When Mark Recchi re-signed with the Boston Bruins this past offseason, it wasn’t so that he could have one more season to help pad his stats. In fact, at 43, the Bruins knew that Recchi’s best contributions would come off the ice in the form of a mentor for Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand. But Recchi, who still managed to tally 14 goals and 34 assists in 81 regular-season games for the B’s during the regular season, also felt that the team had a legit shot at winning a Stanley Cup.
“I want to go out and finish it off right by winning another championship and help this team be successful,” Recchi said during a conference call after re-signing in 2009. “It’s been a great run. I think I want to give it one more chance.”
At the time the notion seemed poetic. No offense to the Bruins, but everyone in the hockey world knew that that if they wanted to get to the Stanley Cup Final, they would have to go up against Eastern Conference powerhouses in the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals.
“I really like the pieces that are there. Winning the Stanley Cup is not an easy thing. You want to give yourself every opportunity. I felt Boston was a great fit for me. We have the opportunity, if we do all the right things as players, to continue to grow as a team. I think everybody left pretty disappointed, which I really, really liked. Guys felt we left something out there. Guys will be that much more hungry this year.”
As it turns out, Recchi was right. The Pens were eliminated in the first round, the Caps got axed in the second and now the Boston Bruins are Stanley Cup champions.
And Recchi has decided to go out on top.
The oldest player in the NHL and No. 4 on the league’s all-time list in games played, Recchi is a seven-time All-Star who had won the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in his third season and again with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 before capturing his third with Boston on Monday. Recchi, who was by no means a lucky bystander who played limited minutes on the fourth line, scored seven points in the Stanley Cup Final, giving him 147 postseason points in his distinguished career.
Recchi ends his Hall of Fame-worthy career with 1,533 points in 1,652 regular season games.
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