"I'm proud of the career that I've had," Bourque told ColoradoAvalanche.com on Tuesday morning. "I've lived my dream, and it's kind of cool to play against the first team I've played for, for 700."
Bourque said that he knew he was approaching the milestone but was unaware that tonight's game would serve as the backdrop to his achievement until this morning.
"I'm surprised it is 700. I knew it was coming up, but I didn't know tonight was the night," he said. "It's kind of cool. I think after you get 1,000, that will be a big milestone. I'm not sure I'll be able to get to it, that's 300 (more) games."
The Lac La Biche, Alberta, native played his first four seasons of professional hockey with the Blackhawks organization after signing with the club as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Wisconsin in July of 2004. He spent his first year with Chicago's AHL franchise in Norfolk during the lockout season of 2004-05 but was on the ice for the Hawks' opening night the following year when the league returned to play.
"I think that is something that you'll never forget," he recalled of his first game. "We played Anaheim. It was the first game after the lockout. It was cool. Lining up against (Sergei) Fedorov and older guys like that, (Scott) Niedermayer. My first game is something that will stick in your head for a long time."
The right wing has come a long way since entering the NHL as a 24-year-old with a Consumer Behavior and Business degree in his back pocket after playing four full years of college hockey at Wisconsin.
He's had stops in Calgary, Montreal, Anaheim and Columbus in his previous 11 campaigns and made Colorado's squad this year after participating in training camp on a professional tryout. Bourque is third on the Avs in goals this year with nine, adding to his total that now includes 160 goals and 311 points.
