A Surprise Evening with Guy!

On February 14, 2003, rabid Stars/Carbo fan Joyce Coologhan, aka Twisted Mama, took part in an event with her husband's hockey team. Much to her surprise and delight, the evening included a semi-private audience with the man himself! Guy spoke to the group of about 60 fans on a broad number of topics, and Mama was kind enough to share her recollections of the evening along with her photos.

Guy has bought a house in Plano, Texas and is living on a golf course. He plays golf about five days a week and has a four handicap.

When asked if he missed playing hockey, Guy replied, "Yes and no." He doesn't miss the traveling. He had gotten to the point where he didn't like the time between games. When Guy was playing, he said it was "come to the game, play, leave the game," whereas when coaching, there was much more to worry about and to do.

A fan inquired, "Is there a player you didn't like to play against?" Carbo's answer: He didn't like ANY players who weren't on his team.

Asked if he thought the Stars are going to win the Stanley Cup, Guy replied, "I'll tell you in June." Comparing the chemistry between this team and the '99 team, Carbo said he doesn't go into the locker room, but from what he hears, it is very similar.
What about his interest in becoming a head coach? Guy said that if were able to sit out a year, instead of being thrown into the job as in the situation when the Montreal staff was fired, he might be interested. But since he didn't have time between playing and coaching, he's happy doing what he's doing.

Asked about young hockey players and how much they ought to practice, Guy replied it was difficult to say, but they should spend most of their time skating. He commented that North Americans spend more time doing competitive things, instead of just playing, whereas in Europe, they just "play" more, which is why they have better puck handling and speed.

A fan inquired if Carbo's kids ever wanted to play hockey. He answered, "Since I had girls, no. But I conduct a clinic in my hometown every year and the number of girls has increased from one to well over thirty."

Does he talk hockey with Brenden Morrow, his son-in-law who plays for the Stars? No.

On the subject of face-offs, Carbo said the reason he is so good at them is because he lost one once that cost the team the Stanley Cup. He commented that they are even more important now, since the number of goals scored in a game can't compensate for mistakes like it did years ago.

A fan asked Guy's opinion of the hits statistic being reinstated. He said that makes the agents happy, but he's not a big fan of it. When the stat wasn't being tracked, players would just skate by. Now they tend to go out of their way in order to hit someone. Meanwhile, what constitutes a hit is not consistent at every rink.

He still plays hockey. There is a Canadian league he sometimes drops in on, but he's not allowed to shoot. Some of the people present in the room mentioned a Plano StarCenter AA league in which Craig Ludwig plays, and Guy agreed to fill in the next night for an absent player.

Guy was sporting a black eye that evening, but wouldn't give the real story on what happened. According to Mama, he looked good! And the photos confirm it.

Many thanks to Mama for sharing this report!