Chris Bourque?
by lampshade9909 on Jul 20, 2010 9:55 AM EDT
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What ever happened with this guy? Waiver claim from Washington, played 20~ games with the Pens, then Washington claimed him back. Spent lots of time in the AHL. Not much success or exposure to the NHL. I only watched him on and off in a pens jersey, and I remember him getting very limited ice time. Was he any good? There have been lots of smaller playings succeeding in the AHL and flopping in the NHL, is he just another one of those?
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He's in Russia
He signed a 2-year contract with Atlant Moscow of the KHL after being released by the Caps after the season. He was terrible in a Penguin uniform despite having every chance to succeed and then even more garbage in a Caps uniform.
I doubt he does any better in the KHL either, that’s a very skill-first league with the larger ice surfaces. We’ll have to see.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
He signed a 2-year contract with Atlant Moscow of the KHL after being released by the Caps after the season
Bourque was not released, his contract just ended. The Caps gave him a qualifying offer, so they still hold his NHL rights for the future.
"Game's the same. Just got more fierce."
Yep. You’re right, I don’t know why I thought he was released. Either way, we won’t see him back in the NHL for at least another 2 years. He’s actually joined a pretty decent team though, Atlant was one of the best offensive teams in the KHL last year. They have the league’s top scorer from last year in Mozyakin…wonder if Bourque (or as they call him, Kris Bork) gets a shot to play with him?
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
Kris Bork.
Haha I like that. A little too close to Kris Beech though!
"Game's the same. Just got more fierce."
by Hooks Orpik on Jul 22, 2010 10:08 AM EDT up reply actions
How long before The Atlantsblog starts jobbing him?
by PensAreYourDaddy on Jul 22, 2010 10:11 AM EDT up reply actions
To kind of echo the previous sentiment:
He was awful. And like Spookygeek said, Bylsma gave him every opportunity to step it up and make a name for himself on the roster and he couldn’t come through. I distinctly remember a cross-crease pass that went UNDER his stick. It’s one thing if the puck hits a bad spot and jumps over a stick, but in no situation should a puck go UNDER a player’s stick. Especially when he was untouched, unguarded and literally had a wide open net to work with.
Best of luck to him in Russia.
Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.
Yeah, he pretty much sucked. I amazed that a KHL team would waste one of their five non-Russian roster spots on him.
Average talent—at most. No real potential here.
HCDB did give him many opportunities. Bourque doesn’t strike me as having any real drive, grit or determinateion, which is a shame with how talented and hard working his dad was.
One Who Lives And Breathes All Things Penguins
by PensFanInDenver on Jul 20, 2010 10:09 PM EDT reply actions
he’s only 5’ 8"?!
oh my lord, even i could kick his ass.
we're not trading jordan staal.
by katielynn906 on Jul 21, 2010 1:54 PM EDT up reply actions
5'8" is extraordinarily generous for Bourque
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
Agree. they normally embellish a tad on the roster list.
Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.
I think it’s more like 5’6".
Cидни Kросби: Александр Oвечкин, он твой папа теперь
матовая Клими, Михал нуивирт ваш папа теперь
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by red army line on Jul 21, 2010 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Mark Eaton was the worst
They list him at 6’2" when he should probably be around 5’9". Seeing as that’s about the height he plays to physically.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
Visual aids can be so helpful
.
Keep in mind, goalpost = 4’.
by PensAreYourDaddy on Jul 22, 2010 12:52 AM EDT up reply actions
I lol-ed when you asked if he was any good
Just awful. I wasn’t aware about him going to the KHL. Seems pretty strange he’d go to a defensive league where scoring goals is tough.
?
When you say “defensive league” that’s more like the SEL. KHL is kind of normal, no?
Cидни Kросби: Александр Oвечкин, он твой папа теперь
матовая Клими, Михал нуивирт ваш папа теперь
Red Line Station: for Capitals fans who can bear reading something less intelligent than a story at Japers' Rink
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by red army line on Jul 21, 2010 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Quite the opposite actually. The KHL is much more offensively oriented than the NHL, due to more open ice space & less physical play.
