Season 22: 1997-98
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Season 22: 1997-98 |
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1997-98: another season to contemplate jerseys.
This past Christmas, I spent my holiday bonus on one of Carbonneau’s two 97-98 home jerseys. Yes, I know, I already had a game-used sweater and it was really greedy of me. But it was a special season—for me, something of a miracle season…
In late June/early July my family went to Toronto for a vacation. Our relaxation was marred by my obsession with what would happen to Ed Belfour on July 1, when he became a free agent. I was converted into a hockey fan by listening to Eddie make saves on radio broadcasts from Chicago, while my husband patiently explained the game to me. Belfour’s trade to the Sharks was a heartbreaker, and I hoped against hope he might be signed by the up-and-coming Dallas Stars.
On July 2, we were eating pasta in a restaurant on Yonge Street when I looked up at the TV and saw the Eagle pulling a Dallas jersey over his head. We left the restaurant and walked a couple blocks to a store where I ordered possibly the second Belfour Stars jersey in North America.
So you see, it was the lure of Ed Belfour that brought me to Dallas. A bunch of his fans whom I’d met online gathered in February of 1998 for a hockey vacation, which was highlighted by getting to meet the Eagle himself. But by the time we met Eddie, and he graciously signed that jersey I bought in Toronto, I had already seen something which changed everything.
Stars practice.
You can’t watch from ice level anymore, but back then you could, and as one by one the Stars blew by our spot against the glass, my smile of joyful awe grew broader and broader. They were amazing. Modano…Verbeek…Nieuwendyk…but who was this—Carbonneau?
I hadn’t a clue who he was. But I certainly wanted to find out.
Obviously, I did.
We saw the Stars beat the Hawks, and there’s a 50/50 chance it was my jersey which Guy wore that afternoon. Regardless of whether that was the one he wore the first time I saw him play, the 1997-98 season was an inspiring one from which to have such a token. Guy’s team rose to the top of the league and won the Presidents Trophy. In the playoffs the Stars put up a valiant fight, characterized by Carbo’s famous Shift against Detroit, and made a shot at the Stanley Cup which proved they would surely threaten again the following year.
No Cup ring for Guy this particular season, but he did win something, albeit something infinitely more humble:
He won a webmaster.
See also: 1998: Guy Talks About a Career in Broadcasting (from our "Obscure Facts" section)
First
photo by Brad
Amodeo.
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