Bourque On Toucher & Rich: Bruins Need To Stay In Moment And Play Their Game
BOSTON (CBS) – A decade ago Thursday, Bruins legend Ray Bourque raised the Stanley Cup as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.
Now he has some advice for the Bruins as they head in to a crucial Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Vancouver.
"It's such a big moment, but you don't want to make is so big you can't play your game," Bourque told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher and Rich. "That is so important, staying in the moment, (staying) who you are."
"When the Bruins got in trouble in the first two games was when they were trying to do too much," he said.
Bourque credits the Bruins for simplifying their game in their two wins in Boston, tying the series at two games apiece. A much more physical Bruins squad was able to take the Canucks stars out of the game and put more pressure on netminder Roberto Luongo.
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"The psyche of the team rides on the guy making the saves, or not making the saves," said Bourque. "The first periods of both those games were tight periods, no one was really out-playing anyone until there was a goal given up by Luongo, and then you saw the Bruins build confidence."
Listen: Toucher & Rich: Jack Edwards' Promise If The Bruins Win Game 5
"The flip side of that is Timmy gives you so much confidence. You know that if he gives one up early, or it's not a pretty one, he's going to battle till the end," he said. "That is where the different is with these teams."
Bourque also credits players like Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Dennis Seidenberg, who are not only great players but "great guys" as well, who he said make a real difference both in the locker room and one ice.
And then there is Brad Marchand.
"He's a guy that I would want to kill," said Bourque, repeating what Marchand's teammate Shawn Thornton said on Thursday. "He never shuts up, he's always yapping. It's one thing when the guy just yaps and bugs you and sticks you. It's even more upsetting when he's a good player."
Read/Watch: B's Face Tough Task Trying To Steal Win In Vancouver
Bourque, as well as Milan Lucic, is raffling off his luxury suite for Monday's Game 6 in Boston. Fans can purchase tickets for $2 (a minimum of five) at CelebritiesforCharity.org until 3 p.m. on Monday.
98.5 The Sports Hub is the only local station to listen to every game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Coverage begins an hour before each game with the Bruins Pregame show hosted by Dave Goucher & Bob Beers.
