There are only few members of the Boston Bruins who both made as much of an impact on the community, and left a legacy on the ice to remembered for years to come. One of those legendary few was Ray Bourque.
On this day in 2001, Bourque’s legendary jersey number 77 was raised to the Boston Garden rafters as the eighth jersey number retired in Bruins’ history.
Ray to the rafters.
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 4, 2023
On this date in 2001, @RayBourque77's No. 77 became the eighth jersey number in Bruins history to be retired.#NHLBruins | @CocaCola pic.twitter.com/AH0BYi9FWq
Despite his long tenure with Boston, was unable to ever capture a Stanley Cup Championship with the Bruins despite playing in 180 playoff games with Boston. Bourque would eventually capture hockey immortality in the final game he played of his career when he hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche.
Bourque finished his career after playing 1,612 regular season games where he tallied 410 goals and 1,169 assists throughout his career between the Avalanche and the Bruins.
Bourque was a Calder Trophy winner in Boston in his rookie season of 1979-80, and won the Norris Trophy five times throughout his career.
Among other accolades, he also holds the record for most shots on goal in a game with 19 (March 21, 1991) most career goals by a defenseman, and most career points by a defenseman. He was also an All-Star every single year of his career that it was held.
With Boston, he holds some team records as well. He is the team-leader in games played, assists, and points.
Bourque is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, where he was inducted in 2004 – his first year he was eligible. His number was also retired by Colorado – making him one of seven players to have their number retired by more than one team.
The others on the list include: Wayne Gretzky (Kings, Oilers), Tim Horton (Sabres, Maple Leafs), Red Kelly (Maple Leafs, Red Wings), Mark Messier (Rangers, Oilers), Scott Nidermayer (Devils, Ducks), and, of course, Patrick Roy (Canadiens, Avalanche).
Since retiring, Bourque has moved to Massachusetts full time. He has taken a different role in the Boston community running multiple charity organizations. He also owns a restaurant in Boston’s north end called Tresca.
Bourque was also named to our All-Centennial teams, it will be curious to where he lands on the official list released next week.