Guy, the condo salesman

I'm signed up for Google alerts for articles related to Carbo.  Most of the time they're hockey articles that mention him in passing, but I found one that came across my e-mail interesting.  Earlier this month, Guy participated in an open house for a Habs-themed condo development in Montreal.  The condos are being built in the shadow of the Bell Centre, and Guy was there to sign autographs and promote the units.  (source)

(image source:  CBC.ca)

I'd certainly buy a condo if Guy was selling it!  Then again, I'd also buy oceanfront property in Colorado if Guy was selling it, so maybe I'm not the best person to ask.

Guy's Reunion Night; and an amazing video hits YouTube

As part of the team's 25th anniversary celebrations, the Dallas Stars have been honoring alumni players before games.  Last night was Guy's turn to be honored and he took part in the ceremonial puck drop.  Here are a few photos:

(Image source:  Twitter/@lclsportsluvver)

You may also watch video of Guy dropping the puck here.

Edited to add 12/7/17:  Scott Burnside did a great Q&A with Carbo on DallasStars.com ahead of Guy being honored by the Stars.  You can read it here.

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It has also recently come to my attention that Episode 1, "Mere Players" of the Ken Dryden television series Home Game (which aired on CBC Television in 1990) has been posted to YouTube.  I have this show on VHS and it has some of the most amazing Carbo/Montreal Canadiens footage I've ever seen.  I'll just borrow what my friend Diane Lau said about this video years ago:  "This awesome video covers the pregame activities as well as a match between the Canadiens and the Oilers at the Forum in 1988. Carbonneau and his teammates prepare for battle, Ken analyzes the pregame Ritual, and there is a fantastic dissection of Guy scoring on Grant Fuhr. You will watch it over and over."

And here it is!

'Til next time!

Carbo at Jere Lehtinen's jersey retirement

Dallas Stars great Jere Lehtinen had his #26 jersey retired by the team yesterday.  Guy was present at the ceremony, as were other former teammates.  Here are a few photos.

Signing autographs on the green carpet.  (Image source:  Twitter/jenn9772)

Guy and Bob Gainey brought out the Frank J. Selke Trophy (for top defensive forward) at the ceremony, of which Lehtinen is a three-time winner.  (Guy also won the trophy three times, and Gainey won the trophy four times.)

(Image source:  Twitter/jeffk_stars)

Enjoy!

Some Carbo news that I missed, and another new interview

Going way back to October!  Former Habs captain Guy passed the iconic torch to current captain Max Pacioretty during the Canadiens' home opener.

(image credit: PC)

Guy said of Pacioretty:  "I wanted him to make the most of the experience (as captain) and to have the chance I had to lift the Stanley Cup."  (link)

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From an older Montreal Gazette article about the suicide of former Canadiens tough guy Todd Ewen, Guy on fighting in the NHL:

“Guys like that, it’s not the first one,” former Canadiens captain and coach Guy Carbonneau said about Ewen, who was his teammate on Montreal’s 1993 Stanley Cup team. “Now, four or five … even more than that … so it’s starting to be a big problem. Hopefully we can keep looking into it — and I know some people are looking into it — but I think we need to really look deeper and if those people don’t want to come out, we have to go and find them.”

Carbonneau said that fighting is already “weeding itself out” of the NHL and thinks it’s time to put in rules similar to in European hockey, where a player who gets in a fight is automatically thrown out of the game. A suspension would come after a certain numbers of fights — say five or 10.

“I think you’ll see less and less fighting in the NHL (in the future),” Carbonneau said. “I don’t think we’ll see the kind of athletes who were just sitting on the bench and were just there to fight. We don’t see that anymore. The game is too fast, teams can’t afford to have a guy like that on the bench, playing only two or three minutes of hockey.

“In 10 years, we’ll probably talk about: ‘It’s funny, I haven’t seen a fight in a year or two years.'” Carbonneau added. “I think it’s just going to go away by itself. But it’s always been a tough decision because the feelings are mixed among the organazizations (sic) and the people that make those decisions. So we just have to give it time a little bit.”

