Hershey's Chris Bourque celebrates

Chris Bourque has won three Calder Cups with the Hershey Beas. SEAN SIMMERS, The Patriot-News file photo

For Chris Bourque , his dominating performance against the Hershey Bears in the 2014-15 playoffs wasn't an audition to return to the place where he won three Calder Cups.

The winger's three goals and eight assists in six games for the Hartford Wolf Pack in a second-round elimination of Hershey was postseason business as usual for the 2009-10 AHL playoff MVP.

"

You just never want to lose to your old team," Bourque said. "I always try to play hard every game. But in the playoffs you always try to add a little pep in your step. I try to be a good playoff performer, whether it's my former team or any team. I just try to help my team to the best of my abilities."

The Bears are again Bourque's team.

It is the fourth Hershey stint for Bourque, 29, the only player in team history to win three Calder Cups with the Bears, including his Jack A. Butterfield Trophy MVP performance in the 2009-10 postseason.

"

Obviously, I'm excited to be back in the organization," Bourque said. "I spent most of my career there. This will be my seventh year there.

"

I'm very familiar with the coaching staff, management, all the trainers and all that. It makes everything a little bit more comfortable going into a bit of a new place. But I've been there before, so I know what to expect. It's just a good organization to be part of."

Joey Crabb lifts Chris Bourque into the air at Giant Center after Bourque scored in Game 5 against the Hershey Bears in the 2014-15 playoffs. Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

Bourque last played for Hershey in 2011-12, when he led the AHL in scoring (27-66-93). The 5-8, 180-pounder had a career-high for goals in 2014-15 with Hartford (29-37-66) and was named a first-team AHL postseason all-star for the second time.

Bourque has averaged .978 points a game in 510 career AHL games. At 499, he is one point shy of 500 for his AHL career.

"

I think it's great for the organization," Bears head coach Troy Mann said. "If he's not the most dynamic player in the league, he's certainly right up there. He's a first-team all-star and he's got three Calder Cups. I think it could be the biggest game-changer in the league. I think we needed that."

Bourque (3-3-6) and new Hershey forward Carter Camper (5-3-8), signed as a free agent Wednesday, helped pace the Providence Bruins over Hershey in the first round of the playoffs in 2012-13.

"

When it comes to playoffs, there's nobody who wants to win more than Chris Bourque," Mann said. "I think that's why he's been able to win the MVP in the Calder Cup playoffs. I just think it's fantastic for us."

Bourque ranks eighth in all-time Hershey assists (262), is tied with Michel Harvey for 14th in all-time Hershey points (393) and is 25th in all-time Hershey games (392).

A Calder Cup winner with Hershey in 2005-06, 2008-09 and 2009-10, Bourque ranks seventh in all-time AHL playoff points (95) and assists (70).

"

If he's not the premier player, he's one of the premier players in the American Hockey League," Bears President-GM Doug Yingst said.

"

It's great for our franchise and our fans to bring him back to the Hershey Bears."

Bourque was one of the most coveted AHL free agents on the market. Familiarity with the team and a family friendly town directed his decision to Hershey.

"

The whole package is tough to turn down," said Bourque, a Boston native. "When they came with an offer, I thought about it. I had a couple other options. But at the end of the day, I think it's probably the best package. It's still close to Boston. Only six hours. I wasn't really keen on going out West or anything like that."

In 2014-15, Bourque was teammates with younger brother Ryan in Hartford. Ryan Bourque is under contract with the New York Rangers for 2015-16, so the two won't be teammates this season.

"

Maybe we can make a trade, huh?" Bourque said. "There's always that option."

Bourque has played 51 career NHL games. Thirteen of those games were with Washington, which drafted him in the second round (33rd overall) in 2004.

He would welcome a recall return to the Caps.

"

Having that opportunity was also a big reason to sign there to be a call-up guy," Bourque said. "I don't think I would ever make the team there [out of training camp]. Having a chance to play some games and play in the NHL again is obviously someone's dream, every player's dream. That's a carrot at the end of the stick."

NOTEBOOK

Bourque was 19 when he first played in Hershey in 2005-06. He will turn 30 on Jan. 29, 2016. "There's no better place to turn 30 than Hershey," he said.

After eliminating Hershey, Hartford was swept by Calder Cup champion Manchester in the Eastern Conference finals. "It just seemed like we had such a good emotional win against Hershey but just couldn't get that same edge for the next series," Bourque said. "I don't know what it was. You've got to give Manchester credit. They're a really good team. It was pretty upsetting that we couldn't get a couple wins there and make a series. There were a couple moments there in the series where we thought we had them up against the wall and they would just come back and score right away."

For both years of Bourque's contract, his NHL salary is $600,000 and his AHL salary is $350,000, according to generalfanager.com