-Ray Bourque's story was a bigger deal than Dave Andreychuk
I'd like to talk about the Bourque vs Andreychuk angle of this thread. Look, of course people remember Bourque's story more. The only people who remember Andreychuk's as much are Lightning fans like myself. I totally get that. Bourque obviously is a legendary defenseman (all time leader in goals, assists and points for a d-man speaks for itself). His all time ranking is far higher than Andreychuk, who at best was a complimentary star player. Plus he had probably the most iconic cup presentation moment of all time with Sakic handing the cup straight to him (Andreychuk was Tampa's captain, so he received it first anyway). Having said that, I think Andreychuk has the better story when it came to winning his first cup in 22 seasons.
Andreychuk seemed to have some real bad luck with timing late in his career before going to Tampa. He played part of 4 seasons with the Devils (traded there during the 1996 season and was traded after 1999). During the dead puck era (1995-2004), those were the only 4 consecutive seasons one could've played for the Devils and not won the cup (after all, they did win it the season before he came and after he left). In 2000, he started out with Boston, then was part of the Bourque trade to Colorado, who lost to Dallas in the WCF. After that season, he goes back to Buffalo and Colorado wins the cup, making it the 3rd time in his career (and 2nd straight season) he missed being on a cup winner by one season.
In the 2001 offseason, right after Bourque won his elusive cup, the conventional wisdom was that Andreychuk would sign with a contender. But instead, he signed with Tampa. We were terrible at the time and far from being a contender. He was named captain his first season with the team. They struggled, failing once again to make the playoffs. However, in the 2002 offseason, he stated his desire not to be traded, wanting to finish his work with the Lightning. In 2003 we made the playoffs, then in 2004 we win the cup, rewarding Andreychuk for his leadership, patience and loyalty.
Let me make it clear though, by stating this I am not saying that Bourque winning his cup with the Avs is diminished just because he took a shortcut and Andreychuk didn't. Bourque gave his heart and to the Bruins for 20 seasons despite the lack of support from management. You can't knock him one bit for going to that stacked Colorado team at the end of his career. Plus he was far from a passenger on the 2001 Avalanche. He was a major player from them. While I don't think going to a contender diminishes Bourque's cup win at all, Andreychuk not jumping ship from the Lightning to go to a contender is worthy of extra praise. Even before the 2004 season, not many people thought we could win the cup. We were seen as a playoff team, but not a cup contender. It's reasons like this that he has a statue outside of the arena in Tampa despite his brief time there, and why I think he deserved that statue.
Again, I understand why Bourque's story is more known, but Andreychuk's is truly remarkable.