Carbonneau — like just about every hockey player — has great respect for the guys like Ewen, who stood up for their teammates.

“Guys like him, Chris Nilan and John Kordic, I think they understood the role they had and they knew it was a tough job, but they never backed down and they always had our back,” Carbonneau said. “They were well respected around the room, that’s for sure.”  (link)

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On December 31, Guy played as part of the Canadiens alumni roster at the 2016 Winter Classic Alumni Game in Foxboro, MA.  The Bruins alumni took the game 5-4 in a shootout (and it must have been something for the retired players to play in the relatively new shootout!), but Guy led his team onto the ice in his classic captain's sweater.

(image credit:  The Boston Globe)

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Back in October, Rogers Hometown Hockey brought their show to Gatineau, QC and Guy was part of the festivities, chatting with fans and signing autographs.  Here he is being interviewed by Ron MacLean.

(image credit:  Twitter/hometownhockey_)

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Switching back to current news, Guy has given an interview to the Montreal Gazette about the Canadiens' current slump.  Excerpted from the French, Guy says that he expected a slowdown in the absence of Carey Price, but never to this point, and that he has never witnessed such a collapse.  He believes that it will be very difficult for the Habs to clinch a playoff spot, and by the time the injured Carey Price returns to the roster, it will be too late.  The full article is here.

Belated roundup

Guy was present at the Hockey Day in Canada celebrations last week in Halifax.  Here are a few photos.

Hugging ecstatic fan Kim Richard of Dartmouth.  (source)

Signing a fan's jersey.  (source:  Twitter/VulgarViking)

At the Q&A for Hockey Day in Canada, Carbo also revealed that his first words learned in English, as a Nova Scotia Voyageur newly arrived in Halifax, were "I'll have what he's having."  Clearly a man with his priorities in order!

Here is an audio interview Guy did a few weeks ago with a radio station in Kingston, Ontario, prior to his appearance at Kingston's FebFest.  Additionally, here is Guy speaking with Sportsnet about the Montreal Canadiens' current fortunes.

Enjoy!

Carbo in Kingston, and poker

A brief update:

Guy will be making a visit to Kingston, Ontario for Feb Fest, which takes place from February 5 to February 8 in downtown Kingston, where he will be signing autographs. (source)

Also, there's this video from Conan Foods from the Royale Invitational Poker Tour 2014, which features Guy.

Enjoy, until next time!

Carbo on TSN's Off The Record

On Friday, Carbo joined TSN host Michael Landsberg on Off The Record to talk about Movember, P.K. Subban, Olympic goalies, and whether he really dented the Stanley Cup in 1999.  It's a terrific interview.

Watch it here.

Guy to appear at Toronto Sports Card Expo in May

2013 is the 20th anniversary of the Habs' 1993 Stanley Cup win, so it's fitting that members of that winning team would headline the three-day 2013 Toronto Sports Card Expo.  So far 13 members of the team have signed on to join coach Jacques Demers for autograph signings and photo opportunities during the event.  Along with Guy, Patrick Roy (the 1993 Conn Smythe winner) will be there; as well as Vincent Damphousse, Kirk Muller, and Mathieu Schneider.

More information on this event will become available in January.  (examiner.com)

Guy at Playground Poker Club

As part of this weekend's World Poker Tour festivities in Montreal, Guy participated in a shootout challenge with the Leafs' Phil Kessel.  Guy was pitted against professional poker player Phil Laak.  

credit for images:  Twitter / @AceKicker_19 (first image) @BartsBytes (second image), CanadaPoker.com (third image)

Also, yesterday at the event Guy spoke with Diana Cox about his poker experience.  Have a listen here.

