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METULA, Israel – Guy Carbonneau’s 18 NHL seasons produced three Stanley Cup Championships, three Selke Trophies and profound hockey acumen.But a gold medal on the international stage remained elusive for the defensive specialist from Quebec never afforded the opportunity to represent Canada during his playing days.
But, that is no longer the case for the 53-year-old Carbonneau who led Canada’s hockey team to gold at the recently concluded Maccabiah Games (or so-called “Jewish Olympics”).
Canada defeated familiar foe USA 7-1 in the final of the open division at the games. Ukraine and Israel also fielded sides in the four-team tournament.
“Anytime you get a chance to get behind the bench, coach and represent your country it’s a thrill,” Carbonneau noted after the tournament.
“I love competition and never got the chance to play at the Olympics or World Championships. Whenever you get a chance to be part of Hockey Canada, it’s a tremendous opportunity,” added Carbonneau, who was coaching the Canadian U18 national team in 2010.
The Maccabiah Games are held every four years in Israel and are open to Jewish and Israeli athletes, promoting competition and the opportunity for participants to further explore Israel and Jewish history.
Hockey made its first and most recent appearance at the Maccabiah Games in 1997 but had a comeback in the 2013 Maccabiah Games.The event took place in the northern Israeli city of Metula near the Lebanese border. Metula possesses the only full-sized ice rink in the country fittingly called the Canada Centre Ice Rink.
Canada also won the tournament in the junior division, while the United States claimed gold in the masters division.
Previous international coaching engagements for Carbonneau include serving as head coach at the 2010 IIHF U18 World Championship and assistant coach at the 2001 World Championship and at the U18 World Championship the same year.
Yet, Canada failed to medal in all three of Carbonneau’s experiences, while gold at the Maccabiah Games almost never materialized.
Legendary coach Mike Keenan was scheduled to be behind the bench for Canada until he took over duties for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL in mid-May.
“I got a call two months ago asking if I was interested,” Carbonneau explained. “They could’ve played it anywhere and I would’ve said yes. I really enjoy having the opportunity to travel and coach internationally.”
Not only did the tournament produce a long-awaited gold for Carbonneau, but it might have also rekindled his passion for coaching.
“I’d love to coach again. I’m passionate about working with players, but the situation must make sense,” said Carbonneau.
“It’s not a money thing. The lifestyle must make sense for me as well,” he added.
Currently, Carbonneau serves as an analyst for French-Canadian broadcaster RDS on hockey telecasts, a role he relishes due to the cerebral nature of watching and analyzing the game.
Someone entrenched in the game for so long offers a unique perspective on the future of the game both in terms of quality and expansion.“Being in Israel, you notice how much the game is growing in non-traditional places. It’s a lot like my time in Dallas, or places like Phoenix or Los Angeles. It’s hot, you’re already sweating on the way to practice, but hockey is still being played there,” Carbonneau remarked.
Carbonneau went on to explain how the game at the youth level is constantly improving and how impressive it is to see hockey played in places like the Middle East.He used Switzerland’s inclusion in the gold medal game at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship as a prime example of how countries not typically considered major hockey powers are now putting their stamp on the game.Events similar to the Maccabiah Games and the inclusion of quality hockey characters such as Carbonneau will continue to drive the game into previously unchartered territories. (link)
“It was a little different,” Carbonneau said of ice hockey in Israel, where the sport was part of Maccabiah for the first time since 1997.
“They’re just starting to understand what hockey is,” he said. “It’s a small country. Hopefully in the next little while there will be a little more, and if [so], more kids are eventually going to skate and they’ll be better.” ( link)
Okay. I hardly ever post here but this came up. I certainly don't know as much about gameworn in general as you guys but I do know about Carbonneau, having been a hardcore collector of his stuff for over half a decade. It's not that concentrated in GW stuff -- I have a few pieces -- but I have pretty much all the random non-GW stuff that came out during the Habs era. With Dallas there was not a whole lot. Anyway.
I'm just going on what I know and what I can take a good guess at based on what I've seen and related information, but the wear on this jersey looks about right based on other Carbos I've seen. Lots of repairs on the elbows and sleeves (yep that's Guy all right) ratty crest, stick marks, etc. The 86/04 tag -- I do not know much about Habs tagging, or Maska tagging, but there was a 1986-87 home on Classic a number of years ago with the same 86/04 tag, so I'm guessing that season? The listing does not give the year, which bugs me. Also bugging me is the "obtained from a member of Leafs staff" provenance. If you're doing provenance and you're putting it on an auction page you better come up with something better than that. How did the Leafs person get it? From the Leafs? (WTF were they doing with a Habs jersey? If they had a Habs jersey, they probably would've burned it. LOL) From Carbo himself? From a collector? Was the Leafs person a collector? If so, what do they know? Questions. If I had the answers I'd put them right on the auction page instead of having people ask in because with something of that price, they're gonna ask. I know LOAs don't come even remotely close to photomatching, but yeah. The auction page does not even mention an LOA. If you're a memorabilia dealer which this seller seems to be but you're not offering one? Suspect. 7 day return policy on the auction.
Also, a friend of mine has a 1984-85 Carbonneau home (from Marc Juteau/Classic, sleeves on that one are a disaster too) and she was told by a Habs/Carbo fan that they only issued one home jersey to him that year, which is the one she has. He didn't say about the road jerseys but I'm guessing just one too. That was two years before this jersey, if the date is right. So that also explains the wear -- less jerseys. But people can also fake wear pretty well so I don't know. Also the policy on how many jerseys issued might've changed in the two years -- Habs experts?
Also. I first saw this listing this morning. It was at $1700 then. No bids, that was just the starter. The auction has obviously been pulled -- it wasn't to end for another few days -- and relisted at $1400. When it was at 17 it had 6 watchers. I can't find information on the seller other than it's apparently Glory Days Sports in Toronto. 28 Ripley. They have a Facebook page but it's basically empty. No updates. The page has been on Facebook since 2011. [This was the one thing I was wrong about, the Facebook page I was referring to was a different one, the one linked here is active.] eBay feedback is basically good -- no negs this year -- but that's neither here nor there re: the authenticity of the jersey.
So there you go. If anyone else can shed more light, please do so. If it is legit, I'm surprised that someone hasn't already jumped on it because it's a Montreal jersey and Guy's stuff from Montreal is most desirable. Glory days. But then again, I'm also surprised that his 2nd to last jersey on gamewornauctions a few months ago went so low. It was the last of his from his NHL career to ever hit the market (the home from his final game was retained by the Stars, per Barry, and likely given to him when he retired). And it's an SCF, even if the Stars lost that series. Based on some of the prices of other Carbos from auctions past. But that always can change.
And, if it is legit, it's pretty well photomatchable and I have a very, very good shot at matching it because I have all the Les Canadiens magazines from when Guy played with them except I think the one from 1985-86 where Gainey is doing the Superman thing on the cover. And those have tons, TONS, of Guy action photos. So if someone here or someone reading this picks it up, e-mail me.
My verdict: I'm not going to give one one way or the other, I'll leave that to the rest of you, I'm just giving what I know personally.
Oh yeah. And the pasted in Wikipedia thing on Guy's career. I edited that previously so it WAS right, but I see someone has effed with it again because his draft date is listed as 1980. NOT RIGHT. It was 1979. 3rd round. 44th overall. This is why you shouldn't rely on Wikipedia for anything.
Cheers.
