Season 5: 1980-81
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Season 5: 1980-81 |
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W hen asked once by Les
Canadiens magazine about his first car, Guy replied, "I bought
a brand new Pontiac Ventura Sport. A beautiful little ride, 350
horsepower. Five years later, I ended up trading it for a Jeep.
I was playing in Halifax at the time."
This requisite change in transportation, as Guy moved from Junior
A to the Habs’ American Hockey League farm team in the Maritimes,
was a good analogy for the change Carbonneau would experience
in hockey. Having been a flashy sports car in Chicoutimi, he was
now expected to be more of a four-wheel drive vehicle in Halifax.
Montreal wanted him to become a two-way player, and it was Nova
Scotia Voyageurs coach Bert Templeton who was charged by the Canadiens
organization with working on Guy’s defensive skills. "It
was quite a learning experience for me," Guy later told a
reporter, his expression indicating it was also not a happy one.
And while struggling with this new focus, the only slightly anglophonic
Carbonneau also had the challenge of living outside Quebec for
the first time. Besides changing teams, focus, wheels and languages,
Guy also had to change sweater numbers—21 being taken, the
new Vee wore #10.
As a late cut from the Habs roster with proven offensive skill,
Carbo was watched closely by the Voyageurs organization. He did
not disappoint, and by December had 16 goals and 18 assists, the
best start for a rookie since Mario Tremblay in ’74-’75.
No, Carbonneau was hardly playing the defensive forward role yet.
He and four of his teammates were among the top ten scorers in
the AHL, and the Vees became renowned for their explosive offense.
Unfortunately, the team became equally
well known for less desirable traits: brawling, blowing the lead
in the third, and complacency. Coach Templeton was extremely critical
of certain players for their apathy, and this, combined with a
terrible lack of fan support in Halifax, did not help team morale.
During mid-season, the Vees slumped badly, their lineup decimated
by injuries and reassignments, until it looked unlikely that they
would make the playoffs. Fortunately the team recovered late in
the season, culminating in their final game against their archrivals,
the New Brunswick Hawks. Perennially the victor in these matchups,
this time the Hawks gave up ten goals to the Vees. Carbonneau’s
line had 16 points.
Another couple of bright spots for Guy were the two occasions
he was called up to play for Montreal. Carbo got close to his
old number and wore 20, since 21 belonged to Doug Jarvis. He recalls
his first NHL game, against the Blues: "There is an apprehension
as to how you will perform. I think there is always some degree
of fear that you might play poorly, you might not be able to skate
with those guys, or some other negative feelings. These type of
thoughts occupied me the whole night and the afternoon before
that first game. But it all worked out fine." It did indeed:
Carbo got his first big league point in his second NHL game, on
March 21, 1981—an assist versus the Vancouver Canucks.
Things did not work out quite so fine for the Voyageurs, in this
season which must have been quite frustrating for Carbonneau:
they made the playoffs, but lost in the first round to the Hawks.
However, in spite of the challenges of improving his defensive
skill, waiting to be called up, working on his English, and driving
a Jeep, Guy still finished the season as sixth highest scorer
in the AHL.
See also: The Sagueneens retire Guy's number
(from our "Obscure Facts" section)
Resources:
"Who is Guy Carbonneau?", Goal, February 1987
Les Canadiens, Feb-Mar 1988
1980-81
Official Game Program, Nova Scotia Voyageurs, Vol. 10, No. 1
Kent, Jeffrey W., Here Come the Vees, Nimbus
Publishing, 1997
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