Another game for charity, Carbo on divers, Sags management change, and a personal aside

• Held last Saturday, the eighth annual CN Hockey Greatest Stars challenge raised $350,000 for charity.  Guy was on a Canadiens alumni team alongside players such as Stephane Richer and Patrice Brisebois, and was coached by Guy Lafleur.  The Marie-Vincent Foundation, the Ted Nolan Foundation, and Big Brothers Big Sisters (Canada and U.S.) will each receive $75,000.  The remaining money will be divided among beneficiaries in Canada and the United States.  (link)

• Guy was on the bench during a playoff game in June 1989 when his teammate Claude Lemieux lay on the ice without a visit from trainer Gaetan Lefebvre.  Pat Burns, the Canadiens' coach, stopped Lefebvre from going on the ice to teach Lemieux a lesson about diving.  According to the English translation of the article, Carbo said there was a time in his playing career when diving was popular but he never dared to question his teammates' dives and that the onus was on team management to enforce rules about diving.  When Guy became coach, he imposed no such limit but did speak to players such as Maxim Lapierre.  He did not think Lapierre was a diver, but that he talked too much and had to focus more on what he had to do on the ice.  (La Presse)

• The team led by Guy has managed the Chicoutimi Sagueneens since the summer of 2000.  This past spring, the city of Saguenay issued a tender to see if any new managers would come forward.  Five groups came forward, showing interest to obtain management of the Sags.  After a process that lasted several months, the team led by ex-Sagueneens player Pierre-Marc Bouchard was successful, signing an agreement to lead the team for seven years.  (RDS)

• And as an entirely personal aside, after four years of owning them I finally found a way to display my game-worn Carbonneau skates!  These prized items in my collection were just sitting on the floor while other useless junk was taking up precious wall space.  Ridiculous.  Anyway, I devised a way to hang them using cornice hooks from the hardware store and this is the end result.  Very pleased!  (These L-shaped hooks are also great for hanging game-used sticks, by the way.)  Also, I received an income tax receipt for the alumni game I attended on November 10, since the ticket purchase was a charitable donation.  What, I got to meet my hero and write it off on my income tax?  Is this real life?

Small roundup

Here's a photo of Guy taken at Saturday's alumni game in Ottawa:

Photo source:  Facebook / Fondation franco-ontarienne

A few video links I found:  Here's Guy (in English) on why you shouldn't buy a counterfeit jersey (from last year's awareness campaign) and a brief Dallas Stars highlight video (the blood in that first shot!).  

Finally, here's a State of the 'Stache update, screencapped from RDS this evening:

As my friend Ron says, it's a pubestache with 36 years experience.

The blogger meets Guy

This afternoon I was fortunate enough to attend a Habs alumni game in Ottawa, at the University of Ottawa sports complex.  This event was sponsored by the Franco-Ontarienne foundation and Desjardins.  And yes, Guy was on the roster.  I feel so lucky to have now seen him play "in person," even if it was years after he retired from the NHL.  He may be older and he may perhaps be a little slower, but everything that Diane Lau wrote in her marvelous 1999 essay Carbonneau at Ice Level still holds true today.  The man is absolute magic on the ice.  It is quite easy to imagine him taking flight.

After the game, there was an after-party at the Draft sports pub, which is also located in the sports complex. This is Guy Carbonneau, after all, and I found myself needing a beer to shore up my confidence to talk to him.  (Fortunately refreshments were provided with the price of the ticket.)  I finally made my way to the table where the Habs alumni were signing autographs, got my program signed by the team, and made my move.  I asked Guy for a picture.

I was temporarily thwarted by a malfunctioning camera flash.  Oh no!  "The flash is not on!" said Carbo, attempting to instruct the person I'd enlisted to take the picture.  This man, kind soul, absolute class act that he is, patiently waited through FIVE failed pictures.  In a panic, I hit every button on my camera that I could possibly think of and finally got the damn thing working.  Then, Guy graciously stood for another picture.

Here is the result.

Yes, that is your blogger, complete with blue hair and piercings.  As for Guy, this post could also serve as a State of the 'Stache update as the Mo is coming along quite nicely.  I didn't mention the blog -- I thought that would possibly be overkill -- but I did shake Guy's hand and tell him that I was one of his biggest fans, which I'm sure he's heard a million times before but in my case I believe it is really true.

I wonder if he noticed my necklace.

