Bourque goes out on top

(Jun 26) DENVER (AP) - Ray Bourque retired Tuesday, ending a 22-year career that culminated earlier this month when he hoisted the Stanley Cup with tears streaming down his face.

An emotional Bourque dabbed at his eyes and choked back tears several times as he announced his retirement at a news conference. He said he wanted to spend more time with his family. "Frankly, I also have had a strong commitment to myself never to stay too long in the game," he said. "Also, we are still on cloud nine having won the Stanley Cup and having achieved that goal kind of rounds off my career.

Please see below for a Ray Bourque quicksketch

"It's been a wonderful, happy, terrific 22 years."

Bourque, 40, the highest-scoring defenceman in NHL history, was a five-time winner of the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenceman and had 19 straight appearances in the NHL all-star game.

He played for 21 seasons in Boston, but requested a trade to a contender in March 2000 in hopes of winning the Stanley Cup. He finally got it when the Colorado Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils in Game 7 on June 9.

"In September 1979, I reported to my first training camp with the Boston Bruins, hoping to make the big team," he said. "I was a shy, quiet kid from St. Laurent, Que. I believed I could play in the NHL, but you never know until you get there.

"Over 1,800 games and 22 years later, here I am having exceeded my wildest dreams. I have been honored to play with great players on terrific teams. I have been very lucky along the way. I've avoided devastating injuries. I've won a few awards. And I've capped my career by being part of a Stanley Cup-winning team."

Despite his long career in Boston, Bourque said, "I am a Colorado Avalanche, and I am retiring as one. So it is only right that I have returned to Denver to make this announcement."

Family matters became more important for Bourque since his trade to the Avalanche. Bourque's wife, Christiane, and their children, aged 17, 15, and 10, stayed in Boston after he was traded.

Besides spending more time with his family, Bourque said he had no immediate plans for his future.

"This summer is going to be very busy, especially with a visit from my new friend, Stanley," he said. "I've had that cup twice now with me, and next week it's going to Montreal with me. I'll see it again in August.

"I suppose once I get to the fall, I'll be able to sit back and think about some business options and other opportunities.

"But for the moment, we are still savouring the Cup victory and adjusting to our new status as a retiree."

He called winning the Cup "an unbelievable feeling" but insisted he had "absolutely no regrets" about leaving the game now.

"To compete at the highest level of this game, you have to be mentally prepared every night," he said. "Honestly, that gets tougher and tougher to do after 22 seasons. That, combined with another difficult training camp, makes the alternative of retirement pretty attractive.

"I could have played another two or three years, but I don't think I would have played at the same level. I've always wanted to go out on my terms and playing at the level I've been accustomed to playing. There are some things you can't do anymore. You make some adjustments, but you just can't react as quick, and I knew I wasn't going to get any quicker."

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was among those who wished Bourque well.

"I join the thousands of players who played with him - and against him - and the millions of fans he entertained around the world in wishing Ray Bourque only the best in the years to come," Bettman said in a statement. "A career dedicated to the pursuit of excellence on and off the ice has culminated in a Stanley Cup championship and the accomplishment of his ultimate mission."

With Bourque's retirement, the Avalanche save $5.5 million, the difference between his 2001-02 salary of $6.5 million and a $1-million buyout. That should help the team pursue its marquee free agents: Joe Sakic, Rob Blake and Patrick Roy.

Bourque won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1979-80, collecting 17 goals and 48 assists in 80 games.

"I will always be a Bruin in my heart," Bourque said, thanking former GM Harry Sinden for drafting him.

Bourque retires as the NHL's all-time leading scorer among defencemen, having scored 410 goals and registered 1,579 points. Paul Coffey is second with 1,531.

Bourque's best offensive season came in 1983-84 when he scored 31 goals and added 65 assists for 96 points in 78 games.

His level of play barely deteriorated in recent years. He finished second in voting for the Norris Trophy behind Detroit's Nicklas Listrom this year. Bourque had seven goals and 52 assists in 80 games, his best season since 1995-96.

