As one Bruins newcomer recently pointed out, being team captain in today's NHL is a lot like being a goal judge.
Referees rule on goals and general managers put the fear into players.
Ray Bourque has always led by example anyway, although despite recovering from his bout with the flu, he looked like just another follower last Saturday, giving the puck away twice for goals against in a 9-3 debacle against lowly Chicago. Win or lose, Bourque's quiet style fits nicely into modern times as players tend to their own business and all decisions are left up to management. But management has the last word, and this week it spoke louder than Burns ever could when it signed another veteran free agent. The move says that there isn't enough character in the locker room, that there isn't enough leadership on the bench or toughness on the ice, and it says the young players we've been ballyhooing the past three years aren't so good after all. Furthermore, it undermines the Bruins' commitment to its young nucleus of talent.