As a final note on this encounter, while I was waiting in line someone gave Carbo an absolutely beautiful photo of him to sign, a black and white of him when he was quite young.  It's rare when I find a Carbonneau photo I haven't seen before.  I wish I'd thought to ask the person where they got it.

I'd like to thank the Franco-Ontarienne foundation and Desjardins for putting on such a great event.  It was a blast!  Thanks especially to Philippe who was so kind and helpful when I ordered the tickets.

Finally, from heroes on the ice to heroes who I believe are far more important -- today is Remembrance Day.  I capped off my day by attending Poppy Day at my local tattoo studio.  Please take a moment today to remember those who have served and who currently serve, who protect us and fight for our freedom.

Lest we forget.  (tattoo by Genevieve Soulard, The Wizzard's Den, Petawawa ON, Canada)

Testing...testing...

And we're back!  The blog took an unexpected summer hiatus -- in my real life, among other things, there was a fire at my work which forced us to relocate.  So blogging hasn't been high on my list of priorities this summer, but I'm attempting to return to business as usual.

It has also been a rather quiet time to be a Carbo fan.  Whether or not the man himself decided to also take the summer off, there just hasn't been much in the way of news to report.  Recently, however, Guy did make an appearance here in Ottawa in conjunction with radio station CHEZ106 (which is the BEST radio station in the world, for this writer's money) to announce the winner of a giveaway.

Guy with CHEZ106 DJ Cosmo (source:  CHEZ106.com)

It is to be assumed that Guy is returning to RDS for another season as an analyst.  Once I see confirmation of that, I'll update.  But the second purpose of this post is to show off some of my boyfriend Erik's recent handiwork:

This is little!Carbo.  Erik spent months working on him, and at the end of July brought him by bus from his home in Boston to me in Canada.  Here are some pictures from his trip.

Waiting to depart at Boston's South Station.

Riding along somewhere in New Hampshire.

Rest stop in White River Junction, VT.

In his human counterpart's home of Montreal, waiting to board the bus to Ottawa.  At this point there were no more photos on the bus, because the driver was pretty stern about NO PHOTOS ON GREYHOUND PROPERTY EVER.  However, then my gift got to Ottawa and was delivered to me and I was pretty happy.  So there's this final shot of little!Carbo in my car:

Yay!

Ask Carbo a question via Twitter

No, the man hasn't joined the popular social media platform yet but via the Canadiens online magazine AllHabs.net, Carbo has graciously offered to participate in a Twitter interview for those who could not meet him in person at his recent Real Man Challenge appearances at the Bell Centre.  (What a guy!)  

For info -- and to read the most excellent article about Guy included -- visit here.

Some news of note

AHL Outdoor Classic roundup:  On January 20, the AHL Outdoor Classic between Leafs and Habs alumni was played at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario.  Guy managed to sneak a goal past Curtis Joseph, and the alumni broke out in an impromptu singalong of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline."  Later, Carbo said it was one of the best things he'd ever seen in hockey and that it gave him goosebumps:  "Especially when that snow started to come down just as we were singing."  (Hamilton Spectator)

(Photo:  Carbo facing off against Doug Gilmour.)

On February 10, Carbo and other Habs alumni are coming to Winkler, Manitoba as part of an exhibition fundraiser for the Winkler Flyers.  Tickets for the game are $10 and are available at the Winkler Co-op Gas Bar and at Winkler Flyers home games.  (Winkler Times)

Ron Caron, who scouted Carbo for the Canadiens all those years ago, passed away recently at the age of 82.  Said Guy with a laugh:  "He said he scouted me.  You know how scouts are.  If you turn out to be a player, they scouted you.  If you don't, they didn't see you."  (QMI Agency)

In Sept-Iles, Carbo will be returning to his hometown as part of a hockey tournament.  He will participate in the opening ceremony on January 27 at 18h (6 PM) at the arena Conrad-Parent, and will perform the ceremonial puck drop the following day at noon on the ice outside the Holiday stadium, weather permitting.  (Le Nord-Est)

Finally, if you're a resident of Quebec, you can win a trip to DC to see a Montreal Canadiens/Washington Capitals game with five of your friends...and Guy!  All the info on Delissio's On The Road With a Legend contest is here.

