Ryan Bourque: 2015-16 Season in Review
When Ryan Bourque joined the Hershey Bears in a trade deadline deal, most Bears fans understood they were going to see a reunion between Ryan and his brother Chris. What fans probably didn’t know was the Chocolate and White were receiving one of the top penalty killers in the American Hockey League. Bourque made a sudden impact, joining Zach Sill on the top PK unit and turning the Bears into one of the toughest teams to play against on the man advantage. That was evident in the Eastern Conference Finals when the Chocolate and White held the top scoring team in the league to three power play goals in 16 chances. Without Ryan Bourque, we might be having a totally different discussion right now.
How he got here:
Bourque was acquired by the Washington Capitals on February 28 from the New York Rangers for Chris Brown. The Boston native was the Hartford Wolf Pack’s captain at the time and join Hershey after playing 54 games with the Pack. Already with 24 points to his name in the 2015-16 campaign, he only added five more with a goal and four assists for Hershey in the 19 games in a Chocolate and White sweater. The scrappy forward spend the majority of his time on Hershey’s third-line, playing a defensive offense, key in shutting down other team’s top scoring lines.
Linemates:
Bourque spent some time with his brother on the top line after joining the Bears, skating alongside Travis Boyd at center. (Bourque-Boyd-Bourque. Try saying that three times fast.) The 25-year-old bounced through a few linemates before spending some time with Nathan Walker and Dustin Gazley, then back with Boyd and Jakub Vrana to finish out the season. Where Bourque really shined was with Zach Sill at center and Sean Collins, later Gazley, at right wing in the playoffs. Many times his line would be matched-up with another team’s top scoring line, shutting down players like Jake Guentzel and William Nylander in key games.
Memorable performance: Shorthanded goal in Game 3 of Eastern Conference Finals.
Contract status:
Bourque is an unrestricted free-agent. He will fall under the category of a veteran in AHL’s development rule in the 2016-17 season.
Ryan Bourque on Chocolate Hockey: