Ray Bourque squares off against Doug Flutie in the second round of the Boston’s Biggest Sports Legend tournament.
No Bruins player became more loved by the city of Boston than Ray Bourque. The B’s defenseman called the Garden home for 21 seasons and put his heart and soul on the line every night in Black and Gold, but the 16-year captain never was able to raise a Cup for his efforts — until the Bruins dished him off for one final hurrah in Denver. Bourque finished his career with the most points among blue liners in NHL history — 1,579. He also won five Norris Trophies and ranks as the Bruins’ all-time leader in games played (1,518) and points (1,506) and ranks fourth in goals (395). Ray Bourque displayed his class on the night of Dec. 3, 1987, when B’s legend Phil Esposito’s No. 7 was to be retired to the Garden rafters. Bourque relinquished his No. 7 and from then on wore No. 77, so that Esposito’s jersey could be retired into Bruin immortality.
The “Flutie Effect” may have originated at Boston College, but today, all New Englanders have a soft spot in their heart for Doug Flutie. The Natick High School graduate and three-sport star went on to quarterback the Eagles in his backyard at Boston College. Best known for “The Pass” — the game-winning touchdown against Miami as time ran out in front of a nationally televised audience the day after Thanksgiving in 1984 – Flutie went on to win the school’s first Heisman Trophy since Pat Sullivan in 1971. The Rhodes Scholarship finalist then went on to play for the Bears and Patriots in the late 1980s before dominating the Canadian Football League, where he is revered as that league’s greatest quarterback. In 2005, Flutie, who remained very active in the Boston community through his foundation, the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation, rejoined the Patriots and retired after one year. Flutie’s last image came in the final regular-season game when he drop-kicked an extra point, a feat that hadn’t been done in the NFL since 1941.
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