This son would also like to rise

ANDOVER -- Chris Bourque discovered long ago that being Ray Bourque's son is great, but it's pretty hard being Ray Bourque's Son.

Ray Bourque's son attended his first Bruins practice at age 2 1/2. He learned hockey from NHL coaches and players, and he paired that knowledge with Hall of Fame hockey DNA. He often had the best seat in the house for Boston's greatest hockey moments of the past two decades. Ray Bourque's son feels the joy that comes with being hockey royalty.

Ray Bourque's Son has to protect a legacy, live up to 22 seasons, 1,612 games, 410 goals, 1,169 assists, and one sweeter-than-syrup Stanley Cup. He's had to listen to trash talk since he played mites, had to hear, "You're no Ray Bourque" from kids he hung hat tricks on. Ray Bourque's Son feels the pressure that comes with being hockey royalty.

As Chris Bourque prepares for his own pro career, starting with today's NHL Draft in Raleigh, N.C., he's trying to leave both identities in the past and forge his own. He's never shied away from either, and he's proud of both, but he's ready to carve his own legacy. Undoubtedly, that will be a challenge, especially since Chris will be spending at least next season at Boston University, playing in the city where his father turned from phenom to paragon.

"I don't want to be known as Ray Bourque's Son," Chris said. "I want to be known as myself, Chris Bourque."

His position will help his cause. Chris plays center, not defense. Appearance helps, too. Chris sports a mop of shaggy blond hair under a Red Sox cap, a stark contrast to the tight coif Ray wore at the end of his career. More glaring, Chris stands only 5 feet 7 1/2 inches.

That stature will drastically affect when he hears his name called today. Scouts rave about his skills, speed, and toughness. But, despite pint-sized Martin St. Louis leading Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup, a stigma still exists in a league where 6-3 defensemen are the rule.

"Smaller guys have to prove they can play," said Steve Lyons, a local scout for the Phoenix Coyotes. "Bigger guys have to prove they can't play."

That's part of the reason Chris, who began his senior season at Cushing Academy ranked as the 198th North American skater by the NHL Central Scouting Service, rocketed to No. 74 by the end of the year. He leapfrogged dozens of larger opponents, proving the first ranking was, as Cushing coach Steve Jacobs said, "a total, complete mistake." Still, despite the 37 goals and 53 assists Chris put up at Cushing last season in 31 games, he figures to go in the third round, mostly because of his size.

"That's the big question," Bruins assistant general manager Jeff Gorton said. "Will he grow? If he stays at the size he is now, where do you project him being?"

"He plays a lot bigger than he is," Ray said. "He plays with a lot of emotion. He plays with a nice edge that you need if you're going to be that size. I played with a lot of guys that weren't big in stature but big in character and courage. That he has."

Gorton wouldn't say where the Bruins have Bourque rated, not wanting to show his hand before draft day. But Gorton said the Bruins have Chris listed, and would be willing to select him if he fell to a spot they felt comfortable taking him. If Chris winds up in black and gold, it would most likely be in third round with the 94th overall pick.

While Chris's NHL team won't be decided until today, he's known his college team since he committed to BU the summer after his freshman year -- and maybe even before that.

"It's been my dream school since I was a little kid," Chris said. "All the tradition that they have, I don't think I could have picked a better school."

Choosing a school was easier than an empty-netter. He had heard about BU from former Terrier Chris Drury, who played with Ray with the Colorado Avalanche. He loved coach Jack Parker. Agganis Arena's scheduled debut enticed him. Nearly every team in Hockey East -- particularly Boston College -- vied for Chris, but after visiting BU and meeting with Parker, he decided he had seen enough. Against the suggestion of Ray, Chris didn't bother looking at any other schools.

BU became even sweeter when two childhood friends from when the Bourques lived in Danvers, Danny McGoff and Brian McGuirk, became Terriers, too. Bourque has been playing with McGuirk since mites, and he'll room with McGoff in the fall. He has been working out with them and the rest of his new teammates each morning. He and Brian will be in Raleigh for the draft.

