Offered in the following lots are five Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Championship rings, all coming from the personal collection of fan-favorite player/announcer Phil Bourque. The first two are from his playing days with the remaining three coming from his career in the broadcast booth. With five Stanly Cup titles spanning from 1990-91 to 2016-17, the Pens are one of the most successful organizations in the NHL's modern era. Only seven franchise employees have received rings from all five Cup runs and only three won as players - with the other two being Mario Lemieux and Bob Errey - and though they are offered here separately, this is also very likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to earn a complete set of five player-caliber Pittsburgh Penguins championship rings. All are in NM or better condition, each comes with LOA.
Though his playing days ended with the Ottawa Senators in 1995-96, Bourque embarked on his "post-career career" by joining Pittsburgh's radio broadcast team as a color commentator, and became affectionately known as "Ol' Two-Niner" in reference to his uniform number. Bourque received this "A" version of the Pens ring for their next title in 2008-09, representing a stark contrast from those issued for the victories nearly two decades earlier. A relief of the skating penguin logo is set atop an outline of the Stanley Cup, with that design and the entire face covered in genuine diamonds. Bezel reads "STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS" with left shank holding the year 2009 and three more diamond-encrusted Stanley Cup images, representing the team's three titles to date. Left shank has Bourque's name above reliefs detailing Pittsburgh's series victories with team logos and series results as follows: Detroit Red Wings 4-3, Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 on top row; below is Washington Capitals 4-3, and Philadelphia Flyers 4-2. Below that is "PENGUINS." Ring is size 11.5 and weighs 71 grams, with "INNERGOLD 10K" engraved inside band. The new era of Penguins hockey was well underway in '08-09, led by the phenomenal Sid "The Kid" Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and their 7-game victory over the Detroit Red Wings in the finals was a revenge rematch from the previous season's ultimate series.