“And After 22 Years… RAYMOND BOURQUE!” The Happiest Ending in NHL History
The Stanley Cup is the most coveted trophy in all of hockey. Hoisting the cup over your head is a dream that few get to experience. Even some of the greatest players of all time are never able to lift it. For a very long time it was looking like NHL legend Ray Bourque was going to join that group of players that never got to call themselves champions.
Bourque was selected by the Boston Bruins with the 8th pick in the 1979 NHL Draft. He was great from the beginning, winning the rookie of the year award and being named a First Team All-Star in the 1979–80 season. Bourque played for the Boston Bruins for a total of 20 and a half seasons, making name for himself as one of the greatest defenseman of all time. He won the Norris Trophy for best defenseman in the league 5 times and finished his career with the most goals, assists, and points for a defenseman in NHL history.
As Captain of the Boston Bruins, he led them to two Stanley Cup Finals appearances in 1988 and 1990. Both times the Bruins lost to the Edmonton Oilers. In the late 90s it was obvious that the Bruins were not going to win a Stanley Cup anytime soon, so Bourque asked to be traded so he could win a cup before he retires. He was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in 2000.
Bourque’s first post season with the Avalanche, the team was eliminated by the defending champion Dallas Stars in game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. One game away from the Stanley Cup Finals. The next year the Bourque was voted the runner-up for the Norris Trophy at the age of 40. That didn’t matter to him though. He only cared about one trophy.
For the second year in a row the Colorado Avalanche found themselves in a Game 7 with the defending champions, this time it was the New Jersey Devils with Martin Brodeur in the net, a consensus top 3 goalie of all time. This year ended differently than the year prior. The Avalanche had done it. Ray Bourque had finally done it. The Colorado Avalanche were the 2001 Stanley Cup Champions and Bourque had finally won his cup.
Tradition in the NHL is that the team captain is the first player to hoist the cup over their head. Avalanche Captain Joe Sakic broke that tradition for the first and so far only time in NHL history. He handed the cup to Ray Bourque and an all time legendary moment in NHL History commenced. One of the greatest announcer calls in all of sports.
Bourque ended up retiring that off-season as a champion. He waited longer than any other cup-winning player had to finally do it. 1,612 regular season games, 214 playoff games, and 22 years to finally hoist it. If you ask Ray Bourque, I’m sure he will tell you it was well worth the wait.
