It’s turned into a remarkably short summer for

The left winger, MVP of the 2009-10 Calder Cup playoffs for the Hershey Bears, leaves Tuesday for Russia. His new KHL club, HK Atlant, already has begun training camp for the 2010-11 season.

“I don’t know much about what I’m going into,” Bourque said Sunday.

What he is leaving behind made the decision to reject a qualifying contract offer from the Washington Capitals extremely difficult. Bourque said he was torn by his affection and loyalty to Bears president-GM Doug Yingst, his teammates and the Hershey community versus what was best financially and developmentally for his hockey career.

“It was actually a really hard decision for me, and it was hard to tell Doug,” Bourque said. “Washington offered me a two-year deal. It was pretty good money. But they pretty much didn’t have plans for me to be in Washington, and I want to be in the NHL.”

Bourque said he asked the Caps for a trade. When that didn’t happen, he finalized a two-year deal with HK Atlant believed to be worth $500,000 per season.

“It’s money that I definitely couldn’t turn down,” Bourque said. “It’s life-changing money that I haven’t been able to get.

“I couldn’t sleep for a week. It was a really hard decision. The decision doesn’t just affect me. It affects my family, my friends, my teammates.”

HK Atlant is based near Moscow, Bourque said, and he knows new teammates Jeff Hamilton, a long-time AHL player, and Jan Bulis, a long-time NHL player who also is a former Capital. The second year of the deal is at his option.

Bourque, 24, won three Calder Cups in five seasons with Hershey. In addition to being this year’s Calder Cup MVP, he has been team season MVP and an AHL all-star.

“Development-wise, I didn’t think there was much else I could do in the AHL,” Bourque said.

“Maybe I felt too comfortable there. The organization and people were so great, it made it so much fun to play there. Maybe moving onto a new place will give me that boost I need to make it to the next level.”

Bourque said his ultimate plan is to return to North America and make another bid to play in the NHL. Washington retains his NHL rights.

“It’s definitely not anything against the organization,” Bourque said. “It’s something I needed to do. It’s going to help me financially. It’s something I couldn’t turn down. I hope people don’t look at me differently because of it. It’s something I would never change, the last five years in Hershey. Maybe somewhere down the line, I’ll have a Hershey Bears uniform on again.

“Thank everybody in the Hershey community for everything. The fans, the training staff, the front office, my teammates, the media. They made it so easy for me to go to the rink. I have so many good memories playing in Hershey. I had a blast. It’s definitely going to be five years that I remember and cherish, for sure.”