In defense of Ray

"May Madness" is over and Lord Stanley's Cup is alive and well and camping out in the Rocky Mountains for a year.

I would like to say I was one of the few people who thought the Avalanche would win the series. I was rooting very hard for the Avs and I was very happy for one Raymond Jean Bourque, who will ALWAYS be a Boston Bruin to me.

I'm not ashamed to say when Ray held the cup high over his head for the first time, I ran to my closet, grabbed my Bruins jersey and held it up proudly! I cried almost as much as Ray did.

Which brings me to Mark Zuidema's column of June 7th. I respect his opinion, but I don't think he gets the "we love Ray in Boston" thing.

Yes, there was a lot about Ray's quest for the cup, but we heard much more about Mario Lemieux's comeback, Peter Forsberg's spleen, Dale Earnhardt's death, A-rod's salary and when Michael Jordan was coming back to the Bulls. Even Timothy Mcveigh got more airtime than Ray, but don't even get me started on that issue.

I'm not an avalanche fan, but my favorite Avs are Ray Bourque and Joe Sakic.

I'm definitely not a Devils by any means. (It's a NY-NJ rivalry thing going. Those of you who don't live in those states wouldn't understand.)

Bourque did go to a team that was loaded with talent, but it just wasn't about Ray.

He's not selfish for wanting to get his hands on Lord Stanley's Cup. Call me crazy, but I was under the impression that was the ultimate goal of a hockey player -- getting their hands on the Stanley Cup.

Mark doesn't understand why Boston fans rooted hard for Ray to do well with the Avalanche. Let me try to explain it to you, Mark.

I lived in Boston for 15 years, attended more home and away Bruins games than I can count, was fortunate enough to work for a Boston sports paper where I did interviews with some Bruins players.

I remember when Ray came up as a rookie in 1979. Like many Bruins fans, I remember with fondness when he gave up wearing number seven on "Phil Esposito Retirement Day" in favor of number 77, which will probobly be retired by the Bruins one day.

Ray had plenty of opportunities to leave Boston. He didn't. He stuck with the Bruins until reality set in. (A Stanley Cup Parade will go through the streets of San Jose before it goes down the streets of Beantown again.)

Mark, you say Steve Yzerman worked long and hard to get the Cup and would never leave Detroit. Ray used to feel that way, but the big difference between Boston and Detroit is that Stevie Y plays for an organization with owners that care, while Ray was stuck in hockey purgatory with the Jacobs' brothers, A.K.A., the Brothers Cheap, who don't give a donkey's behind about the Bruins.

Loyalty is a two way street. Ray had it for 20 odd years, giving his all. If the media kept shoving his story down our throats, so what? I don't have a problem with it. It sure beats hearing he's in jail for killing his wife.