Mile High Sports Magazine July 2012 : Page 76
Mil e H 012 2 igh S y ports Asks • Jul RAY BOURQUE Catching up with the man who came to Colorado to hoist the Cup By Vanessa Hughes A note from the author… I didn’t move to Colorado until 2003, which means I unfortunately missed out on covering Ray Bourque and the Avalanche winning the 2001 Stanley Cup. Of course, I certainly appreciated what he meant to the game of hockey. But it sure would have been neat to see the old guy win a Cup in his final game.. As I brainstormed for this “Where Are They Now?” piece, Bourque came to mind. I hadn’t heard much about No. 77 for the last several years and wondered what he was up to these days. After tracking down Bourque’s agent’s contact information, I sent off an email and crossed my fingers. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, as I knew it was a total long shot that Bourque would agree to spend some time with a no-name reporter from Denver. Within 48 hours, however, I had a reply from the agent who had had spoken to Bourque directly to make arrangements to spend a day with him in Boston. I couldn’t believe it! The photographer and I met Ray and his wife at their house outside of Boston, where he gave us a full tour and showed us around the picturesque property for a couple of hours. After the tour, we headed into the city for dinner at Tresca, the Italian restaurant Bourque co-owns. I even got to ride with the former Av to continue the interview; how cool is that? Ray and I had dinner in the front of the restaurant at a table overlooking the street below. We pigged out on some delicious Italian food, while continuing to talk about his time in Colorado (and Boston) and what his life looks like now. After a few hours of eating and talking, it was finally time to go home. But I didn’t want it to end. My time with Ray was amazing, fun and very interesting. It was like I bid $10,000 at an auction to spend a day and evening with Ray Bourque. I kept having to pinch myself because it didn’t seem real. Read on to find out more about this incredible man and what he’s up to 11 years after hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup. 76 here’s one day each year that Ray Bourque knows his iPhone will ring without question. That day is June 9, and the caller is Bourque’s former Avalanche teammate Shjon Podein. Podein makes it a point to call Bourque every year on that date between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. (around the time game seven ended) to reminisce about winning the 2001 Stanley Cup. “We talk about how great it was and relive the memories,” said Bourque. “You win together, you walk together the rest of your life. All those guys on that team and those memories will be with you forever.” Podein says the year after the Avalanche won that Cup, he was watching the NHL playoffs and something prompted him to call Bourque. “It was funny; that was just my reaction,” said Podein. “Ray was pretty much our figurehead and was a special piece of that puzzle. Just knowing Ray, it meant as much to him, if not more, than anyone else. If I wanted to share that moment with anyone, I couldn’t think of a more fitting guy than Raymond.” Podein, now 44, then a left winger and top penalty killer, played 11 seasons in the NHL, including four milehighsports.com | July 2012
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