Carbo tours Ground Zero

by Canadian Press, October 12, 2001, exerpted

Team officials with the Montreal Canadiens were left stunned after touring Ground Zero, where they watched crews comb through wreckage and recover the body of a firefighter killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

After walking through the centre of a crater that was once the World Trade Centre, Canadiens assistant coach Guy Carbonneau called the scene "horrific."

"It's shocking," Carbonneau told Quebec Le Soleil.

"You not only have the smell, but when you also think that the towers were a quarter-mile high and they fell in eight to 10 seconds, you understand the full scale of the catastrophe."

Carbonneau was allowed full access to the site through a friend on the New York Police Department. Other team personnel watched the scene from outside a nearby security perimeter.

The Canadiens, who lost a 3-2 overtime decision to the New York Rangers on Sunday, had planned a team visit to the Lower Manhattan site earlier in the day.

However, when U.S. President George Bush arrived there for a Veterans' Day visit, the area was closed for several hours.

Players could not attend the later tour because they were preparing for that night's game. However, a number of team officials were on hand, including general manager Andre Savard.

Among the more poignant moments came when firefighters found the body of a fallen colleague.

"I'm not the type of guy who cries, but it was moving," Carbonneau said.

"All the firefighters gathered around the body, which they draped in a large U.S. flag before sliding it into an ambulance.

"The firefighters formed an honour guard nearby. It was impressive." One firefighter said it will take two years to completely clear away the debris, Carbonneau said.

"There's not much left at ground level but there are six or seven stories buried in a crater (underneath)," Carbonneau said.