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Right place, right time Bourque, Andreychuk set sights on elusive prize
Posted: Tuesday April 18, 2000 01:20 AM
They both have Hall of Fame numbers, they both have played longer then most players can only imagine and they both have played all of their hockey in the physical NHL East. Yet neither Ray Bourque nor Dave Andreychuk has ever won a Stanley Cup. It's a drought they hope will end this season. "[Our new teammates in Colorado] know our situation, that we've been around for a long time and we haven't won a Cup," noted the 18-time All-Star Bourque. "That's how you really get somewhere in the playoffs, by really making the commitment to be there for yourself and for your teammates, to do whatever it takes." Colorado already was among the favorites to win the Cup, but the arrival of Bourque and, to a lesser degree, Andreychuk, seems to have energized the Avs. Bourque especially seems energized by his new teammates and surroundings. He left a Boston team that was demoralized and on the edge of disarray. He joined a Colorado team that knows what winning tastes like (a Cup in 1996) and is set on knowing that feeling again. "That's a great feeling, but believe me, I'm not the only reason they want to win and I know that," Bourque told the Rocky Mountain News this week. "We've got a bunch of winners in here, and they want to win it for their teammates and for the club. We think we're a quality team and we want to go out there and prove it. "If we go our there and play our best, we should win. In Boston sometimes, even if we went out and played our best, we didn't have any guarantees. I think that's the difference. It's been 10 years since I've gone to the semis or the finals, so it's been a long time and I'm anxious to get going and hopefully get there again." Andreychuk, who's had career stops in Buffalo, Toronto, New Jersey and Boston before coming to the Avs, echoes Bourque's thoughts. Unlike his more illustrious teammate, Andreychuk has never even been to a finals series. In most years, he never got out of the first round. "I don't know how to put it in to words," he said. "That's why I'm back playing this year and that's why Ray is here. It's why we want to play, to win a Cup. Everything else you can put aside. The 500 goals, the 400 goals -- I'm sure we'd put that all aside to get a chance at the Cup." To be honest, that's hard to believe. Those goal totals have translated into big money for both Andreychuk and Bourque over their lengthy careers, but at this late stage in the game, knowing that the end is in sight, a last grasp at the elusive silver prize is something both wanted desperately to take. It's a kind of a code in the NHL. Players will fight you tooth and nail to win the thing, but the longer you go without it, the more respect and understanding comes your way. The younger players in Colorado are respectful of Bourque's and Andreychuk's long service to the game and though they want the prize for themselves first, they also want it for the two players who might not be in this position again. "When you play a long time and haven't won a Cup ... I mean there's an understanding there," Andreychuk said. "You can see in the last few years there's been a lot of talk abut guys who haven't won Cups. For myself, personally, that's why I'm playing. That's what's driving me on, to win a Cup."
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