Skating away: Carbonneau shows he's young at heart

Feb. 16, 2000
By Keith Gave
CBS SportsLine Senior Writer

Guy Carbonneau is living, breathing, bilingual proof that fear indeed may be our best motivator, and that youth is ridiculously over-rated. The oldest player in the NHL -- and like the rest of us on the subject of age he's vain enough to resent that fact -- is out-skating father time again.

In what was expected to be the last of his 18 remarkable seasons in the NHL, the pride of Sept-Iles, Quebec, is playing well enough to be invited to the NHL's season-ending awards ceremony to collect his fourth Selke Trophy as the league's best defensive forward.

"People assume because he's 40 years old that the game has passed him by -- and they're wrong," said Dallas Stars coach Ken Hitchcock, who shudders to think where his injury-plagued team might be without the versatile centerman. "We've matched him against the other teams' best players a lot of nights, and he's been as good as anybody."

Actually, Carbonneau is a month shy of his 40th birthday, but he'll pass on the cake with all those candles, thank you very much. Age is a touchy subject, and he really doesn't care to discuss the future much either. But since we asked ...

"Nothing has changed," Carbonneau said Tuesday. "Obviously, I'm happy with the way I'm playing and with the amount of time I've been playing. But I realize that I wouldn't be playing so much if we didn't have all these injuries."

Carbonneau was supposed to be a part-time player. Of course, that's what they told him when he came to Dallas five years ago in the twilight of his career. Instead, he is one of their busiest forwards and most reliable players, at his best -- as in the playoffs -- when the game is on the line.

He was supposed to play 8-10 minutes a game as a fourth-line center and penalty-killing specialist. Instead, he often plays 18-20 minutes a game, averaging nearly 23 shifts and 16 minutes a game -- among the leading forwards on the team. He was supposed to play 50-60 games this season. Already, he has played 54 of the Stars' 56 games.

His seven goals include three game winners, second only among Stars to Jamie Langenbrunner's four. He has won 53.5 percent of his faceoffs. And he show no signs of letting up.

"I've overplayed him -- a lot," Hitchcock said, "But I've had no choice. I had to in order for us to remain competitive. That's why I'm so proud of what he has done this year. He has responded in a very critical situation here. We've had no Brian Skrudland (out most of the season with injuries) to fill in for him. And with (Joe) Nieuwendyk out so much, Guy has been our second center-ice man. He has had to respond, and he has done it. And most of all, he has been one of our leaders with our attitude this season: 'Just find a way.' We've found a way because of what he has been able to do for us."

Heading into Wednesday night's game with visiting Nashville, Dallas players have missed 262 games to injury or illness compared to 181 all of last season. Carbonneau has played more because he has had to, leaving him little time to confront the demons in his future, when Father Time finally draws close enough to cross-check him into retirement.

What then? Carbonneau, a thinking man's hockey player, has no idea. He is a vice president of the NHL Players Association and fights passionately for the players in frequent but respectful disputes with Hitchcock and his staff. Carbonneau is also a bit of a free spirit. He rides a white Harley-Davidson motorcycle adorned with a paint job featuring the Stanley Cup. But he has no intention of thundering off toward the sunset. Right now, he's a hockey player, and he finds it hard to envision himself as anything but.

"That's the scary part for anybody who plays sports for so long," Carbonneau said. "I've played professionally since I was 16 years old. I've never known anything else. I've heard of a lot of things. I've read about them. I've watched. But I've never done anything else. If you told me that tomorrow I'm going to quit, I have no idea what I'm going to like to do after that. That's the scary part.

"I'm scared, but I'm not worried."

There are those who insist Carbonneau would make a wonderful NHL coach. Jacques Demers, who coached him in Montreal when the Canadiens won their last Stanley Cup in 1993, wanted to hire Carbonneau as an assistant coach in Tampa Bay two years ago. Carbonneau seriously considered it, but decided to continue playing. Good decision, because Demers lost his job and Carbonneau probably would have been swept out, too.

"I'll find something else to do," Carbonneau said, "but don't put your money on coaching."

Hitchcock doesn't, suggesting Carbonneau may be better equipped for the executive side of the game. Like Stars general manager Bob Gainey, Carbonneau's linemate with the Canadiens.

"Guy is more of a big-picture guy, and I don't know that those guys really enjoy coaching," Hitchcock said. "He has a great feel for the players, the players association and the business of the game. To me, he's more like Bob. He's a guy who can plan and visualize things down the road.

Whatever the future holds for Carbonneau, Hitchcock believes it's premature to talk about it. Especially for Carbonneau. On Dec. 1, with the Stars trailing in a game at Montreal, Carbonneau addressed his teammates between periods.

"If you ever were going to win a game for me, this is it," he told them.

Unspoken was the sentimentality of what might have been his final pilgrimage as a player to his native province. The Stars won the game, but Hitchcock was bothered by what he heard that night.

"I don't like some of the things he's been saying," Hitchcock said. "I think he's selling himself short. He's got the capabilities to continue playing -- if he wants."

Carbonneau's passion was apparent the other night, in a 2-1 win over Washington. Richard Zednik drilled him with a good open-ice check. Carbonneau got up, hammered Zednik and then for good measure pounded defenseman Sergei Gonchar, too.

"He's really, really competitive," Hitchcock said about the old man of the NHL. "That's what has allowed him to play as long as he has as well as he has. If that fire even flickered a little bit, he wouldn't be able to play. But the fire never flickers with this guy."

Guy Carbonneau carries the torch for a special generation of hockey players who still compete for the pure joy of the game. Regardless of what he says, he plays as though he has no intention of passing it on just yet. At least by the look in a young man's eyes.