Is Gabriel Bourque Related To Ray Bourque? His Father and Parents

No, Gabriel Bourque is not related to Ray Bourque. Ray is a former Canadian professional ice hockey. In the National Hockey League (NHL), he owns the marks for the most career goals, assists, and points by a defenseman.

Born on December 28, 1960, Ray Bourque is 62 years old. He was the NHL’s best defenseman five times and was the runner-up six times for the James Norris Memorial Trophy. 

In addition, he twice came in second place in the Hart Memorial Trophy voting- unusual for a defenseman. Nineteen times, he was selected for the first and six times, the second team of the season-ending All-Star teams. Moreover, he played for the Boston Bruins for 21 seasons and became an Olympian for Canada, making him the team’s longest-serving captain.

In his final NHL game, Bourque won the only Stanley Cup of his career with the Colorado Avalance, where he played out his entire career. Ray Bourque was recognized as one of the 100 greatest NHL players in 2017.

Gabriel Bourque was born to his father and mother in Rimouski, Quebec, Canada. With the Baie-Comeau Petit Drakkar minor ice hockey team, Bourque participated in the 2003 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament as a child. 

During the 2007-2008 season, Bourque made his professional ice hockey debut with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. The Nashville Predators selected Bourque in the fifth round, 132nd overall, of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. 

On December 19, 2009, Bourque was moved to the Moncton Wildcats for his last junior season. The Wildcats defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs in six games to claim the President’s Cup. The Guy Lafleur Trophy went to Bourque for being the playoff MVP when he scored 19 goals and had 29 points.

The Predators signed Bourque to a three-year, entry-level contract on April 15, 2010. The Milwaukee Admirals, an American Hockey League affiliate of the Predators, were where Bourque played his first season as a professional.

On December 28, 2011, Bourque took the ice for his first NHL game against the Minnesota Wild, and on January 5, 2012, he scored his first NHL goal in his career against the Dallas Stars.

On April 11, 2012, when the Predators defeated the Detroit Red Wings in Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarter-Finals, Bourque scored his first NHL Stanley Cup playoff goal. Bourque could only play in 22 games during his sixth season with the Predators in 2015-16 due to illness and injury.

Bourque was released to free agency as a restricted free agent because Nashville did not extend him a qualifying offer to stay. He agreed to attend the Colorado Avalanche training camp on a professional try-out contract on September 1, 2016, after failing to secure an NHL contract over the off-season.

On October 10, 2016, Bourque signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Avalanche following a productive training camp and preseason. With the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage for most of the season, Bourque scored 33 points in 61 games. He was re-signed by the Avalanche on July 18, 2017, for an additional year.

For the Avalanche, Bourque appeared in 58 games and scored 11 points. The ice-hockey player scored two goals in six games throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2018. He and the Winnipeg Jets agreed to a one-year, two-way contract on August 26, 2019.

Out of training camp, Bourque was named to the Jets’ opening-night roster. He played 52 games in a fourth-line specialized role, making 2 goals and 6 points.

Raymond Bourque Sr. and Anita Allain were Bourque’s parents when he was born in Saint-Laurent, Quebec. His parents were born and raised in New Brunswick but relocated to Montreal in the 1950s.

Ray’s father passed away in 2009, while his mother passed away due to cancer when he was 12. Although he attended a French school, Bourque was raised bilingually and spoke both English and French at home. 

Regarding his sports career, the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League selected Bourque in the third round (QMJHL). Head coach and general manager (GM) Michel Bergeron moved Bourque to Sorel for high-scoring Benoit Gosselin halfway through his first campaign.

With a first-round draft pick acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in a 1977 trade for goaltender Ron Grahame (whose son John would later become a teammate of Bourque’s), Bourque had a standout junior career with Sorel and Verdun of the QMJHL, where he was named the league’s best defenseman in 1978 and 1979.

Bourque was selected eighth overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. During his debut season in 1979-80, Bourque would have an immediate impact in Boston, scoring a goal against the Winnipeg Jets in his first game.

As the only non-goaltender to do so in NHL history, Ray quickly established himself as one of the league’s top defensemen by earning the Calder Memorial Trophy as Rookie of the Year and being named to the First Team All-Star. At the time, his 65 points in that season set a rookie defenseman record.

Gabriel Bourque is reported to have a net worth of over 3 million USD. As of 2015, his salary is reported to be 866,250 USD. However, on May 24, 2018, Bourque was re-signed by the Avalanche to a one-year, $950,000 agreement.

The sportsman made three playoff appearances in a loss to the Calgary Flames in the qualification round when the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bourque, a free agent from the Jets, went the whole pandemic-delayed 2020-21 season without signing with a team. On June 12, 2021, he signed a one-year AHL deal with his hometown team, the Laval Rocket, an affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, and successfully returned to the professional ranks.

Bourque was re-signed by the Rocket to a one-year contract extension on July 17, 2022.