Carbonneau does not appear to be on fast track as GM
Stars will miss big draw player with great hockey mind

by Jim Matheson for The Edmonton Journal, Sept. 8, 2000

The overwhelming perception is the Montreal Canadiens are keeping the general manager's seat warm for Guy Carbonneau so he can take Reggie Houle's job next year or the year after. If so, he's easing into things. He's not on a fast track.

Carbonneau, the oldest NHLer until he quit this summer after Dallas's Stanley Cup reign ended, was hired with an all-purpose job description. He's supposed to work with the Habs' drafted kids and drop into Quebec City to see the farm team. He'll be consulted on trades and player evaluation, a smart idea considering he played 18 NHL seasons and had a firmer grasp of the game than 99 per cent of the NHLers.

If he's going to replace Houle some day, he might have to hit the road to do some pro scouting like Dave Taylor did in Los Angeles when they were grooming him to take Rogie Vachon's spot. Taylor also had to learn about contracts, but GM's-to-be can hire somebody to help them through the negotiating rapids as Kevin Lowe did when he brought in Scott Howson.

Carbonneau, who's given way to Igor Larionov as the NHL's senior citizen, worked with the Hab rookies last month but he'll miss a chunk of the Habs main camp because he had a holiday in France already booked with his wife.

His on-the-job training is going slowly.

Truth be known, the Habs could probably use Carbo more behind the bench as an assistant coach for Alain Vigneault because Rollie Melanson will be a roving goalie instructor this winter. Vigneault would love to have Carbo every day at practice, showing centres how to win a draw, something the Canadiens were woefully inept at last winter. To compound matters, their best faceoff guy, Shayne Corson, signed with Toronto.

But Carbo doesn't want to coach. He didn't want to scout this winter. Reportedly, that's what Dallas GM Bob Gainey was offering when the warrior quit after the playoffs. Carbo doesn't want to travel that much, although he'll undoubtedly make a few trips to Dallas this winter, because his daughter, who's dating Brenden Morrow, stayed behind to attend Southern Methodist University.

The Habs, looking to light a fire with their disgruntled fans, outbid the Stars for Carbo.

"They came at him really hard. That's a heckuva opportunity right out of playing. He's close to the junior teams (in Montreal). Close to his family home. Everything is right there,'' said Hitchcock. "And he's like Kevin (Lowe). He has a brilliant hockey mind.''

Andre Savard, the new head of scouting for the Habs, has as much clout as Carbonneau and might also be a GM some day, but Carbo is the one who's hugely popular with the fans. Savard, who played for the rival Nordiques, has a behind-the-scenes booster in Marcel Aubut, though. The former Quebec owner has moved to Montreal, opened a law office and regularly talks to Habs team president Pierre Boivin.

But Carbo played 12 years in Montreal.

What fans around the league will be missing this year is one of the game's true professionals, a guy who never took a shortcut in his hockey life. At the end of the Stars' Cup run, Carbo was diving to block shots, playing every third shift. He could have played on, but quit, just as Gretzky did, because it was time.

"He told us privately during the season, so we were ready for it,'' said Hitchcock. "I knew what he was doing in the playoffs. He was pushing himself to limits that were unbelieveable because it was his last time. But we're going to miss most about Carbo is his voice of reason in the dressing room. When Carbo was around, our highs were never that high and our lows never that low. We'll need other guys to step to the plate, people like Kirk Muller now," Hitchcock said.

Nobody was better in the past 15 years at winning defensive zone faceoffs. The only guy close was Oilers coach Craig MacTavish, who was out there with three seconds left in '94 to ensure the Rangers had their first Cup since 1940.

"When I have a faceoff on the right circle, I don't know what I'll do,'' said Hitchcock. "Carbo was a right-handed shot and his percentage of wins was in the high 80s at the right faceoff dot. Carbo didn't lose faceoffs there.''