Carbo Loading

by Jack Todd for The Montreal Gazette, 7/3/00

Yeesh. From Houle's rather feeble comments about Guy Carbonneau Saturday, it sounds like the Canadiens are about to make another mistake with their former captain.

Houle has at least one spot open in the front office now that the organization is no longer wasting $500,000 a year to keep Jacques Lemaire on his houseboat. Houle says he has to talk to Bob Gainey, but it doesn't sound like he means it. Here are the questions Houle should be asking Carbonneau, in order:

1. What job do you want?

2. How much can we pay you?

3. When can you start?

On that never-ending list of Canadiens mistakes over the past 15 years, trading Carbonneau ranks near the top, solid evidence that Serge Savard, near the end of his career as GM, simply wasn't paying attention. After Carbo flipped the bird at a photographer for Le Journal during the off-season in '94, Savard dealt him to St. Louis for Jim Montgomery, even though Carbonneau was coming off a 14-goal, 38-point season.

Carbo had six productive years left. Montgomery didn't.