There were never any regrets. Even after Capitals winger Chris Bourque left his team in the KHL, Mytishchi Atlant, after just 10 weeks, he knew playing hockey in Europe was the right move. It had been a long five years with AHL Hershey and he never really got a chance to establish himself in the NHL. After the drama of making Washington’s roster out of training camp in 2009 only to be placed on waivers for salary-cap reasons and then unexpectedly claimed by the Pittsburgh Penguins – only to play 20 NHL games there, get cut again and reclaimed by the Caps – he needed a break.
Bourque ended up playing for Lugano, a club in Switzerland’s top league, last winter, instead. Now, back with the organization that drafted him in the second round in 2004, Bourque, 25, has returned for another shot in North America. Why?
“Want to play in the NHL. That’s been my dream since I was a little kid. 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. And other teams that I usually follow closely. You know, 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’s studied Washington’s roster and realizes there aren’t many open spots. So be it. If he has to go back to Hershey at least he’ll be in position to earn a recall to the Caps 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. He bolted for Switzerland by the middle of October – just over a month into the KHL season. But Bourque says he enjoyed his time in Switzerland, where English is widely spoken. After the season, though, came the soul searching. Where did he want to play? In the end, it always came back to North America. So after a whirlwind summer that included a wedding in Newport, R.I. where he married longtime his longtime girlfriend, Kim, Bourque started preparing for another NHL camp. He made it last time, why not again?
“You can always open some eyes,” Bourque said. “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. I definitely want to be a Washington Capital. That’s why I signed here. It’s up to me.”
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 at least look for a better situation elsewhere. For now, he needs to find a way to be better than rookies like Cody Eakin and Mattias Sjogren and more established professionals like Jay Beagle, Christian Hanson and Matthieu Perreault, whose situation in the organization in recent years most closely resembles Bourque’s.
“All I can control is how I play. I’m not going to be able to control how those guys do. And if those guys play better than me than I’m going to have to tip my cap to them. But I’m going to do everything in my power to be better than them and I’m going to battle to that last day to try and win a spot on the team. I really don’t care what those kids do. It’s not that I don’t like them or anything. It’s just I’m battling for a spot.”
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