TORONTO – The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) is proud to announce that Trois-Rivières Draveurs, Sorel/Verdun Blackhawks, and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) alumnus Ray Bourque has been ranked No. 9 on the CHL’s Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years list, a marquee initiative of the CHL’s 50th anniversary season.
The countdown recognizes the greatest players from the Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and QMJHL since 1975-76, celebrating the stars who have defined major junior hockey over the past five decades. As part of the initiative, a panel of media members first selected the Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years. The final ranking order was then determined using a weighted formula that combined media and fan voting to rank the players from No. 1 through No. 50.
Bourque stands as the highest-ranked defenceman on the CHL’s Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years list. One of nine defencemen included among the Top 50, Bourque is also the only blueliner ranked within the Top 10.
Selected 22nd overall by the Trois-Rivières Draveurs in the third round of the 1976 QMJHL Draft, Bourque quickly emerged as one of the league’s premier defencemen. Over three QMJHL seasons from 1976-79, the Montréal, Que., native recorded 220 points — 56 goals and 164 assists — in 204 regular-season games.
Bourque split his rookie season in 1976-77 between Trois-Rivières and Sorel, combining for 48 points (12 goals and 36 assists) in 69 games. He took another step forward in 1977-78 with Verdun, producing 79 points (22 goals and 57 assists) in 72 games before adding three points in four playoff contests. That season, he earned QMJHL First All-Star Team honours.
Serving as Verdun’s captain in 1978-79, Bourque delivered the most productive season of his CHL career, registering 93 points (22 goals and 71 assists) in 63 regular-season games, followed by 19 points (three goals and 16 assists) in 11 playoff games. His standout season earned him QMJHL Defenceman of the Year honours, a second straight QMJHL First All-Star Team selection, and a share of the QMJHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player award alongside Jean-François Sauvé.
Following his standout QMJHL career, Bourque was selected eighth overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1979 NHL Draft, making him one of only six defencemen in QMJHL history to be chosen inside the Top 10 of the NHL Draft.
Bourque went on to build one of the greatest careers by a defenceman in hockey history. Across 22 NHL seasons with the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche, he recorded 1,579 points — 410 goals and 1,169 assists — in 1,612 regular-season games. He retired as the NHL’s all-time leader among defencemen in goals, assists, and points, and remains the only defenceman in NHL history to score more than 400 career goals.
A five-time James Norris Memorial Trophy winner as the NHL’s top defenceman, Bourque also captured the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year in 1980. He was named to the NHL First All-Star Team 13 times and the NHL Second All-Star Team six times, and twice finished second in Hart Memorial Trophy voting — a rare achievement for a defenceman. In 2001, Bourque capped his NHL career by winning the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche.
Internationally, Bourque represented Canada on multiple occasions. He made his Team Canada debut at the 1981 Canada Cup, helped Canada capture Canada Cup gold in both 1984 and 1987, and represented Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics, where he led all Canadian defencemen in scoring with three points in six games.
Bourque was inducted into the QMJHL Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004. He was also named one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players in 2017, and named one of two defencemen on Verdun’s All-Time Team in 1999.
