Avalanche won Stanley Cup 25 years ago today, Ray Bourque got his moment

The Colorado Avalanche did something insanely cool on this day 25 years ago.

The team beat the New Jersey Devils in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on June, 9 2001. They hoisted the best trophy in sports for the second time in franchise history.

It was amazing for the city and team, obviously, as a championship always are. But it was even more special for Ray Bourque, who had played an entire legendary career waiting for that chance. He had never won the Stanley Cup until that magical night in June.

Here’s the chill-inducing moment when Avalanche legend Joe Sakic handed the cup to Bourque after a brief photo with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

25 year anniversary of the greatest Cup raise ever pic.twitter.com/VzoCkYEKLV

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) June 9, 2026

Fans could watch that over and over again. Even though Sakic was captain and earned the right to touch the Stanley Cup first, his only priority was getting it to Bourque.

Sakic posed quickly for the obligatory picture then immediately turned and gave the trophy to Bourque. As announcer Gary Thorne stated, Bourque waited 22 years in the NHL for that to happen.

He played his entire career with Boston from 1979 to 2000 before being traded to the Avalanche. They came up short in his first playoff run in Denver, but got it done in the spring and summer of 2001. You can watch the full highlights of Colorado’s 3-1 victory of the Devils in Game 7 below:

Of course, the hope was the Avalanche would win the Cup for the fourth time this season. That didn’t happen after a stunning sweep by Vegas in the Western Conference Final.

Regardless, we’ll always have this memory. And the fact it was 25 years ago is pretty crazy.

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