Bruins' Bourque out until playoffs
Mar 24, 1994
Still reeling from a season-ending knee injury to Cam Neely, the Boston Bruins took another hit Wednesday.
Defenseman Ray Bourque was diagnosed with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. The good news: He is expected to return in time for the playoffs.
Bourque, a leading candidate for the Hart Trophy for league most valuable player, was hurt Tuesday in a 5-3 loss at Quebec.
He was examined Wednesday by Dr. Bertram Zarins at Massachusetts General Hospital.
On Wednesday, Bourque was at practice, wearing a knee immobilizer brace like that worn by Neely, who tore his medial collateral ligament.
"While we cannot place a definite time frame on rehabilitation, we fully expect him to return for the start of the playoffs," Bruins general manager Harry Sinden said.
Bourque leads NHL defensemen in scoring and is eighth overall in scoring, with 20 goals and 71 assists.
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i don’t know that he was definitely going to win the hart that year, what with magic years from fedorov, hasek, and beezer, but there was a chance, as bourque was on pace to finally score 100 pts. if he hadn’t missed the last eleven games, he would have finished with 105 if he’d kept up exactly the same pace. it’s hard for a guy as consistently great as bourque to break through and truly contend for a hart unless something special happens, like leading his team in pts by 20+ pts like in 1987 or winning the presidents trophy like in 1990, but maybe 105 pts does the trick.