Ziggy Stardust
Master Debater
Interesting read. Wonder what could have been had Bourque been dealt to the Flyers, and who the Flyers would have sent that would be the equivalent of Brian Rolston, Sami Pahlsson, Martin Grenier, and a 1st round draft selection.
BSN Exclusive: An oral history of the trade that sent Ray Bourque to Colorado – BSN Denver
BSN Exclusive: An oral history of the trade that sent Ray Bourque to Colorado – BSN Denver
Bourque, at first, actually requested one team, in particular, to be traded: the Philadelphia Flyers, who would go on to win the Atlantic Division, a team loaded with offensive talent but missing a guy from the blueline like Bourque who might make a championship difference.
Bourque: We were building a big house on a golf course at the time, and I thought Philly at that time was probably the best team in the East. We were looking at them as a team that had a really good shot to get somewhere, and so Harry said, 'Yeah, I'll try to accommodate you.' And I knew what was going on, on the other side, because (former Bruins teammate) Reggie Lemelin was (the Flyers') goalie coach and I was hearing everything that was going on with the Philly side, and I thought it was a done deal.
The Bruins played the Flyers on March 4, a 3-0 Philly win in Boston. Bourque legitimately thought he'd be leaving with the Flyers on their flight out as the team's newest member.
Bourque: It was a Saturday afternoon I remember. After the game, Reggie said, 'It's done.' But then nothing happened. I went looking for Harry and asked him what was going on. This had been dragging on for about 10 days now and I was like, 'come on, let's get something done.' But then he says, 'well, there's more teams involved.'