Forward seems intent on sticking around this time There were never any regrets.
Even after Capitals winger Chris Bourque left his team in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League after just 10 weeks last fall, he knew playing hockey in Europe was the right move. It had been a long five years with Hershey of the American Hockey League, and he never really got a chance to establish himself in the NHL with Washington.
After the drama of 2009 — he made the Caps out of training camp, was placed on waivers for salary-cap reasons and then claimed by the Pittsburgh Penguins, for whom he played 20 NHL games before getting cut again and reclaimed by the Caps — he needed a break. So he signed a two-year, $1 million contract with KHL club Atlant for double the money he had made in the NHL.
Bourque eventually ended up with Lugano, a club in Switzerland’s elite league, last winter. Now 25, he has returned for another shot in North America with the organization that drafted him in the second round in 2004.
“Tough to play in the NHL when you’re over in Europe,” Bourque said. “So I always caught myself looking at box scores over there in Europe, checking out and seeing how the Capitals were doing. … It’s been my dream to play in the NHL. I still feel like I can play in the NHL. And I’m not ready to give up on that dream.”
Bourque is realistic. He has studied Washington’s roster and realizes there aren’t many open forward spots. So be it. If he has to go back to Hershey, at least he will be in position to earn a recall if injuries strike or trades are made.
Bourque struggled with the language barrier in Russia, and it didn’t help when his lone North American teammate, Jeff Hamilton, was cut three weeks into the season. Bourque bolted for the Swiss league by the middle of October. And while he says he enjoyed his time in Switzerland, where English is more widely spoken, after the season came the soul searching. Where did he want to play? In the end, it always came back to North America. He made it with Washington once. Why not again?
“You can always open some eyes,” said Bourque, a 5-foot-8, 170-pound left wing/center. “And whether you play well in camp, if you get sent down maybe be the first call-up. There’s always going to be injuries. And if you play well enough maybe they’ll trade someone and give you that roster spot. I’m definitely here to try to make this team. I’m not thinking about Hershey.”
Bourque will have more options next season when he is finally an unrestricted free agent. If it doesn’t work out in Washington, he can look for a better situation elsewhere. For now, he needs to be better than promising rookies like Cody Eakin and Mattias Sjogren and more established pros like Jay Beagle, Christian Hanson and Matthieu Perreault.
