and myself. Coming back to a place that you know - people that you know - is pretty easy, but who knows what the future could bring?"