Flashback: In 2001, after 22 seasons in the NHL, Ray Bourque won the coveted Stanley Cup

It’s one of the most moving stories in NHL history. After 21 seasons with the Boston Bruins, legendary defenseman Ray Bourque headed to the mighty Colorado Avalanche for the final season of his overseas career in 2000-01, ending a more than 20-year wait to win a Stanley Cup.

Ray Bourque as Boston Bruins legend

Ray Bourque entered the NHL in the 1979-80 season after being drafted by the famed Boston Bruins as the 8th pick in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. In his first season, he became the top rookie after scoring 65 points in 80 games.

Wayne Gretzky, who entered the NHL in the same year, could not compete for the trophy as he had spent the previous season in the rival WHA.

Borque spent an incredible 21 seasons with the Boston Bruins, where he grew into one of the best defensemen in NHL history over the course of two decades. He won the highly coveted Norris Trophy five times during his career. It is awarded annually to the best defenseman in the season and Bourque won it in 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991 and 1994.

He never surpassed the mythical 100 points in a season mark like his illustrious predecessor Bobby Orr or his contemporary Paul Coffey. But he excelled with consistent performances that made him the most productive defenseman in history during his 22 years in the league.

In 1,612 regular season games, he amassed an impressive 1,579 points on 410 goals and 1,169 assists. That’s still good enough for 11th place in the historical tables!

The Stanley Cup has eluded

This outstanding hockey player has so far in his career missed the most valuable team trophy in the world, the Stanley Cup. In 1988 and 1990, he reached the finals twice with his team. But unlike Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito, he did not reach the coveted trophy in Boston.

Each time, Boston had to bow out to the Edmonton Oilers. As the years and seasons went by, Bourque became one of the longest waiters for that team trophy. At the end of the millennium, Ray himself realized that he would not get this trophy with Boston and although reluctantly, after 21 years in Boston, he asked for a trade to a strong team with which he would have a chance to succeed in his last season overseas.

A fairy tale with a happy ending

He spent his final season in 2000-01 with one of the league’s best teams, the Colorado Avalanche. Other Hall of Famers like Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg also played there. And Bourque certainly wasn’t just a numbers guy, even in his 22nd season he hit the 60-point mark in 80 games, just missing it by a single point. Plus, he had nearly two hundred playoff games under his belt.

And as it happens, the NHL literally wrote a Hollywood script this season. Bourque did indeed get the coveted trophy in his final season. He had to play an incredible 1,826 games to win the Stanley Cup, a record to date!

However, it was not a very easy road. After five games of the final series, Colorado was down 2-3 to the New Jersey Devils. However, in Game 6 the Avalanche were able to tie the series on the Devils ice and the decisive Game 7 was won by Colorado 3:1. And Bourque really left it all on the ice on June 9, 2001.

He knew he was playing the last game of his life. Knowing it was going to be today or never. He spent an incredible 30 minutes on the ice, which was by far the most of any player on the ice.

The world was sent reeling when team captain Sakic didn’t hoist the Stanley Cup over his head first. But handed it to the hapless Bourque. He closed his rich hockey career after that moment exactly 17 years later and the NHL lost another legend two years after Wayne Gretzky’ s passing.

Source: NHL