April 30, 2022
One of the all-time greats in
Hershey Bears history is calling it a career. On Saturday morning, legendary forward Chris Bourque announced via his social media accounts that he was returning from professional hockey after 17 seasons.
Bourque played nine seasons with Hershey, and the Boston native ranks fifth all-time in team history in scoring, collecting 586 points (196g, 390a) over 604 regular season games. He won the AHL's scoring title two times, including with Hershey in 2016. He was named the AHL's MVP for the 2015-16 campaign, and served as a long-time alternate captain for the club.
Bourque helped Hershey to three Calder Cup titles (2006, 2009, 2010) and is the franchise's all-time leader in playoff scoring (86 points) and playoff games played (106). He won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the AHL's Playoff MVP in 2010. Bourque's 82 career playoff assists are the most by any player in league history.
He was a six-time AHL All-Star, including representing Hershey and serving as the Eastern Conference playing captain at the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic. He ranks 20th in AHL history in scoring with 746 points (251g, 495a) in 794 career games played over parts of 13 AHL seasons from 2004-19. While a member of the Bears, he represented Team USA at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.
Bourque concluded his playing career with ERC Ingolstadt in the DEL, collecting 45 points (17g, 28a) this season.
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