Guy Carbonneau

Joseph Harry Guy Carbonneau ( ; born March 18, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach and executive in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played 19 seasons in the NHL for the Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, and Dallas Stars from 1980 to 2000. Most recently, he served as president of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Chicoutimi Saguenéens.

Drafted in the third round by the Canadiens in 1979, he became a regular member of the team in the season and quickly became a reliable defensive forward that recorded five 20-goal seasons while being awarded the Frank J. Selke Trophy three times for his defensive skills. He became captain of the Canadiens in 1989 and led the team to the 1993 championship, currently the last in franchise history. In 1994, he was traded to the Blues, where he played one season before being traded to the Stars in 1995. He played his final five seasons with the team and won the Stanley Cup once more in 1999. He recorded over 200 goals and 600 points in 1,300 games while winning the Stanley Cup three times as a player.

After retiring as a player, he became an assistant coach for Montreal and Dallas from 2000 to 2006. While serving as associate coach with the Canadiens in 2006, he was promoted to head coach and served in the position until he was fired in 2009. He later served as a television analyst and coach/owner of the Chicoutimi Saguenéens until he resigned in 2011. Carbonneau was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.

Playing career Carbonneau started his hockey career in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens. After an impressive 182-point season with the Sagueneens, Carbonneau was drafted 44th overall in the 1979 NHL entry draft by the Montreal Canadiens. His strong play as a defensive forward helped the Canadiens to a Stanley Cup championship in 1985–86, followed by three Frank J. Selke Trophy wins in 1987–1988, 1988–1989, and 1991–1992.

In 1989–1990, he was named the captain of the Canadiens, and led them to the Stanley Cup Final in the 1992–93 season against the Los Angeles Kings. After the Game 1 loss, he qas quoted as going into hea coach Jacques Demers office and stating, “Give me [Wayne] Gretzky"; Gretzky had four points in the opening game but with Carbonneau around him for the next four games, he only had three combined points as Montreal won in five games. Noted for his durable nature, he soon saw his knees start to trouble him. A few days after the team was eliminated in the 1994 playoffs, Carbonneau was playing golf with teammates when he noticed that a photographer for Journal de Montréal was lurking in a tree, which led to him giving the finger that was captured on film and later printed on the front page of the newspaper. In a move later referred to by the Montreal Gazette as a "panic move", Carbonneau was traded on August 19, 1994 to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Jim Montgomery.

He played there for one season before moving to the Dallas Stars in a trade on October 2, 1996. He won his third Stanley Cup in 1998–1999 with the Stars. Next season, Carbonneau and the Stars reached the Stanley Cup Final again but this time they lost to the New Jersey Devils. Carbonneau announced his retirement on July 1, 2000 after 19 seasons.

Carbonneau was one of the more popular Canadiens; fans chanted "Guy, Guy, Guy!" whenever he touched the puck, much as they did for Guy Lafleur (with whom Carbonneau played from 1982 to 1985) during his career.

He was also one of the most admired Dallas Stars players. He took the ceremonial opening faceoff for the Stars when they played the Canadiens at the last game at the Montreal Forum.

Post-playing career

In 2005, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League created the Guy Carbonneau Trophy (Trophée Guy Carbonneau), awarded annually to the player in the QMJHL judged to be the best defensive forward.

After serving as an assistant coach to Michel Therrien with the Canadiens from 2000 to 2002, Carbonneau moved back to the Dallas Stars where he worked as an assistant general manager (he was named to the position on May 26, 2002), until his return to Montreal in January 2006.

On January 14, 2006, Carbonneau became the Montreal Canadiens associate coach, as Claude Julien was fired and GM Bob Gainey assumed the role of interim head coach. Carbonneau became head coach, after the Canadiens were eliminated from the playoffs. He was the 28th coach of the Montreal team.

On April 30, 2008, he was named a candidate for the Jack Adams Award awarded to the best head coach of the year, but lost by 12 points to Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau.

On March 9, 2009, he was fired as the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens with 16 games left. He was replaced by general manager Bob Gainey.

On September 17, 2009, Carbonneau became an analyst for CBC Sports Hockey Night in Canada. He left CBC after the 2009–2010 season and joined Réseau des sports as an analyst. He also appeared in the first season (2010) of La série Montréal-Québec as the head coach for the Montreal team.

On February 7, 2011, Carbonneau became head coach of the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, the team he co-owns. He resigned in July 2011. His group subsequently sold their interest in the team.

On June 25, 2019, Carbonneau was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame and formally inducted in November.

Awards and achievements Award Year(s) QMJHL Second All-Star Team 1980 Frank J. Selke Trophy 1988, 1989, 1992 Stanley Cup champion 1986, 1993 (Montreal), 1999 (Dallas)Hockey Hall of Fame2019 Coach, Canadian national team, Maccabiah Games 2017, Gold medal winner.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1976–77 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 59 9 20 29 8 4 1 0 1 0 1977–78 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 70 28 55 83 60 — — — — — 1978–79 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 72 62 79 141 47 4 2 1 3 4 1979–80 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 72 72 110 182 6 12 9 15 24 28 1979–80 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL — — — — — 2 1 1 2 2 1980–81 Montreal Canadiens NHL 2 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 1980–81 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 78 35 53 88 87 6 1 3 4 9 1981–82 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 77 27 67 94 124 9 2 7 9 8 1982–83 Montreal Canadiens NHL 77 18 29 47 68 3 0 0 0 2 1983–84 Montreal Canadiens NHL 78 24 30 54 75 15 4 3 7 12 1984–85 Montreal Canadiens NHL 79 23 34 57 43 12 4 3 7 8 1985–86 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 20 36 56 57 20 7 5 12 35 1986–87 Montreal Canadiens NHL 79 18 27 45 68 17 3 8 11 20 1987–88 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 17 21 38 61 11 0 4 4 2 1988–89 Montreal Canadiens NHL 79 26 30 56 44 21 4 5 9 10 1989–90 Montreal Canadiens NHL 68 19 36 55 37 11 2 3 5 6 1990–91 Montreal Canadiens NHL 78 20 24 44 63 13 1 5 6 10 1991–92 Montreal Canadiens NHL 72 18 21 39 39 11 1 1 2 6 1992–93 Montreal Canadiens NHL 61 4 13 17 20 20 3 3 6 10 1993–94 Montreal Canadiens NHL 79 14 24 38 48 7 1 3 4 4 1994–95 St. Louis Blues NHL 42 5 11 16 16 7 1 2 3 6 1995–96 Dallas Stars NHL 71 8 15 23 38 — — — — — 1996–97 Dallas Stars NHL 73 5 16 21 36 7 0 1 1 6 1997–98 Dallas Stars NHL 77 7 17 24 40 16 3 1 4 6 1998–99 Dallas Stars NHL 74 4 12 16 31 17 2 4 6 6 1999–00 Dallas Stars NHL 69 10 6 16 36 23 2 4 6 12 NHL totals 1,318 260 403 663 820 231 38 55 93 161

Coaching career