Canucks & Beyond
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Canucks Legend: #10 Pavel Bure
by Alanah McGinley on 03/29/07 at 12:52 PM ET
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*Part of a series on the 7 Greatest Canucks of all-time.
*Previous posts, Kirk McLean, Trevor Linden, Harold Snepsts
“He was scary with the puck. I mean, he could do stuff that made other players look like they were playing in another league. It would be ‘boys playing with men’ sometimes.”
*Arthur Griffiths’ comment in the video below
I don’t think I’d watched a sequence of Pavel Bure highlight moments in literally years before I saw this video, and seeing it again now I’m struck by the idea that he sometimes seems to be a bit forgotten.
I realize he’s not really forgotten, of course; many of us carry memories of the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs at the very least. And it’s nearly impossible to forget how remarkable a player he was. But still, remembering it and experiencing it again are two different things, and watching this video was a jaw-dropping reminder to me of how damn good he really was. Electrifying.
An obvious modern comparison is to consider the skills of Alexander Ovechkin in Washington, another Russian with buckets of talent, determination and personality. In Bure’s case, the narrator of this vid describes him in equal measure as both ‘athlete’ and ‘rock star’—that same tribute could be applied to both players, I expect.
But I’ll give Bure the edge, perhaps for the ‘purity’ of skill I’m reminded of watching this video. I can’t describe it better than that—I’m sure others will have their own opinions. Regardless, I hope you’ll watch some of this footage… he really was spectacular in action.
From Legends of Hockey, let me steal Joe Pelletier’s comments:
No one loves to score as much as Bure. Even in practice he loves to see the twine bulge. In that sense Bure ranks as one of the greatest pure goal scorers in hockey history. Names like Mike Bossy and Rocket Richard are fair comparisons.
Bure is nicknamed the Russian Rocket because of his incredible speed. While some players can match his foot speed, what makes Bure so special is he can carry the puck at top speed. Most players just push the puck in front of them as they break down the wing; Bure is capable of deking through a top defenseman without losing steam. Sometimes he even dropped the puck into his feet and kick it by the blueliner, and then accelerate by him to get in alone. He was truly a magnificent player to watch, and you often watched with your jaw hanging open.
Bure was often said to have wanted a trade from Vancouver since the season after the ‘94 playoffs, though I don’t ever recall actually seeing a quote from him to that effect, just media reports and his own denials that it was even true. The result was probably unfair to Bure, as fans and the the press piled on him, resentful that he might want to leave. Eventually he did want out, of course, and sat out most (all?) of his last season in Vancouver before finally being traded to Florida in 1999.
Bure’s career was progressively plagued by injuries. His talent seemed endless, but his body paid the price for it. And while he had some good seasons after Vancouver, he never repeated the accomplishment of another 60 goal season (much less the two he had with the Canucks), and there was always an atmosphere of doom around how long he could play. Or so it seemed to me.
Bure’s career wound him past the New York Rangers before finally retiring in the 2002-03 season. He’s since been involved with the Russian national team and various business ventures. But he’ll always be remembered as the Russian Rocket to NHL fans.
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003 (with a notable gap in time through 2010, kicking it with new baby Lucy while living knee-deep in chaos while reading “parenting for complete idiots” during every spare minute) sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen.
In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah was one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast. She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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it just shouldn’t matter what you think about why he left. highlight reels like that should just leave your jaw dropping, agape in raw amazement at what you might never see again. ovechkin might be close…we’ll see.
or we won’t…another small market team (capitals), that you don’t see.
Posted by owl on 03/31/07 at 01:16 AM ET