Former Pittsburgh Penguin Phil Bourque auctioning off Stanley Cup rings, jerseys to help his mother

PITTSBURGH — Former Penguins player and announcer, Stanley Cup winner Phil Bourque is auctioning off his cup rings and some jerseys, in part, to help his mother.

News of the auction surfaced earlier this week, but Bourque is now revealing why. He made the announcement live during WPXI’s 11 on the Ice show Saturday night.

“I had a situation come up with my mom who is 83 years old, lives by herself up in Boston,” said Bourque. “She basically got scammed, I’m sure a lot of people have heard about this by now because it is running wild around the whole east coast, scammed out of her life’s savings.”

Bourque told Jenna Harner in an exclusive interview that some people are misinterpreting the situation and worrying that he might be struggling with different addictions. He promises this is not the case.

“First of all, I don’t have a drug problem, and I don’t have a gambling problem because I know that’s what people are thinking but that’s why I wanted to do this with you because I wanted to clear the air,” said Bourque. “I have a family problem.”

Bourque’s mother was one of many people who fell victim to what is known as the “grandparent scam.” The scam involves people who call grandparents and create fake situations that are impacting their families and ask for money to help end those situations.

“Twice they went to my mom. The first time to get my “daughter” out of jail,” said Bourque, “Then they came back and said ‘Oh Nana’…how did they know that her name is Nana...and they came back the second time and they told my mom that the person that was hit in the car wreck by my “daughter” was pregnant, the baby died, because of their religion they need more money to bury the baby right away…we’re sending a courier and my mom said ‘yes.’”

Not only does Bourque want to help his mom live worry-free, but he also wants to make sure this does not happen to anyone else.

“Pass it on to your grandparents, and even further,” said Bourque. “Until it happens to you, you think ‘How could my mom do this?’ but it’s so real, they play on your emotions and they emptied her out and I hope that it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Despite the challenging situation, Bourque says he is proud to be able to help his family.

“I said “‘Wow this is a chance for me to help my mom out big time,’” said Bourque.

If you are interested in seeing the items up for auction visit Leland’s.com. The auction runs through April 22.

“It’s a special collection, it means a lot to me, I hope it goes to a good home. I’m sure it will,” said Bourque.

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