Bourque era ends in Boston
BOSTON (AP) — Ray Bourque wanted to win the Stanley Cup before he retired. He also wanted to finish his career in Boston.
When it became clear that he wouldn't be able to do both, Bourque asked to be traded to a contender. And the Bruins accommodated him on Monday by dealing him to the Colorado Avalanche.
“Whether it was going to be retirement, or a situation like this, it was going to be sad” when Bourque left, Boston general manager Harry Sinden said after announcing the deal.
“It's been a great, great trip for me with Ray Bourque. It's been a great trip for everybody in this town. And I think it's been a great trip for Ray, even without the Stanley Cup.”
The 39-year-old defenseman was traded along with forward Dave Andreychuk for forward Brian Rolston, defenseman Martin Grenier, center Sami Pahlsson and Boston's choice of a first-round pick in either 2000 or 2001.
Bourque immediately moves up in the NHL standings: Boston is out of the playoff race, dropping to 19-30-17 with Monday's 5-1 loss to Ottawa, while the Avalanche are seventh in the Western Conference with a 30-27-10 record.
“We told Ray we knew it may not be his first choice, but we think they are a contender,” Sinden said. “He said, ‘I do, too.' ”
Like Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito before him, Bourque established himself as one of hockey's greats with the Bruins, but he also will finish his career elsewhere.
The Bruins drafted Bourque eighth overall in 1979, and he quickly took his place in the tradition
established by Eddie Shore and Orr of standout Boston defenseman. In addition to the five Norris trophies as the league's top defenseman, he won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year and was the MVP of the 1996 .All-Star game in Boston.
But in both of his appearances in the Stanley Cup finals — in 1988 and 1990 — the Bruins lost to the Edmonton Oilers. Three years ago, Bourque missed the playoffs for the first time in his career, and he was asked if he might be interested in going elsewhere for the championship that Boston wasn't able to give him.
“I think I will probably end up playing here,” he said in 1997. “…If it ends without me winning a cup, so be it. It doesn't mean I haven't accomplished much and I haven't had a great career.
“But winning a Cup would be the ultimate. … For us, right now, it may not look all that rosy. But I am hopeful and optimistic things will get better.”
But now Boston is poised to miss the playoffs for just the second time since 1967, and Bourque no longer has the luxury of looking toward the future
“You have to see it as a nice thing for him to do,” Bruins forward Jason Allison said. “Hopefully, he'll get a chance to do something that everybody who plays the game wants to do. He's certainly earned it more than anybody.”
Bourque's 395 career regular-season goals places him first among defenseman in NHL history. He is second to Paul Coffey in career assists for a defenseman with 1,111.
Overall, he is ninth in scoring with 1,506 points and fifth in games played, with 1,518. In a list com-
piled by a panel of experts for The Associated Press, Bourque was ranked the 10th-best hockey player of the 20th Century.
“The fact that we brought in one of the greatest defensemen of all time, and at the same time one of the greatest snipers of all time in Dave Andreychuk is just a great, great thing for our hockey club. We're
thrilled,” Avalanche general manager Pierre Lacroix said in Denver. “With his presence and charisma, as a person he's going to bring a lot to this team.”
Both players are expected to be in the lineup for Colorado at Calgary on Tuesday night.
Bourque was not at the FleetCenter for Mondav night's loss to Ottawa, having collected a game puck as a souvenir and saying goodbye to his teammates after Saturday's game against Philadelphia. Andreychuk left the building after he was scratched from the lineup, a signal that he was also part of the deal.
Fans were subdued during the game, yelling “We want Raymond” after the Senators took a 1-6 first-period lead and mixing the chant with other jeers after Ottawa scored three goals in 100 seconds to go up 4-0 in the third.
But the crowd showed no anger towards Bourque, wishing him well with hand-lettered signs that said, “It won't be the same without No. 77,” and “It's a sad day without Ray.”
“It's hard not to miss him when you hear the fans cheering for him,” Bruins defenseman Hal Gill said.
Although Bourque was unavailable for comment, he told Sinden that he thought Colorado gave him a chance to win it all. Lecroix said Bourque was emotional about leaving Boston, but eager to help his new team.
“At the end he said: ‘Hey, don't worry. We'll do everything you guys are expecting from us. You can be sure of that,”' Lecroix quoted Bourque as saying. “He was pretty excited. The more the conversation went on, it was more enthusiastic.”
Bourque is in the last year of his contract, and he has not said whether he wants to be back for another. That means this could be his last chance to have his name on the Cup.