Season 6: 1981-82
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Season 6: 1981-82 |
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No fear of heights…in
fact, in Carbonneau’s mind being on top was key. His summer
job in Nova Scotia involved painting beams in tall buildings under
construction, and he had no problem with vertigo.
Meanwhile, some at Canadiens’ training camp that year found
Guy’s attitude a little too "high and mighty."
Carbonneau later said, "I thought they judged me rather quickly."
As he has since tried to clarify, Guy considers confidence on
the ice to be part and parcel of the drive to win. While a humble,
private person away from the rink, Carbo has always possessed
tremendous self-confidence where the game is concerned. Coupled
with his fierce desire to excel, this attitude can sometimes come
across as cockiness, but is the very mindset which has always
made him successful.
Be that as it may, Carbo was sent back to Halifax for a second
year, no doubt hoping a similar drive to win might infect the
Voyageurs. Such hope was not in vain, for the team had a new coach,
John Brophy, a man known as a motivator who demanded total dedication
from his players. The team had less talent than the previous year,
but far more enthusiasm, which was rewarded by a resurgence in
fan interest which can also be credited to Brophy. The team’s
offense—the league’s best—was countered by a weak
defense, and the Vees finished the regular season at .500.
The Voyageurs were rewarded for their work ethic by beating a
superior Maine Mariners team in the first round of the playoffs.
Unfortunately, their next opponent was the fabulously talented
New Brunswick Hawks. The Vees battled valiantly, winning one game
and losing two OT heartbreakers before succumbing. The Hawks went
on to become league champions.
Carbo had a 94 point season, highest on the Voyageurs and fourth
in the AHL. And this final year of hard work would at last bring
Guy his reward: a contract with the Canadiens.
The full significance of the event was not
lost on the young man, who later remembered the occasion this
way: «Lorsqu’une organisation professionnelle te fait
une offre, et par surcroît celle du Canadien, cela veut
dire qu’on te reconnaît de façon tangible, un
potential certain pour évoluer chez les professionnels.
J’ai vécu, par le fait même, une sensation de
satisfaction assez particulière lors de la signature de
mon premier contrat professionnel. Cependant, il n’aurai
pas fallue que je considère trop longtemps les chiffres
impliqués au niveau de l’offre car je sentais qu’un
affreux mal de tête allait m’accabler.»
["When a professional organization makes an offer to you,
and not only that, but the Canadiens, this indicates you have
been recognized in a tangible way as having unquestionable potential
to evolve as a professional. This fact gave me a feeling of particular
satisfaction during the signing of my first professional contract.
Nevertheless, at the time I tried not to consider for too long
the figures discussed in the offer, because I felt that a dreadful
headache was going to overpower me."]
And that would be the end of Carbonneau’s humble years in
the Maritimes. He was headed to Montreal permanently, where he
would soon experience heights that would dwarf the building beams
he used to paint in the summer. Nevertheless, Carbo left behind
some great memories for his Nova Scotia fans. Here’s a message
by "G-man" posted on March 18, 1999 to a bulletin board
on a Habs web site, in reply to a posting which observed Guy’s
39th birthday:
"39? Yeesh. I remember him when he played here in Halifax
with the Voyageurs around ’81, ’82. Back then, he was
a pure offensive threat (94 points one year), not quite the defensive
specialist he would become in the NHL. He also lived in an apartment
just up the street from me. Being the brazen 11-year old that
I was, I knocked on his door one day and asked for a stick. It
still hangs on my wall to this day."
Resources:
"Who is Guy Carbonneau?", by Glenn Cole, Goal,
February 1987
Les Canadiens, Mar-Apr 87
Les Canadiens, Oct-Nov 88
Kent, Jeffrey W., Here Come the Vees, Nimbus Publishing,
1997
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