Last year in the KHL, there were 7 teams out of the 24 that averaged over 3.0 goals per game. St. Petersburg, Atlant Moscow, Spartak Moscow, Riga, Ufa, Nizhnekamsk and Astana. That’s about 30% of the league. In the NHL, only 5 of the 32 teams averaged over 3 (Pittsburgh, Washington, Chicago, San Jose and Vancouver) which is 15%.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
Oh really? I always thought the KHL was a tougher league to score goals in.
by Mario's Mullet on Jul 22, 2010 7:17 AM EDT up reply actions
All that might suggest is that the top teams in the KHL are stacked. Do you know how the league itself compares to the NHL? I’ll do sone research when I get home from work and check it out. Damn site blokes.
by Mario's Mullet on Jul 22, 2010 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions
You would have a point – but the KHL has a salary cap. Granted it’s not a hard cap a la the NHL, but it is a cap nonetheless.
Do I know how the league itself compares? In what way? I can tell you that the salary cap, at least for 2009-10, was 600 million roubles, which converts to around a little over $20m. Someone mentioned before that teams are allowed 5 players with non-Russian citizenship but the main difference between the two leagues is that each KHL team is allowed one superstar “franchise player” that doesn’t count towards the salary cap. In theory, his salary could be anything at all, with no limit.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
by BobPurkey34 on Jul 22, 2010 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions
Do you know how the league itself compares to the NHL?
As far as on ice talent, the NHL is comfortably ahead but we’ll see. Carolina is going over to Europe to open the season in Russia and they are playing a KHL team in a “friendly” (to use a soccer term). I’ve heard some worried it’d be embarrassing for the NHL to have the Hurricanes lose, so I guess we’ll see how it works out.
I believe the Pens pretty much smoked a KHL team when Pittsburgh opened the season in Sweden — and that wasn’t using the #1 lineup (remember they were able to bring more than the standard roster in case of injuries).
"Game's the same. Just got more fierce."
by Hooks Orpik on Jul 22, 2010 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions
NHL is certainly ahead, but that doesn't mean much
If you’ll remember correct, the Blackhawks lost to Zurich in the preseason last year over in Switzerland with basically a full roster. Anything can happen though.
Actually, I’d be very surprised if Carolina WON that game. They’re playing SKA (arguably the best KHL team now) on the bigger ice surface. SKA has Yashin, Brylin, Zubov, Nabokov and Cajanek among others and surely they’ll be looking to make a point. Carolina on the other hand, probably won’t care at all who wins.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
by BobPurkey34 on Jul 22, 2010 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Nice update. Yeah if Carolina holds out like Staal and Ward from that game, it probably doesn’t tell us much.
"Game's the same. Just got more fierce."
by Hooks Orpik on Jul 22, 2010 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions
No I don’t mean how the league itself compares to the NHL. I’m aware of that. Sorry I just worded it wrong. I meant how the goals per game in the KHL is compared to the NHL. I always thought the KHL was a more defensive league where goals were hard to come by but maybe I was misinformed.
by Mario's Mullet on Jul 22, 2010 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions
It’s actually about the same league-wide. I think it was like 2.82 goals/game average in the NHL and 2.79 in the KHL. But 30% of KHL teams scored over 3 per game while the NHL only had 5 such teams…so it makes sense. The KHL last year was more unbalanced with less gray area – most teams fell into the very good or very bad category. The NHL had more parity last year so more teams in the gray, not overly great or overly bad.
No, the KHL is certainly NOT a defensive league at all, that’s the Swedish league. The KHL has actually come down to earth a bit, they used to play with bigger nets than the NHL but now they’ve scraped those for NHL ones. If you check scores, you’ll see like a 7-5 or 8-4 type scoreline about every night.
The league still has a lot of work to do, especially with depth. But I’ve seen a few games here and there, the top-tier teams of the league can be very exciting to watch if you enjoy offense.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
Interesting stuff. Thanks for the info.
by Mario's Mullet on Jul 22, 2010 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions
If you’ll remember correct, the Blackhawks lost to Zurich in the preseason
And to the Hershey Bears, plus 3 NHLers. Heheh, that always makes me laugh.
