20 Years Ago Tonight: ‘After 22 Years, Raymond Bourque!’

He may not have won it with the Boston Bruins, but 20 years ago tonight, when hall of fame defenseman Raymond Bourque finally hoisted the Stanley Cup in his 22nd season, every Bruins teammate, trainer, coach, and manager he ever had in Boston, along with every Bruins fan was cheering on Bourque!

Even if you’re just a hockey fan and not a Bruins or Avalanche fan, you must get chills every time you hear former ESPN analyst Gary Thorne say as Av’s captain Joe Sakic immediately handed the Stanley Cup over to Bourque:

“And After 22 Years, Raymond Bourque!”

Ray Bourque finally winning that elusive Stanley Cup he couldn’t win during his 21 seasons as a Bruin was bittersweet but what was much sweeter, and that was evident in the thousands of Bruins fans that showed up days later when Ray Bourque brought the Cup to Boston for a rally at City Hall Plaza.

Of course, eight months later, the New England Patriots would be holding a rally after there, after winning their first Super Bowl, and since then, the city of Boston has celebrated 10 championships from their four pro sports teams, and Ray Bourque likes to think he started the reign of greatness.

“I always joke that I started this amazing string of parades and rallies and championships we’ve had since then,” Bourque joked to BostonHockeyNow last year. “Let’s hope the Bruins got another one coming for us.”

Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now, Kevin Flanagan of Boston Sportsdesk, and I had a chance to Ray Bourque about this amazing moment and he had some great stories regarding the days leading into that moment that he hadn’t told publicly.

You can listen here!