He looks how you would imagine Jack Reacher if he knew how to execute a wrap-around. He is a block of a man with green eyes and a slightly raspy voice you know offers sound advice.
For 15 months, he was Colorado’s most popular hockey player, royalty among us. His contributions were notable, but his mere presence made a difference.
He was known for a slapshot that was more accurate than an atomic clock. And his strength remains the stuff of legend, hitting him described like crashing into a brick wall with airbags deploying.
Ray Bourque was Ray Bourque. No embellishment needed.
“He’s a special character. He’s able to pull guys with him. He has a gravity to him,” said former Avs defenseman Rob Blake. “You can see why he had the longevity he had. He is a special person.”
Bourque returned to Denver last week, celebrating a title team and an iconic memory.
Everyone knows the Avs won the Stanley Cup that season, but what remains lodged in our mental scrapbook is a single moment, the type of snapshot you can live in forever: Joe Sakic handing the Stanley Cup to Bourque.
“Well, I remember Joe on the flight home from New Jersey just asking me how we were going to do the Cup thing. And I’m like, ‘We’re not talking about that.’ I said, ‘We’re going to win the game first, and we’ll have plenty of time.’ But Joe was just a classy, great captain and an amazing person, a Hall of Fame player. And he was so conscious of how, you know, just making that moment very special for me,” Bourque said. “I’ll always appreciate that. Joe, you know, he won the Hart Trophy, but I joke about the best assist he had all year was passing me the Cup.”
After 22 seasons, Bourque raised it above his head, pumping it into the air six times before planting a kiss on the greatest trophy in sports. General manager Pierre Lacroix told Bourque to take it home that night, so he held a block party in Littleton.
“I had about 15 people at the game and I ended up turning on my street with all my family, my friends, and beeping the horn. I had a big cooler. We put the Cup on the sidewalk,” Bourque said. “We were out there with neighbors and everybody until 5:30 in the morning. So, yeah, those are the moments you never forget.”
Listening to Bourque recall his experience, you half expect goosebumps to surface on his commemorative 25th anniversary jacket.
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The similarities between the 2001 team and the current bunch are striking. Starting with roster construction. Lacroix, like Chris MacFarland, made moves to win everything, no exceptions, no excuses. He acquired Bourque, prying away the 19-time all-star from the Boston Bruins in a seismic trade. But it is often forgotten that the Avs did not win the Cup that season.
They were eliminated by the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Finals in seven games.
“(Coach) Bob Hartley talked about really paying attention to the details, about being one of the best defensive teams in the league. That experience, what happened in Dallas, it made us look back at some of the stuff we needed to do better,” Bourque said. “We were talking about it from the first day of camp, and really challenging the team to really commit to that.”
Sound familiar?
The Avs reshaped their roster last season with two new goalies. They added Brock Nelson and shipped off Mikko Rantanen for Martin Necas. And they, too, watched their dreams die in Dallas. Worse, it came in the first round.
Until recently, the Avs played with energy and focus. The inevitable hiccup has arrived, creating indigestion, but not quite consternation. Colorado is 35-7-9 entering Thursday night, nine points clear of any other team in the standings.
But the current 4-7 stretch is a reminder that the road to the Stanley Cup is paved in gravel, not asphalt.
“When Ray decided to come back. It was like, OK, we’re not going to get too many more chances now,” recalled star forward Peter Forsberg. ” I think this (year’s) team is ready mentally to pay the price to go all the way. They have had a couple of tough losses the last couple of years, so I think they feel they have a good shot to go all the way this year. I’d be very surprised if there was anything wrong with the motivation. They know they have a good shot at it.”
Center Nathan MacKinnon (29) of the Colorado Avalanche and center Vladislav Namestnikov (7) of the Winnipeg Jets face off during the first period on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, at Ball Arena in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)This is where it starts to get interesting for the Avs. They will soon go on Olympic hiatus, with their top players — Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar — favored to win gold medals if they can best rival Team USA.
Such an achievement should never be discounted or dismissed.
But their NHL team was put together, as it was 25 years ago, to raise the trophy. There will not be a boost from the likes of Blake this time around.
It is not needed.
The Avs have every piece necessary. However, their recent playoff past haunts them.
There is no dynasty. Their history is one title. That is not enough.
How many more times can October glory become May nightmares? How many more times can all the roster moves, all the additions, not solve the equation?
In the 2000-2001 season, a 40-year-old defenseman’s hunger provided the rudder. Those Avs were good enough to win without him. But they won because of him.
These Avs need to find their touchstone beyond the pursuit of excellence. Is it as simple as rewarding captain Gabe Landeskog for the agony he has endured with injuries the past five years? Perhaps.
But the Avs also have a 40-year-old defenseman in his 22nd season who has never won a Cup.
For the Avs to ascend to the heights for which they were built, all they have to do is make Brent Burns their Ray Bourque.
“I mean, there’s so many great players I played with that never won a championship. And I think of a guy like Dan Marino, Hall of Fame careers and all that. You know what, you can live without it,” Bourque said, smirk showing. “But I’ll tell you, it’s a lot better living with winning one and having that whole experience that comes with it.”
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