The NHL lockout has been in effect for more than two months now, and so, with no actual games to report on, we’re going to link to a different hockey video every day until a new CBA is reached. Today: Ray Bourque, Stanley Cup champion.
This YouTube video — of Ray Bourque lifting the Stanley Cup for the first time in his 22nd and final NHL season — is titled “The Best Moment in Hockey History.” That might be going a little too far, but we dare you to watch it without getting chills. One doesn’t need to be a fan of the Avalanche (or the Bruins) to appreciate what’s going on here: Bourque had never won a title when he was traded from Boston to Colorado during the 1999-00 season. He didn’t win it that year either, but in June of 2001, his Avalanche rallied back from a three-games-to-two deficit in the Finals and beat the Devils in seven games. The legendary defenseman finally had his ring.
You can watch the entire Game 7 here, if you’re so inclined, but at the very least, check out the final 30 seconds of play. Bourque, who obviously wasn’t going to come off the ice, is doubled over, but he’d later say it wasn’t because of exhaustion:
“I couldn’t breathe,” he would say. It wasn’t because he is tired. “It was just too much to take. I was trying to hold off the tears and contain my emotions.”
And so, on Day 81 of the NHL lockout, here’s Joe Sakic doing the right thing and letting No. 77 lift the Cup first.