Cидни Kросби: Александр Oвечкин, он твой папа теперь
матовая Клими, Михал нуивирт ваш папа теперь
Red Line Station: for Capitals fans who can bear reading something less intelligent than a story at Japers' Rink
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by red army line on Jul 22, 2010 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Ha
You’ll always see interesting scores. Hockey is a sport where any team can win on a given evening, we saw that especially in the Olympics when Switzerland nearly beat Canada.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
I didn’t get to watch Bourque much this year, or the pens for that matter. I moved to Syracuse NY, figured I’d get the NHL gamecenter live (online center ice) but half the pens games are blacked out! Since I live in NY state, they black out Toronto games, Ranger games, Islander games, Jersey games, Buffalo games… talk about lame! Even if the pens play those teams at home I coudln’t watch them. That’s almost the whole Atlantic division and then some… They said that I’m “within those teams television rights area” so they are blacked out. Not to mention they black out VS games and NHL network games. Not fun for a Pittsburgh fan to live in NY
Phew! Rant over. I just asked how Bourque looked because you can’t always trust score sheets with young players. Look at Rich Peverley. He did great in the AHL, did nothing in the NHL for Nashville his first few seasons. Claimed on Waivers by Atlanta and suddenly he has 90 points in 120 games with the Thrashers. Granted he’s about 6 foot, a whole 4+ inches taller than good ole Chris Bourque ;)
by lampshade9909 on Jul 21, 2010 7:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Chris Bourque is like Anderson Varejao to me: if those guys can make it to the pros, anyone of else can make it too, because they were just absolutely horrible.
"Hockey is the only tribe I belong to." -Jack Falla
Yeah, but Varejao is, at the least, fit to be a basketball player. I mean, the dude’s 6-foot-11 inches tall. The same, as noted above, cannot be said of Bourque.
Whatever though. His dad was one trade away from retiring a loser for life. Oddly enough his Cup win in Colorado ultimately made Chris a loser for life.
Reckon we call that irony.
Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.
Here's two pictures of Bourque practicing with Atlant
Notice how he’s still wearing his Penguin pants, helmet and gloves, not Capitals stuff. Makes sense that he hasn’t been fitted for a new uniform yet but wonder why he chose to go with the Pens equipment…?
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
Ummm … because the Pens are eleventy billion times better than anything and everything else (including (but not limited to) the Caps)?
That’s probably the explanation right there.
Shero gets an A. Burkie gets a checkmark.
This is true.
But it’s also true that he played the vast majority of last season as a member of the Caps, he only had 20 games as a Penguin. Probably still wishes he was a Penguin to be honest
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
He didn’t play with the caps later on, so his last NHL game thus far was with the Pens
Cидни Kросби: Александр Oвечкин, он твой папа теперь
матовая Клими, Михал нуивирт ваш папа теперь
Red Line Station: for Capitals fans who can bear reading something less intelligent than a story at Japers' Rink
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by red army line on Jul 22, 2010 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Well not what I mean
He was a member of the Caps organization for the last 50 some games of the season. Yeah he was in the AHL but still, the Caps were where he spent almost all his pro career to date. Maybe you don’t get to keep the AHL equipment…
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
cause winning is a good feeling?
we're not trading jordan staal.
by katielynn906 on Jul 22, 2010 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions
hehehe who says the Caps don’t win? Remember, hockey season ends in the middle of April.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
Bourque
Was the last north American skater to finish his season aside from flyers and Blackhawks by the way…go Hershey!!!
Cидни Kросби: Александр Oвечкин, он твой папа теперь
матовая Клими, Михал нуивирт ваш папа теперь
Red Line Station: for Capitals fans who can bear reading something less intelligent than a story at Japers' Rink
Follow me on Twitter!
by red army line on Jul 22, 2010 4:43 PM EDT up reply actions
shoot, forgot that they play for the president’s trophy.
we're not trading jordan staal.
by katielynn906 on Jul 22, 2010 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Not a great picture but it tells you about all you need to know
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
by BobPurkey34 on Jul 22, 2010 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions 6 recs
that kid is my hero.
we're not trading jordan staal.
by katielynn906 on Jul 22, 2010 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions
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