Boston Bruins Top 5 Defenseman Of All Time Ranked

 Raymond Bourque 

Ray Bourque was never supposed to be a part of the Boston Bruins organization. He was picked out of a panic. During the 1977 Draft. Harry Sinden the teams GM at the time wanted to select Keith Brown, but he was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks one pick before the Bruins. Sinden not having a back up settled for a kid named Raymond Bourque, a kid they never even wanted.

Bourque then showed the Bruins that they would not regret picking him by scoring in his first career NHL game. Then in 1985 after the retirement of other Bruins great Terry O’Reilly who would coach the team. Bourque and Rick Middleton were named Co-Captains of the team. Middleton Would wear the “C” during home games and Bourque Away. After Middleton’s retirement in 1988 Bourque to sole control of the captaincy. He carried the “C” for the rest of his Bruins career.

One of Bourque’s key moments in his career never came from him playing.  On December 3, 1987 Phil Esposito‘s number 7 was to be retired. There was only one problem, that was the number that Bourque was currently wearing. So during that night as Esposito walked onto the ice Bourque began to pull of his number 7 and reveal an extra 7 on a new jersey making 77. No one knew that he was going to do this expect for him. In Bourque’s mind there was only one number 7 and that was Phil’s so he surrendered his number for another Boston Bruin Legend. Video found here.

Raymond Bourque played 21 seasons with the Boston Bruins. He played in 1518 games. He had 395 goals and 1111 assists for a total of 1506 points. Bourque is the current all time leader in Games Played, Assists, Points, Power Play Goals, Shots. He fourth in goals scored. Second in Plus minus with a plus 494. Bourque earned the Norris trophy as the leagues best defenseman 5 times. He also earned the Calder as the rookie if the year.

Ray Bourque never won a cup here in Boston. On March 6, 2000 Sinden told Bourque he was being traded to the Colorado Avalanche.  He finally got his cup when the Avalanche won the cup in 2000-01 season. Also on the team was Hall Of Famers Joe Sakic and Patrik Roy. Video of Ray Bourque hoisting “his” Stanley Cup can be found here

Bourque was inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 2004, his first year of eligibility. His number 77 was retired by the Bruins and the Avalanche.