this is kind of beside the point, because i don't judge ray bourque for his summertime choices. but no one in the history of the game has played as many minutes as ray bourque did.
in '91, he was coming off 13 playoff rounds in the last four years, all while routinely playing 30-35 minutes a game, and usually more than that in the playoffs. whatever else was going on in his life, the man needed a rest, even if he was a physical freak.
in '96, he's still averaging 30 minutes a game and he's 35 years old. he's played ungodly minutes for the last 17 years, and made the playoffs every year too, so there's a lot of extra games right there. he'd played three canada cups, which is fine when you're 21, 24, and 27, but like markus naslund said the year sweden won in the olympics, a guy's first responsibility is to the organization that pays him millions of dollars to compete for a stanley cup, and older guys need more a break when they can get it.
i can hear the response now: if chelios can do it, ray bourque can do it. well yeah, he could have, but that doesn't mean it would have been the right decision for him.