"We've always talked about getting back together," said McGuirk, who played at Governor Dummer Academy. "When I committed, it was real neat."

Reuniting with his friends has special meaning for Bourque. Going to Bruins practice as a kid, he cherished hanging around in the locker room, listening to the players. Before his senior season, he was invited to play in the US National Team Development Program, which would have meant missing his final year at Cushing. His response? Thanks, but no thanks. He was intrigued, but couldn't say yes. He had great years at Cushing, where his father volunteered as an assistant coach. And he couldn't spurn his teammates.

"I thought I had to stay loyal to my team and friends," Chris said. "I had a bunch of good friends that I went to school with. Billy Ryan, Keith Yandle. All those kids, I couldn't have left them behind. They're my best friends. It would have been weird just leaving them in the dust like that."

That's Chris's loyalty coming through, proving a sturdy lower body and strong wrists aren't the only things he shares with Ray, who keeps a stone in his house with the name of every teammate he's ever played with carved into it.

Chris shares a passion for hockey with Ray, too. Jacobs, Cushing's coach, had to kick Chris off the ice after most practices, practices Chris would show up an hour early for. When Ray played for the Bruins, Chris would try to skip school just to attend practices, so he could press his nose on the glass and immerse himself in hockey.

"That used to be my favorite place to go," Chris said. "I used to skate with all the guys before practice and after practice and see how they did everything. That's probably a big reason why I'm the player I am.

"I think I could play hockey every day and not ever get sick of it. It's just something that I love. I don't think that will ever change."

The practice paid off. In August, he'll try out for the US World Junior Championship team. He makes his teammates better with what Parker calls, "an almost Larry Bird court sense," something he probably attained from years of studying his dad and teammates. He's able to thread passes through the smallest nook. He skates like the wind and hits like a hurricane.

"He can take a beating," Parker said. "And he can give a beating."

"It doesn't bother me how big a kid is or how supposedly tough he is," Chris said. "I'm going to go after them, and they're going to come after me. Either way, it doesn't really bother me."

On Wednesday, Ray explained how he looks at Chris's toughness.

"He'll initiate a lot more contact maybe than I did . . ."

Chris interrupted.

"I'm tougher," he joked.

Whatever skills Chris learned, Ray was there. After he retired in 2001, Ray approached Jacobs about helping coach Cushing. Jacobs probably thought for about, oh, three milliseconds before accepting the offer. It made opponents happy -- they got to shake Ray Bourque's hand after games.

It made Chris happy, too.

"It was unbelievable," Chris said. "You're not going to get a better coach anywhere you go . . ."

This time, Ray cut in.

"Be honest," he said. "It's a pain in the ass. I don't think it was easy for him, and it wasn't that easy for me sometimes. But it was fun. I had a good time."

For a season, Jacobs's son played for Cushing. For that year, they decided Ray would deal with him, and Jacobs would deal with Chris.

"You don't want to get them upset by being critical," Ray said. "You take criticism from your dad a lot different than you do from your coach."

That wasn't the hardest part about having his father behind the bench. Chris had to hear constant heckling from opposing fans and players, telling him he'd never live up to his father. His name made him an easy target.

"Everybody around knows that he's Ray Bourque's son," McGuirk said. "Some kids treat him differently. He's a big name and everything, but he just goes with it. He acts like just another kid."

Other people know, though, he's not just another kid. He's Ray Bourque's Son, and they expect big things.

His task now is to make them expect big things from Chris Bourque.

"I think a lot of people are going to go out and want to see Ray Bourque's son," Chris said. "But I'm going to try to make a name for myself. That's what I've done wherever else I've been.

"I don't see anybody being able to live up to what he's done. If I have half the career he had, that would still be an unbelievable career. I've learned so much from him. I just try and be myself, not try and be him. I'm my own person."