A look at Ray Bourque, who retired Tuesday after 22 NHL

seasons:

Full name: Raymond Jean Bourque.

Born: Dec. 28, 1960, Montreal.

Size: Six feet, 223 pounds.

Shoots: Left.

Position: Defence.

Drafted: Eighth overall by Boston Bruins, 1979 NHL entry draft, from QMJHL's Sorel Eperviers.

Career stax: 410 goals, 1,169 assists, 1,579 points, 1,612 games from 1979-80 to 2000-01.

Teams: Just under 21 seasons with Boston; 15 months with Colorado Avalanche.

Awards: Five Norris Trophies, one Calder Trophy, one King Clancy Trophy.

Team Canada: Played in 1981, '84 and '87 Canada Cups, and 1998 Winter Olympics.

Noteworthy: All-time career points leader among NHL defencemen ... 19 straight appearances in NHL all-star game ... Team with most career points against was Hartford/Carolina organization with 146, followed by Quebec/Colorado (132).

#Career statistics for Ray Bourque, who announced his retirement 
Tuesday:#
RAY BOURQUE
Defenseman
BORN:    December 28, 1960
SHOOTS:  Left
6-feet, 219 pounds 
                             Regular Season            Playoffs
YEAR     TEAM            GP   G   A  PTS  PIM    GP   G   A  PTS  PIM  
1979-80  BOSTON          80  17  48   65   73    10   2   9   11   27
1980-81  BOSTON          67  27  29   56   96     3   0   1    1    2
1981-82  BOSTON          65  17  49   66   51     9   1   5    6   16
1982-83  BOSTON          65  22  51   73   20    17   8  15   23   10
1983-84  BOSTON          78  31  65   96   57     3   0   2    2    0
1984-85  BOSTON          73  20  66   86   53     5   0   3    3    4
1985-86  BOSTON          74  19  58   77   68     3   0   0    0    0
1986-87  BOSTON          78  23  72   95   36     4   1   2    3    0
1987-88  BOSTON          78  17  64   81   72    23   3  18   21   26
1988-89  BOSTON          60  18  43   61   52    10   0   4    4    6
1989-90  BOSTON          76  19  65   84   50    17   5  12   17   16
1990-91  BOSTON          76  21  73   94   75    19   7  18   25   12
1991-92  BOSTON          80  21  60   81   56    12   3   6    9   12
1992-93  BOSTON          78  19  63   82   40     4   1   0    1    2
1993-94  BOSTON          72  20  71   91   58    13   2   8   10    0
1994-95  BOSTON          46  12  31   43   20     5   0   3    3    0
1995-96  BOSTON          82  20  62   82   58     5   1   6    7    2
1996-97  BOSTON          62  19  31   50   18    --   -   -   --   -- 
1997-98  BOSTON          82  13  35   48   80     6   1   4    5    2
1998-99  BOSTON          81  10  47   57   34    12   1   9   10   14
1999-00  BOSTON          65  10  28   38   20    --   -   -   --   --
         COLORADO        14   8   6   14    6    13   1   8    9    8
2000-01  COLORADO        80   7  52   59   48    21   4   6   10   12
         TOTALS        1612 410 1169 1579 1141  214  41 139  180  171

The fire went out on Saturday when Richard died after a two-year battle with a rare form of cancer in his abdomen. He was 78.

Richard first fell ill with the disease during a Florida vacation in January 1998. While the cancer was held at bay by medication, he also developed a form of Parkinson's disease.

He fell ill again this month.

"He was always the image of the Montreal Canadiens, no matter how many other great players came after him," said Marc Bureau, a former Canadiens centre who was born too late to see the Rocket play. "He represents the CH (on the Montreal jersey)."

Richard was the most exciting player of his day - some say of all time.

Teammates were inspired and opponents intimidated by the Rocket's glare.

"What set the Rocket apart was his intensity," said former linemate Bernard (Boom Boom) Geoffrion. "If we were down a goal or two, the Rocket was there to tie it up again.

