Twenty-four seasons and counting for Chris Chelios – and he doesn’t think about the ‘R’ word. And why should he, considering that, at age 46, he’s still a finely-tuned athlete, one who works out harder than players half his age and is still called on by his coach to play significant minutes on the Red Wings blue line, writes E. J. Hradek in ESPN The Magazine.
Yes, they’re fewer minutes than when he started his career during the Reagan Administration, but he still yearns for another shot at the Stanley Cup. "Age is like a black cloud over me. I hate it,” he says. But it doesn’t cross his mind when he’s on his third workout of the day - paddle-surfing in the Pacific Ocean with his kids. (More Detroit Red Wings stories.)