During his fifth season in the NHL, winger Rene Bourque in February 2010 signed a six-year, front-loaded $20 million contract extension with the Calgary Flames and seemed to be entering his prime.
He had 27 goals in 2010-11 with the Flames, but since has been considered a monumental underachiever — and bust — as he bounced from Calgary to Montreal, Anaheim and Columbus.
That contract finally has expired.
Now, at age 34, Bourque is just trying to catch on with the Avalanche, attending Colorado’s training camp on a professional tryout (PTO) basis and hoping that he sufficiently impresses new Avalanche coach Jared Bednar and his staff to be on the opening-night roster Oct. 15. So Bourque went through physicals and testing with other veterans Thursday and will be on the ice Friday morning when the Avalanche opens training camp at the Family Sports Center.
“I was talking to Colorado the whole summer,” Bourque said Thursday. “I had a few other options and I felt like it was going to be a good fit and give me a good chance to make the roster.”
Bourque said he spoke with Avalanche assistant general manager Chris MacFarland, who held the same job at Columbus when the Blue Jackets acquired him from the Ducks late in March 2014 — and that was his second trade of the season.
And what did the Avalanche tell him about this PTO?
“No promises, just that I’m going to be given a fair chance,” Bourque said. “They like the type of player I am and I think it can be a good fit if I show them I can still play in the preseason. … I feel good. I’m 34, I’m obviously one of the older guys on the team, but I had a good summer of training. I’m healthy. So I do think I have lots left. We’ll see.
“They said said, ‘We’re going to give you a chance and if you can prove you can still play, we’d like to have you here. It’s basically that the ball’s in my court and I have to prove that I want to be here.”
As coach of the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters last season, Bednar was in the Columbus organization with Bourque. “I met Jared a few times in camp and maybe a few times throughout the year when he’d be in Columbus,” Bourque said. “As far as Xs and Os, I don’t know much about what he taught in Cleveland. Personally, he’s a great guy and he’s been very good to me so far.”
Bednar said Bourque is “coming in here as an experienced guy. … Our goal is to have the best team here and if he comes out and plays hard and does well, then he’s got a chance, just like the other guys, in my opinion. He’ll have to earn it.”
Bourque said of his possible role: “I think it’s just a matter of where I fit in if I made it. The one good thing about me is that I can play up and down the lineup, second to fourth line, whatever it is. I can fill a few holes wherever they would need me, so hopefully I can bring some leadership and some experience and help some young guys.”
Bourque’s extension with Calgary was front-loaded, and he made $2.5 million the past two seasons, when he had only nine goals. That left him with 151 goals in 660 NHL games.
“It’s been a tough few years,” Bourque said. “I had some good spurts, but it’s something I’ve got to figure out, and hopefully I can do it here. … I’ve never been in this situation before. I was a little nervous and, yeah, there’s a lot of pressure. I don’t want to be done. I want to keep playing, so the pressure’s all on me. It’s new to me. There’s no security. Usually when you’re under contract, you know you’re going to be here, so this is our first year of not living in a house already by the time training camp starts.”
Bourque, who is of Metis descent and was raised in Lac La Biche, Alberta, married Jana Flatt in 2014. He is one of three players attending camp on a tryout basis, along with Gabriel Bourque, most recently with Nashville; and Jiri Tlusty, most recently with New Jersey. (No, the Bourques aren’t related to each other or to Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque.) Last year, winger Jack Skille — like Rene Bourque, a former Wisconsin Badger, made the Avalanche roster on a PTO and was a solid contributor, with eight goals in 74 games. But he’s not back, and Bourque is looking to fill a spot.
“I just have to play my game,” said the 6-foot-2, 217-pound Bourque. “I’m a big winger, I have to crash and get to the front of the net and use my skating ability, and hopefully produce some points.”
