Bourque Dream Getting Faint

Ray Bourque is 40 years old and he dreams he is skating with the Stanley Cup held firmly in his grasp. He stops to kiss it, raises it above his head and a roaring crowd celebrates his long-awaited, much-anticipated victory lap.

In fact, Ray Bourque is 40 years old and he has never touched the Stanley Cup. He has seen it plenty of times, sure, but he has never laid a finger on it.

“Once you’re in the league, nobody touches it until you hoist it,” explained Bourque, a defenseman for the Colorado Avalanche.

Bourque has been in the NHL for 22 seasons. This is perhaps his final opportunity to touch Lord Stanley’s mug for the first time. This could be his final game tonight.

Colorado trails the New Jersey Devils, three games to two, in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Avalanche must win Game 6 tonight at Continental Airlines Arena to keepBourque’s dream alive. A New Jersey victory means the Cup will go to the Devils for the second consecutive season.

A crowd of reporters jockeyed for position around Bourque the other day in Denver, several wondering if he will call it quits at season’s end.

He did not flinch. He did not struggle with his words, but he also did not look the questioner in the eye when he said, “It certainly could be, but it’s been that way for a few years now. It’s nothing new.”

Bourque continued to sound a defiant tone. “We’ve got to bring out our best game or it will be our last game of the season,” he said, putting the emphasis on the words “we’ve” and “our.”

Realistically, win or lose, the end could be near for Bourque.

After all, he will be 41 in December. When he scored the go-ahead goal in the Avalanche’s Game 3 victory over the Devils--launching a missile from the blue line past goaltender Martin Brodeur--he became the oldest man to score in a Stanley Cup Finals game.

Bourque’s contract is up July 1, although he and the Avalanche have a mutually agreed upon option for next season at $6.5 million. Pierre Lacroix, Colorado’s general manager, can buy out Bourque for $1 million if he decides to retire.

In a perfect world, Bourque and the Avalanche will win tonight and take Game 7 on Saturday in Denver. He will then skate off into the sunset. Certainly, there is no shortage of fans who would love to see it happen.

In Boston, where Bourque toiled for the underachieving Bruins for almost 21 years before a trade late last season sent him to Colorado, a radio station plastered a good luck message on a billboard.

Mind you, that billboard is located near downtown Denver.

Predictably, television ratings have been a mile high in Denver. Remarkably, the second-highest rating for the series hasn’t been in the New York-New Jersey market, but in Boston.

“He was my idol growing up,” Boston native Keith Tkachuk said before his St. Louis Blues faced off against Bourque’s Avalanche in the Western Conference finals.

“He’s a Hall of Famer. I hope he wins a Cup somewhere. I just don’t want him to win the Cup now.”

The Avalanche spanked the Blues, four games to one, propelling Bourque into the Stanley Cup Finals for the third time in his career. He and the Bruins lost to the Edmonton Oilers in 1988 and 1990.

“It’s great support I’ve been getting in Boston and Montreal [his hometown] and lots of other places,” Bourque said. “I think, if it does happen, it’s a great story. It’s something I’ve been chasing for a long time. I think a lot of people are happy for me.”

And there seem to be just as many who hope Bourque sticks around a while longer.

“You learn a lot from Ray,” said Adam Foote, Bourque’s frequent defense partner. “He’s always so under control with his emotions. You feel like a rookie around him.”

Foote, 11 years younger than Bourque, paused to laugh at his own joke before adding, “I said last year that I’d love to see them bring him back. What he brings to the team isn’t really available around the NHL. He’s so great for all the young players.”

Added Avalanche Coach Bob Hartley: “We’re all pulling with Ray. We’re pulling for Ray, but we’re also pulling with Ray.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Frozen Out

Ray Bourque has played more games without winning a Stanley Cup than anyone in NHL history. A look:

Ray Bourque 1,590

Mike Gartner 1,432

Harry Howell 1,411

Norm Ullman 1,410

Dale Hunter 1,407

Doug Mohns 1,390

Dean Prentice 1,378

Phil Housley 1,357

Dave Andreychuk 1,361

Marcel Dionne 1,348