Carbonneau's coy about hockey future
Stars' veteran undecided about coming back next season

By Mike McAllister, The Dallas Morning News, 6/11/00

The rousing sendoff from the Reunion Arena crowd was no doubt still fresh in veteran center Guy Carbonneau's memory--as was the disappointment of seeing his Dallas Stars grudgingly hand over the Stanley Cup to New Jersey in Saturday's 2-1 double-overtime loss in Game 6.

But despite all those emotions swirling around in his 40-year-old body, the NHL's oldest player was clear-headed enough after the game to announce his plans for the future.

"Right now, I'm going to probably go get drunk," Carbonneau said, unable to produce a smile at his own joke.

OK, so that takes care of the immediate future. But what about next season? Will Carbonneau, whose 231 career playoff games is second in NHL history only to Mark Messier's 236, return for an 18th season? Or will he finally make one of those return-to-Montreal rumors come true, such as the recent one that had him becoming the Canadiens general manager?

"I'll take a couple of weeks with my family and talk about what we're going to do, see what's ahead," Carbonneau said. "I haven't really decided anything. I'm not in a hurry right now."

Despite playing in 427 games the past five seasons, Carbonneau didn't appear to wear down during these playoffs. The Stars still relied on him for his defense, his penalty killing and his face-off ability - and perhaps just as important, his veteran leadership in the dressing room.

And if nothing else, Carbonneau has motivation to return now that the Cup belongs to someone else. Although he's won three Stanley Cups, Saturday was the second time he had lost a Cup final (he was with the Canadiens when they lost to Calgary in 1989). Still, he wouldn't reveal if that was enough to bring him back.

"I feel bad like everybody else, to be that close and lose (the Stanley Cup)," he said. "I'm going to take a couple of weeks to settle down (and then) see if I want to come back or not."

With or without Carbonneau, the Stars seem intent to make sure that Saturday's loss was not the end of a tremendous two-year stretch in which they won one Cup and came within two wins of another.

Although the Stars are by no means a young team - heck, the ever-youthful looking Mike Modano even turned 30 earlier this week - they insist this was not the end of the line. The core of the group - including Modano, Derian Hatcher, Sergei Zubov, Brett Hull, Jere Lehtinen, Richard Matvichuk and Darryl Sydor - remains intact. Major overhauls aren't expected to be made, or even needed.

"You just tweak it here and there," Modano said. "Certainly in a month or two, we'll take a step back and evaluate our personnel and see if any changes need to be made."

Besides the veterans in place, the Stars hope that their young players will benefit from the experience and grind that comes with making an extending Cup run. Youngsters such as Brenden Morrow, Roman Lyashenko, Blake Sloan and Jon Sim saw varying amounts of playing time during the playoffs. While those four weren't as productive as the four rookies who were major contributors to the Devils' success, feeling the post-season heat could pay off in future playoffs.

"I remember when I was young, that the best experience was losing the Cup," said Stars forward Mike Keane, who was a rookie on that Canadiens team that lost to Calgary. "We've got a lot of young players that went through this type of grind. If there's any positive we can build on, we know what it takes to win the Cup."

Carbonneau certainly knows. And he also knows that the Stars will again have high hopes next season, with or without him.

"This team is built for years to come," he said. "It's not just a one- or two-year deal."

Whether that future includes Carbonneau, however, won't be known for awhile.