Old rivals reunite in young rivalry

by Tim Cowlishaw, The Dallas Morning News, May 9, 2000

For a few more days until the puck actually drops, the Western Conference matchups will be rated and debated. They will talk about the Masks (Patrick Roy vs. Ed Belfour), the Marvels (Peter Forsberg vs. Mike Modano) and the Maulers (Adam Foote vs. Derian Hatcher).

But who's to say this series won't hinge on the play of the Senior Citizens? And that, of course, would be Ray Bourque vs. Guy Carbonneau.

First, a history lesson.

The Stars and the Avalanche are building an intriguing rivalry. "It was a great series last year, but this one is going to be even tougher," said Carbonneau.

Maybe he feels that way because of Colorado's obvious revenge motive. Maybe it's got something to do with Bourque.

Where Dallas and Colorado share a little history, Carbonneau (40) and Bourque (39) may be the modern NHL's oldest rivals. Even though Carbonneau left Montreal six years ago, this will be the 11th time he and Bourque have squared off in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

From 1984 through 1994, 10 times in 11 years, Montreal met Boston in the post-season. Carbonneau on the penalty kill against Bourque on the Bruins' power play - it was as much a rite of spring in Montreal as empty seats at Expos games.

"The thing back then was we would play four games in five nights, and he was the only defenseman they had," said Carbonneau. "He'd play 40 minutes a night. By the third game, he was dead."

Today, Bourque's hopes to win a Stanley Cup are very much alive. Twenty seasons in Boston assured the defenseman a place in the Hall of Fame, but his name is not among the hundreds engraved on hockey's silver chalice.

Colorado has been the league's strongest team since Bourque and Dave Andreychuk were acquired in March. Bourque missed the last two games of the Avalanche's series with Detroit because of a knee injury, but the Stars are preparing to see him at his best.

"It gets to be like with Brett Hull last year or Pat Verbeek," Carbonneau said. "You start asking yourself if you'll ever have that chance. For [Bourque], this is the chance of a lifetime, and I'm sure he's doing everything he can to get ready."

Unlike Bourque, Carbonneau is not starved for the Stanley Cup. He won twice with Montreal and captured a third last year in Dallas. Yet Carbonneau's motivation to win is the reason he survived Bob Gainey's off-season house cleaning that sent Verbeek, Craig Ludwig and Dave Reid (now in Colorado) packing.

"I thought he and Craig really expressed that quality of leadership, that attitude about winning, and I didn't want them both to leave the same year," Gainey said. "The core of it with Guy is his love and his passion for competing, for having the chance to get to the end of the road."

For Carbonneau, the Cup is at the end of that road, although Mike Keenan and the St. Louis Blues thought Carbonneau had reached the end of his personal NHL journey five years ago. That's how the Stars acquired him, for Paul Broten.

Now the oldest player in the league, Carbonneau has gone far beyond valued role-player status. In the pivotal Game 4 of the San Jose series and again in Game 5, Carbonneau was No. 2 behind Modano in minutes among Stars forwards. He threw his body around for 19:17 in Game 4 and 18:03 in Game 5.

"The big thing with Guy is that he's the smartest player I've ever been around," said Stars forward Kirk Muller, a Carbonneau teammate for three years in Montreal. "So if he's the most knowledgeable guy on the ice, he doesn't have to be the quickest player. He plays positional hockey."

In the conference finals, look for Carbonneau to position himself between Bourque and the Dallas net on the Colorado power play. You want a key matchup in the series? There it is.

The Avalanche has scored 12 power-play goals, tying Philadelphia for most in the playoffs. The Stars had the No. 1 penalty-killing unit during the regular season and have allowed just one power-play goal in 25 attempts on Reunion ice.

"One of the things we always had going for us this season, even when some aspects of our team were struggling, was the short-handed play," said Gainey. "For players like Carbonneau and [Mike] Keane, that's their specialty.

"Having those carrots out there, even if they're not the biggest carrots or the most visible carrots to the public, that's what drives them. People with personalities like Carbo's - they don't play backup roles.

"You may talk to them, and they may say they're willing to accept those roles. But somehow they always find their way to the front of the bus."

Even if those hands are calloused and wrinkled, would you really want a younger, fresher pair on the wheel for the Stars?

Editor's Note: Read more about Guy vs. Ray in "Carbonneau v. Bourque: Face to Face" by Jean Gagnon in April/May 1989 Les Canadiens.