"As soon as he would touch the puck, you could feel the electricity in the crowd. It was amazing to see how people would react - not only in Montreal, but everywhere he played. There's never been another like him."

He also became a symbol of French-Canadian pride and his suspension for striking a linesman prompted irate fans to riot in 1955.

In the '50s, arguments raged over whether Richard or Detroit's Gordie Howe was the best in the game - with Richard the league's premier scorer and Howe a dominating playmaker and physical presence.

But Richard was the pacesetter - establishing 16 NHL records, nearly all of which have been surpassed since his retirement after the 1959-60 season.

He still holds the record of six career overtime goals in the playoffs. Two other playoff records - four points in one period and five goals in one game - have each been equalled by several players.

But he was the first to score 50 goals in a season, which in 1944-45 had only 50 games. And he was the undisputed leader of the Canadiens dynasty that won a record five consecutive Stanley Cups between 1956 and 1960.

Richard played on eight Stanley Cup-winning teams and was named to the first or second all-star team in 14 of his 18 seasons.

But he never won a scoring title and only once, in 1947, was he named the NHL's most valuable player.

Born in Montreal on Aug. 4, 1921, he grew up in a rough part of the city next to the Bordeaux jail and married Lucille Norchet when he was 19 and she 17. His father, Onesime Richard, was a machinist for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

In his last two years as an amateur, Richard broke an ankle and a wrist and almost despaired of making it as a professional.

"I never thought I would be invited to the Montreal camp," he once said. "That was during the war and there were places for four or five guys to make the team. I made the team."

Richard scored his first NHL goal against Steve Buzinski of the New York Rangers on Nov. 8, 1942, but that season ended early with an ankle injury.

The next season, coach Dick Irvin put him on right wing with centre Elmer Lach and left-winger Toe Blake - the renowned Punch Line that terrorized NHL goaltenders for several seasons.

Richard's best shot at a scoring title was in 1954-55, when he led the league with 74 points with four games left to play.

But in the third period of a game in Boston, Richard was high-sticked by Hal Laycoe and responded by breaking his stick over the Bruins defenceman's back.

When linesman Cliff Thompson intervened, Richard punched the official and was given a match penalty by referee Frank Udvari.

League president Clarence Campbell suspended him for the remaining three games of the regular season and for the playoffs.

Montreal fans were furious. Not only was the Rocket's scoring championship in jeopardy - his teammate Bernard Geoffrion received death threats when he overtook Richard to win the scoring crown - but the Canadiens were tied for first place with the Red Wings, the next visitors to the Forum.

Campbell was in his customary seat for the game, being heckled and pelted with refuse, when a tear-gas bomb exploded a few metres away.

The president was punched twice as police escorted him to safety and the city fire director ordered the Forum evacuated. The game was forfeited to the Red Wings, who went on to finish first.

Frustrated fans staged a four-hour rampage on downtown Ste-Catherine Street, smashing store windows, overturning cars, looting and assaulting bystanders. Thirty-seven men and about 100 juveniles were arrested.

At the request of Canadiens general manager Frank Selke, Richard went on radio and TV, pleading for calm in French and English.

The incident was called the Richard Riot and some believe it to be the first public demonstration of growing French-Canadian nationalism that took form as the separatist movement in the 1960s.

Richard, who always insisted he was "just a hockey player" rather than a cultural icon, slowed down after a severe Achilles tendon injury in 1957.

After retiring three years later, he said: "I've felt awful the last three years. It's not that I'm sick but I've been hurt so often. I just can't keep up the pace any more."

The Rocket took a job in the Canadiens' front office after his retirement, but left shortly after complaining he was not being consulted on hockey matters.

He later had a disastrous few days as coach of the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association. At various times he owned a tavern, did promotional work and operated scrap-iron and fishing-tackle businesses.

His rift with the Canadiens healed in 1980 when he was named a special ambassador for the team, a job he held until his death.

The Canadian Press, 2000