Two Carbo news items of note

1)  Carbo will be taking part in the 2012 PepsiCo American Hockey League's Outdoor Alumni/Celebrity Game on Friday, January 20 at 7:30 PM at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario.  This game will be played before a Hamilton Bulldogs-Toronto Marlies matchup and features Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs alumni such as Wendel Clark, Doug Gilmour, Curtis Joseph, Patrice Brisebois, and Stephane Richer.(hamiltonscores.com)

2)  Carbo has joined a new Quebec reality show, "The Franchise," as a judge.  The grand prize on the show is a St-Hubert Express franchise.  The show starts airing February 1 on the V network.  (MSN)

News roundup.

First of all, congratulations are in order to Carbo's former teammate and Habs assistant, Kirk Muller, on being hired as the Carolina Hurricanes' new head coach.  Muller is a rookie NHL head coach, replacing Paul Maurice behind the bench (who has been fired by the Canes for the second time in a decade).  Best of luck to you, Kirk!

Some Carbonneau news items:

• On November 23, Guy took part in the seventh annual CN Hockey Greatest Stars challenge, which raised $335,000 to help charitable organizations supported by the CN Employees' and Pensioners' Community Fund.  Guy played on a squad of former Montreal Canadiens that also included Steve Begin, Patrice Brisebois, Mathieu Dandenault, and Stephane Richer.  

(photo source:  CN)

• Guy is included in a box set of 12 prints by the artist Pierre Pivet, featuring Habs legends.  These prints are signed and come in a limited edition of 875, priced at $2,950.  More information about these prints can be found here.
• On Thursday, December 1, starting at 6:30 PM, Carbo will be at Bar Au Diable Vert (18+ only), located at 4557 rue Saint-Denis in Montreal, for a showing of Game 5 of the 1993 Stanley Cup Final between the Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings.  The coach of that winning Habs team, Jacques Demers, will also be at the event.  Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door.  All proceeds are being donated to the Great Food Drive. 
• On Friday, December 2, Carbo will be at the Sportplexe 4 Ice Pierrefonds, as part of a tour sponsored by Canadian Tire, helping young people with their hockey skills.  Stephane Richer, Gaston Gingras, and Patrice Brisebois will also be in attendance.  A total of 3,000 young hockey players aged 7 to 12 years, from Novice, Atom and Peewee, try their luck across Canada. The top five boys and five girls in the best overall ranking in each category will participate in the grand finale presented on the Rideau Canal, Saturday, Jan. 28. 

Carbo to participate in Alma Legends game

As part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Alma Provincial Midget Hockey Tournament in Alma, Quebec, Carbo will be participating in a Legends game this Friday, November 11.  Other Canadiens alumni taking part in this game are Patrice Brisebois, Stephane Richer, Mathieu Dandenault, and Guy Lafleur, who will be acting as coach.  

As of October 31, less than 100 tickets were still available.  The game takes place at 7PM at Centre Mario Tremblay.  Everyone is invited to Mario Tremblay's Restaurant and Bar after the game to meet the players and take part in an auction.  Tickets are $15 (free for children 12 and under) and are available at Jean Coutu, Dupont Auto Alma, Alma Bell Store and Mario Tremblay's Restaurant and Bar.  (Journal Lac St-Jean)

Carbo applauds Shanny

On Tuesday, Carbo appeared at Guy Lafleur's Bleu Blanc Rouge restaurant for the unveiling of 12 serigraphs of Canadiens legends by the artist Pierre Pivet.  He applauded the work being currently done by the NHL's Senior VP of Player Safety, Brendan Shanahan.  He stated that Shanahan was always a player in good faith, and that the NHL has evolved into an era where suspensions were not severe enough.  He also said that the new system in place is extraordinary and truly transparent.  (TVA Sports; article in French)

(photo credit:  Agence QMI)