Debatable. New overtime rules and two weak expansion teams in the West granted more points than in the mid-1990s, but they were better then.
Nah. The 2001 team was the best they ever iced, and the majority of them cite Bourque's 28 minutes a night as a huge reason why. Sakic enjoyed his greatest season ever and cited Bourque's breakout game as a primary factor in him being able to play a different style. Adam Foot grew into a rock solid stay at home D under Bourque's tutelage.
And it wasn't just that year. The 14 games he played after joining them at the deadline the year before proved revelational. Their shots against dropped from an average of 29 a game to 22 a game and they won 11, lost 2 and had 1 tie. They gave up 29 goals in those 14 games, scored 47....lol. Their final numbers for the season were 233 goals for, 201 against. If you average out their play with Bourque for 14 games, they were on pace for 258 goals for, 168 goals against
If the expansion teams made such a big difference, why did the also stacked Detroit Red wings, Dallas stars and St Louis blues not see a 22 point jump in the standings playing in the same environment? The blues scored 114 the year before expansion and then only 103 points with those two expansion teams to feed on? Could it be that losing Pronger for 31 games hurt them that much? If you say yes, you must acknowledge the effect of adding 80 games of Ray Bourque to the Avs. Why did the stacked red wings squad not see huge leaps? The wings had 3 more points than the year before. Which was 1 more win and 1 OT and their star players scored at basically the exact same pace they did the year before. Same with the stars who had a whole 4 more points.
"From Day 1, he made my job easier. It was like he brought a new energy into the locker room. And I knew he'd give me 30-plus minutes of quality defense each night. Finding a defenseman who can provide that is like finding gold."
"It was almost like adding 23 new players," defense partner Adam Foote says. "His poise, his confidence rubbed off on everybody. I think we all played a little like Ray after he arrived."
Others in the league noticed as well. "It's amazing how their confidence grew," Coyotes center Jeremy Roenick said at the end of last season. "Adam Foote grew into a rock playing alongside Ray, and the forwards clearly took more chances offensively knowing there's a Hall of Fame guy right behind them."
In the end, it was just vindication of the often repeated question "What would happen if Bourque played on a loaded team like Lidstrom". Old man 40 year old Bourque was able to propel his teammates above and beyond and go runner up for the Norris at age 40 when he was a shadow of the player he was in his prime and win the cup all in the same year. Now imagine him in his prime doing it. Likely looking at even more gaudy offensive totals to his already record amount of points for a Dman and 5 or 6 more cups.
