|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Advantage Avalanche Bourque's quest for Cup will take off from Colorado
Posted: Tuesday March 07, 2000 10:43 AM
BOSTON (AP) -- Ray Bourque, the longtime leader of the Boston Bruins who won five Norris Trophies but never a Stanley Cup, got his wish for one more chance at a championship when he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night. "We limited ourselves to teams where Raymond Bourque would have a chance to win the Stanley Cup," Bruins general manager Harry Sinden said after a 5-1 loss to Ottawa. "It may not be his first choice; it may be. I'm not sure. We felt we had to do the best for the team as well." 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 took the game puck from the referee after Saturday's loss to Philadelphia, then said goodbye to teammates and skipped Sunday's practice. He was not at the FleetCenter on Monday night as the Bruins closed in on the deal. Andreychuk left the building after being scratched from the lineup, signaling that he was also part of the deal. Both he and Bourque are expected to play for Colorado at Calgary on Tuesday night.
"With this acquisition, we've brought in the greatest defenseman of all time, and the greatest sniper in Dave Andreychuk. We're thrilled," Avalanche general manager Pierre Lacroix said. "With his presence and charisma, as a person he's going to bring a lot to this team." Colorado is 30-27-10 and in seventh place in the Western Conference. With Monday's loss, Boston is 19-29-17 and essentially out of the playoff race. Fans were subdued during the game, yelling "We want Raymond" after the Senators took a 1-0 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. Bourque has played for the Bruins for his entire 21-year career, and is the team's career leader in scoring and games played. Although he had said he would rather finish his career in Boston than win the Stanley Cup elsewhere, he changed his mind as it became clear the Bruins would not make the playoffs this season. "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. Although Bourque was unavailable for comment, he told Sinden that he thought Colorado gave him a chance to win it all. Lacroix said Bourque was emotional about leaving Boston, but eager to help his new team. "Hey, don't worry. We'll do everything we can to do what you're expecting of us," Lacroix quoted Bourque as saying. The Bruins drafted Bourque eighth overall in 1979, continuing the tradition of great Bruins defensemen established by Eddie Shore and Bobby Orr. 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, even if that means not winning a cup or having another opportunity of winning one," he said in 1997. "... My family and myself are established here. This is home and we enjoy being around here. So, I plan on finishing my career in Boston." "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. Although he is still a solid player, he is no longer the superstar he once was and the massive number of minutes is taking its toll. He 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. "Whether it was going to be retirement, or a situation like this, it was going to be sad" when Bourque left, Sinden said. "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."
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
