GOAT Index

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Ray Bourque: the case for the GOAT

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    Ray Bourque: the case for the GOAT

    D · Bruins · Born 28 December 1960, Montreal, Quebec, Canada · Career 1979–2001

    A durable, two-way defenceman who spent more than 20 seasons with Boston before a trade to Colorado brought him a long-awaited Stanley Cup in his final game.

    Career highlights

    Why Ray Bourque could be the GOAT

    Bourque is the highest-scoring defenceman in NHL history, with 1,579 points, and was an end-of-season All-Star 19 times. He was elite from his rookie year to his final one. His case is about sustained excellence over two decades rather than a short peak.

    What fans say

    Ray Bourque is #23 of 25 in the fan ranking, with a 0–2 head-to-head record from 23 NHL votes. See the full NHL GOAT ranking

    Ray Bourque head to head

    How the ranking works. Every head-to-head vote is a result, like a game. The standings use a Bradley–Terry model, the same idea behind chess ratings: beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot. Ratings are shown on a chess-style scale centred on 1500.

    One vote per matchup per person. If you see a pairing again in another session your new answer replaces the old one, so nobody can stuff the ballot by repeating a matchup.

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