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.
For the second time in franchise history, Pittsburgh claimed back-to-back championships with their victory in 2016-17. Once again, his role in the radio booth saw Bourque receiving his fifth ring with the organization. In this version, as with the previous year, STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS on the face is smaller, but the skating penguin logo remains, all in silver and gold. Left shank reads BOURQUE above the skating penguin logo, surrounded by two Stanley Cups, with bottom section engraved with "Back 2 Back." Opposite shank gives the franchise's history full recognition as the year 2017 sits atop no less than five Stanley Cups, each bearing the respective year in which they were won. Ring measures 11.5 and weighs 47 grams. The engravings inside the band consist of "Jostens 10K, " the motto "Play the Right Way" and a summary of each playoff series, which includes their opponent's team logo: "[Columbus] 4-1 [Washington] 4-3 [Ottawa] 4-3 [Nashville] 4-2." For the second straight season, the Pens finished 2nd in the Metropolitan Division only to turn on the jets at playoff time, defeating the Nashville Predators to once again lift Lord Stanley's ultimate prize. Phil Bourque remains a fixture on Penguins radio broadcasts for his 19th season, all up until this year alongside long-time play-by-play man Mike Lange, who is now "Broadcaster Emeritus" after 46 years behind the mic.