QMJHL Announces Honourary Captains for SUBWAY Super Series

Press Release

TORONTO, Monday, November 9, 2009 – The Canadian Hockey League in association with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, SUBWAY®, and the Drummondville Voltigeurs and Shawinigan Cataractes today announced that QMJHL Hall of Fame members Guy Carbonneau and Guy Lafleur have been named Honourary Captains for the SUBWAY® Super Series.

Carbonneau, a retired NHL star and former coach of the Montreal Canadiens will participate in the opening game of the series in Drummondville on Monday November 16, while Lafleur, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame will be in attendance for game two in Shawinigan on Wednesday November 18.

"We are extremely happy that two of our Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Hall of Fame inductees, Guy Carbonneau and Guy Lafleur, have accepted to act as Honourary Captains for the SUBWAY® Super Series" said QMJHL Commissioner Gilles Courteau. "Their continued involvement and dedication to the QMJHL is a source of great pride for all those involved."

Carbonneau, a native of Sept-Iles, played four seasons in the QMJHL with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens from 1976-1980 scoring 435 points in 273 regular season games. He was selected 44th overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens and played with the club for 12 of his 18 NHL seasons. He collected 663 points in 1,318 games winning three Stanley Cup championships including two with the Canadiens in 1986 and as captain of the team in 1993, also winning with the Dallas Stars in 1999 before retiring one year later following the 1999-2000 season. He was a three-time recipient of the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the league’s Top Defensive Forward in 1988, 1989, and 1992. In 2005, the QMJHL created the Guy Carbonneau Trophy awarded to the player judged to be the Best Defensive Forward. Following his playing career, Carbonneau began coaching and served as Head Coach of the Canadiens for three seasons from 2006-2009. He is currently the President of the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Saguenéens and was inducted into the QMJHL Hall of Fame in 2001.

Lafleur, a native of Thurso, played two seasons in the QMJHL with the Quebec Remparts from 1969-71 where he had seasons of 170 points in 56 games and 209 points in 62 games respectively. He led the Remparts to a QMJHL and Memorial Cup Championship in 1971. That same year he was selected first overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL Amateur Draft. One of the greatest players in NHL history, Lafleur played 17 seasons in the NHL including 14 with the Canadiens. He is the club’s all-time leading scorer amassing 1,246 points including 518 goals and 728 assists and won five Stanley Cup Championships in 1973 and four-straight from 1976-1979. He led the league in scoring as winner of the Art Ross Trophy three-straight years from 1976-1978 and was named MVP of the league winning the Hart Memorial Trophy in 1977 and 1978, and the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Playoffs in 1977. Internationally, Lafleur played for Team Canada in the 1976 and 1981 Canada Cup Tournaments before his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988 and the QMJHL Hall of Fame in 1997.

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)