And Here We Go

Ryan Bourque (Courtesy of QMJHL)

For those of you who have been dying for some hockey action; well guess what people? That is right hockey is back and we have our first taste of action.

Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) and his Quebec Remparts made their 2010 preseason debut a very good one with a easy 4-1 win over the Chicoutimi Saguenéens. For New York Ranger fans, they will be happy to see Bourque getting off to a very good start with a 1-2-3 night which was good enough for the game's second star.

Bourque got his year going exactly just the way we have been hoping he would as we wrote earlier this week as Bourque's homework assignment:

Show off his forecheck and skating speed as you can not hit what you can not catch up to.
That is exactly what Bourque did on Friday evening as he led his Quebec Remparts with 5 shots, 2 good hits, and a very nice +3 to go with his points. Bourque was even wearing an "A" on his uniform for this game so we saw some very good things from him on this night.

Bourque got his night going with a secondary assist on Maxime Gravel's goal at 15:15 of the first period which gave the Remparts a 1-0 lead they would not give back. In the 2nd period Bourque scored what proven the game winning goal when he took a feed from Gravel and beat Saguenéens goalie Francis Desrosiers at 7:31 for a 2-0 Rempart lead.

In the 3rd period it was Bourque who helped to finish of the Saguenéens when he fed Gravel for his 2nd goal of the night and a 3-1 lead at 7:03. It is doubtful that Bourque could have scripted his season debut any better as he showed off all of his skill set.

The Saguenéens would up with an 0 for 8 on their power plays thanks in part to Bourque's efforts on the defensive side. It was not a perfect night for Bourque as he lost the only faceoff he took.


So Bourque has let his peers know that he is setting their bar higher this season and if that is the case then this ought to be a very interesting season to watch Ranger prospects in action.