EmailEmail
PrintPrint
Penguins claim Bourque, lose Bissonnette
Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Penguins added some speed and skill and lost some toughness today.

They claimed winger Chris Bourque, son of Hall of Fame defenseman Raymond Bourque, off waivers from Washington even as Phoenix was claiming rugged winger Paul Bissonnette.

Bourque, 23, is 5 foot 8, 180 pounds, fast and tenacious. He was a second-round draft choice in 2004, and put up 21 goals and 52 assists in 69 games with the Capitals' farm team in Hershey, as well as one goal in eight games with the Capitals.

He is scheduled to remain with the Penguins.

Washington coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters that Bourque, who reportedly earns $577,500 was waived Tuesday so that the Capitals could slip under the NHL's salary-cap ceiling of $56.8 million.

Bissonnette is 6 foot 3, 220 pounds, and was one of five players the Penguins waived Tuesday, when their major-league roster was sliced to 21. The others -- defensemen Nate Guenin and Deryk Engelland, winger Ryan Bayda and Chris Conner -- went unclaimed and will retport to the Penguins' farm team in Wilkes-Barre.

Bissonnette had nine goals, seven assists and 176 penalty minutes in 57 games with the Baby Penguins, and picked up one assist in 15 appearances with the Penguins in 2008-09.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.

First published on September 30, 2009 at 1:04 pm