As a high school junior in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Guy Carbonneau approached Line Boivin after history class and asked her for a date to see a local junior A hockey game.
She agreed, then asked what time she could expect him.
“I will not be picking you up,” Carbonneau said. “You have to come with a friend. I’m playing in the game.”
Boivin was surprised, not only by the unique request, but that her 17-year-old suitor was actually a player. Carbonneau weighed maybe 150 pounds.
“I didn’t think it was a great deal,” said Boivin. “I thought, `What did I get myself into this time?’ My dad was worried too.”
But there was nothing to worry about. Carbonneau scored a couple of goals that night for the Sagueneens, captured Boivin’s heart, then married her four years later.
Since then, Carbonneau has played in 1,311 NHL games, collected three Stanley Cup rings and won three Selke Trophies as the league’s best defensive forward. And though he turned 40 last weekend, the NHL’s oldest player is having his best season as a Star.
One of Dallas’ most reliable forwards and best players until he hurt his wrist March 5, Carbonneau already has scored as many goals–eight–as he did in any of his previous five seasons. With play that should attract consideration for another Selke, he has helped stabilize a team rattled by injuries.
“A lot of guys who are getting older start to think that they’ve had enough and worry about what they’re going to do next,” Stars center Joe Nieuwendyk said. “[Carbonneau] talks about winning Cups. Guys who are 21 or 22 are thinking, `I’m the young guy; I can’t take a night off because that old goat is going hard every night.”‘
When Carbonneau signed before the season, General Manager Bob Gainey and coach Ken Hitchcock talked to him about slowing down, skipping practices and playing perhaps 50 games.
That plan was quickly shelved after the second game, when players began going down with injuries. Instead, the banged-up Carbonneau trudges on as the consummate warrior, battling daily injuries.
He had missed only four of 66 games until a hairline fracture in his right wrist knocked him out of the lineup. Instead of playing 10 minutes a game–the original plan–Carbonneau has been overused by necessity, logging 18 to 20 minutes against opponents’ top lines. But it was he who suggested to Hitchcock to be used against top lines in order to free Mike Modano.
More Top Picks Best Smartwatch
“That’s the reason why I play the game,” Carbonneau said. “I could have come back and taken things easy. It’s a pride thing. When somebody tells you you’re only going to play this many games and in a certain role, you want to prove them wrong. Once the contract was signed, I had to prove to them that I deserved the ice time.”
Instead of gliding through the twilight of his career on a farewell tour, Carbonneau competes with a passion that belies his years. The club has the option of signing him next year, and he said he will not make a decision until after the season.
“I want to play as much as I can for as long as I can, but I don’t want to be kicked out of the game,” he said. “I don’t want to be put on the shelves and somebody comes and tells me to quit. I could have retired last year after winning the Stanley Cup, but I enjoy playing.
“It’s definitely a tough decision. I’ve been looking at it the last five years. It scares me. I’m 40 years old. I’ve played the game away from home since I was 16. You have to do something else, and that’s scary.”
Carbonneau, a native of Sept-Iles, Quebec, seems in no hurry to return to his home base of Montreal, where he played for 12 seasons. Line and daughters Anne-Marie and Kristina enjoy living in Dallas.
Although her husband keeps coming home with black eyes and bumps on his nose and has a calcium deposit the size of a golf ball on one of his wrists, Line said she never pressures him to quit.
“It’s going to be his decision,” she said.
“I think he’s smart enough to know when it’s going to be time. I’ve heard from other players who have retired who said they just came to a point where they just knew it was time.”
After all he has accomplished, Carbonneau still thinks he has something to prove. He has spent his entire career proving he can play in the NHL after being drafted by Montreal in the third round (44th overall) in 1979. Hockey boils in his blood.
Although many believe he would make a perfect coach, Carbonneau scoffs at that idea because of the long hours. Others say he should be in management because of his knowledge of the game.
Carbonneau hasn’t given the future much thought beyond keeping his Stars playing until June.
“I’ve done it this long because I love the game, I like being around the guys and I enjoy this kind of life,” he said. “It will be a different world when I quit.
“My wife tells me that all the time, `When are you going to grow up?’ I’ll grow up when I quit the game.”