Hershey Bears

Farewell Chris Bourque: A Modern Day Legend

Chris Bourque’s playing days with the Hershey Bears have come to an end.  Earlier this week, Bourque put out this statement on his twitter.

This comes after the Washington Capitals decided to go in another direction with the Hershey Bears.  The Bears will have a younger look going into the future.

Bourque finishes as a Hershey Bear with 586 points (5th in franchise history) and playing the fifth most games while wearing chocolate and white. Chris had 196 goals (7th in franchise history) and 390 assists (3rd in franchise history).

Chris Bourque

In the 80 year history of Hershey, no one has played more playoff games that Chris Bourque (106 games).  He posted 86 points, which is the franchise record.  60 of those points came off of assists, which tied the franchise record with Mike Nykoluk.  Bourque’s 26 playoff goals comes only second in all-time playoff goals, to his former teammate, Alexandre Giroux.

Here is Chris Bourque by the numbers:

Here are some highlights in Bourque’s career as a Hershey Bear:

  • AHL leading scorer (93 points) in 2011-12.
  • AHL leading scorer (80 points) in 2015-16.
  • Lead the league in assists (66) in 2011-12.
  • Selected to the AHL All-Star team five times.
  • Selected as an AHL First Team All-Star in 2011-12 and 2015-16.
  • Named AHL MVP (Les Cunningham Award) in 2015-16.
  • Selected to the USA 2018 Winter Olympic team in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

 

With everything Chris has done while in chocolate and white, it will be hard seeing him play against us eventually.  He is only 32 years old and still has plenty of playing time ahead of him.

Chris Bourque has been something special to watch in today’s AHL.  Players are not known to stick around for the long run, since it is a developmental league for the NHL.  With the longevity and numbers Brouque has posted for Hershey, it would be hard to see why the number 17 won’t be retired soon after he decides to finally hang up the skates.

Below are some of our favorite photos of Chris from last season.  Best of luck with the rest of your career!

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