Bourque also took Bruins’ early exit hard
He’s just a fan now, but Ray Bourque felt the Bruins’ first-round playoff exit in his chest. When asked his thoughts on how it ended, he sighed deeply.
“It was an amazing season,” Bourque said this past week over the phone.
“The only worry that I had, I just didn’t want the troubles to happen in the playoffs. I kind of talked myself off the ledge when I’d look at their team and saw how deep they were. I thought the team that was assembled — the team they won with in 2011, the couple of years they had, they were built for the playoffs. I felt exactly the same this year.”
The Hall of Famer, among the greatest defensemen in NHL history, carries himself with a show-me sensibility. He doesn’t believe the hype. And yet he felt like the rest of New England: He assumed this was the year.
“Even before the acquisitions [of Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov, and Garnet Hathaway], they were playing amazing hockey,” Bourque said. “Then these three guys come in, and you say, ‘Wow, they’re built for everything.’ Notwithstanding possible injuries, they had depth, size, speed, skill, goaltending, defense, you name it. In terms of experience and guys who had been through a lot of playoff series, they had all bases covered.
“Then, they’re up, 3-1, not playing their best, and you’re thinking all they have to do is win another game and get through this series and build momentum, then they find their game. They just never found their game.”
The captain credited Florida, scrappy and smart for its goalie switch. His heart remains with the Bruins players.
“I just can’t imagine how they feel. I’m a fan, but I played and lost some tough series where we won the Presidents’ Trophy, got to the Final, and bowed out before getting to the Final. I won the Stanley Cup after winning the Presidents’ Trophy,” said Bourque. “I know how they feel, but I can’t imagine how they feel. It sticks with you.
“To try and explain it: It’s so hard to win. It’s so hard to win,” said Bourque, who reached the 1988 and ’90 Finals with the Bruins, then the 2001 Final with the Avalanche, retiring after winning the Stanley Cup.
“Florida was expected to do a lot better this season, they found a way in. They’re not the first team to sneak in and be the eighth seed and go on a run. The parity is closer than a lot of people think, but still, the Bruins were the way better team and you expect them to get the job done. Those guys, they know. They feel it. It sucks. That’s why they play the games.”
Bourque, a restaurateur living on the North Shore, played 22 years of elite hockey. After finally winning, stepping away made sense. He empathizes with Patrice Bergeron, whom he recently texted congratulations for winning the Selke Trophy a record sixth time.
Bourque, who won the Norris Trophy five times (“Should be more,” he said, “in my mind”) plans to reach out again after Bergeron makes his decision.
“I know how he feels,” Bourque said. “I hope he comes back, but I definitely get it if he doesn’t.”
Bourque played until 40, he said, because he still loved the game enough to spend a grueling summer training.
“I averaged the most minutes for a 40-year-old, won the Cup, and had another year left on my contract,” he said. “I didn’t feel I could get to where I needed to. I don’t think I would have been able to tone it down to 15 minutes, 17 minutes. I never allowed coaches to cut my minutes. They always said they would, but I was so competitive.”