Pavel Bure

Infobox Ice Hockey Player

---

image_size = 250px
position = Right Wing
shot = Left
height_ft = 5
height_in = 10
weight_lb = 191
played_for ="NHL"
Vancouver Canucks
Florida Panthers
New York Rangers
"RSL"
HC CSKA Moscow
HC Spartak Moscow
nationality = Russia
birth_date = birth date and age|1971|03|31
birth_place = Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
draft = 113th overall
draft_year = 1989
draft_team = Vancouver Canucks
career_start = 1987
career_end = 2003

Pavel Vladimirovich Bure ( _ru. Павел Владимирович Буре; born on March 31, 1971) is a retired Russian professional ice hockey right winger. He played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, and New York Rangers. He was often known by his nickname "The Russian Rocket".

Drafted 113th overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by Vancouver, he began his NHL career in 1991-92 and won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's best rookie. A two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner (he also led the league in goal scoring in 1993-94, when the trophy was not yet awarded), Bure was nicknamed the "Russian Rocket" for his world class speed and skill.

Internationally, Bure competed for the Soviet Union and Russia. He won a bronze medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and a silver medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

After struggling with knee injuries throughout his career, Bure retired prematurely in 2005. Immediately after his retirement, he was named the General Manager for Russia's Olympic hockey team. [cite web |url=http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?p=134253 |title=Bure retires, takes Russian GM job |date=2005-11-01 |accessdate=2007-02-02 |publisher=Canadian Press] He is presently a candidate to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008. [citeweb|title=Who's in, who's out?|url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/halloffame_nominees_2008/|publisher=Rogers Sportsnet|accessdate=2008-06-16|date=2008-06-16]

Biography

Pavel was named after his great-grandfather, a watchmaker to Tsar Alexander III. Bure's family made precious watches for the tsars from 1815-1917. In 1996, Bure presented 3 of the 50 gold replicas of the company's last model to then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and Moscow mayor Yuriy Luzhkov.

Bure comes from an athletic family; his father, Vladimir Bure, was an Olympic swimmer who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1968, 1972, and 1976 Olympic Games. In the '72 Games he won the bronze medal (100m), and lost the gold by half a second to swimming legend Mark Spitz. Pavel Bure's younger brother, Valeri Bure, also played in the NHL.

Bure began his hockey career at 16, playing for the Soviet Red Army team.

Bure did the first ever Sports Live Chat on the Internet in Canada in 1995 with Bob Kerstein, CIO of the Vancouver Canucks.

Playing career

Nicknamed "The Russian Rocket" for his speed and skill, Bure was picked 113th overall in the 6th round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks out of the Central Red Army. Bure was a steal because the Canucks had chosen him seemingly a year ahead of his eligible draft season. However, Canucks scout Mike Penny had discovered that Bure had played in enough international games to make him eligible a year early.citeweb|title=Top ten draft-day steals|url=http://canucks.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=366375&page=NewsPage&service=page|publisher=Vancouver Canucks|accessdate=2008-07-12] He started playing for the Canucks in 1991-92, appearing in his first game on November 5, 1991, in a 3-3 tie against Winnipeg. He scored 34 goals and 60 points in 65 games, tying Ivan Hlinka's 1981-82 mark for most single-season points by a rookie. At the end of the season, he was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year.

In the following two seasons, he registered sixty goals each, leading the NHL in scoring in 1993-94. That year, entering the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the seventh seed, Bure led the Canucks, along with captain Trevor Linden and goalie Kirk McLean, all the way to the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. In the seventh game of the opening round series in Calgary, Bure scored one of the most significant and well-known goals in Canucks history. Deking Flames goalie Mike Vernon on a breakaway in the second overtime, Bure advanced the Canucks past Calgary to the second round against Dallas. In a spirited game two against Dallas, Bure scored two goals and, throwing his weight around, would send Stars enforcer Shane Churla to the ice (he was later fined $500 by the league for raising his elbows).citeweb|title=1994 Stanley Cup run|url=http://www.canuckscentral.com/h94playoffs.html|publisher=CanucksCentral.com|accessdate=2008-07-12] As the Canucks reached the finals against New York, Bure tried a move similar to his series-clinching breakaway against Calgary on a penalty shot in game four, but was stopped by Rangers goalie Mike Richter. Vancouver was defeated in seven games and Bure finished with 16 goals and 31 points in 24 games, second in playoff scoring to Conn Smythe winner Brian Leetch. During the final faceoff of Game 7, which came with 1.6 seconds left, Bure was whacked and cross-checked at by Mark Messier and Craig MacTavish, both of whom came up with a gambit to ensure the Rangers' wincite book|last=Cole|first=Stephen|title=The Best of Hockey Night in Canada|year=2003|publisher=McArthur & Company|page=128|location=Toronto|isbn=1-55278-408-8] .

After injuries hampered him for the better part of the next three seasons – the worst of which involved a torn ACL at the hands of Steve SmithCite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/events/1998/nagano/athletes/592.htm|title=1998 Nagano Olympics Athlete profile: Pavel Bure|accessdate=2008-01-22|publisher=Sports Illustrated|year=1998|author=Sports Illustrated] – Bure returned to top form in 1997-98, scoring 51 goals and finishing third in the NHL with 90 points. In addition, he starred in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, scoring nine goals in six games for Russia as team captain. This included a brilliant five-goal performance in a 7-4 semi-final win over Finland. Bure and the Russians were awarded the silver medal after losing 1-0 to the Czech Republic in the final.

After the season was over, Bure announced that he would not play for the Canucks again, and did not report to the club for the 1998-99 season. On January 17, 1999, he was traded to the Florida Panthers with Bret Hedican, Brad Ference, and Vancouver's 3rd round choice in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (Robert Fried) for Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Mike Brown, Kevin Weekes, and Florida's first round draft choice in the 2000 draft (Nathan Smith). Bure left the Canucks as the franchise's fourth leading scorer of all-time (as of the end of the 2007-08 season, he is presently fifth).

Holding out for the majority of the season, Bure only appeared in 11 games for Florida in 1998-99, but would score an impressive 13 goals in that span. As a Panther, Bure would lead the league in scoring with back-to-back 58- and 59-goal seasons in 1999-2000 and 2000-01, capturing two Rocket Richard Trophies. In his first full season in Florida, the Panthers would make the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the fifth seed, but were swept by eventual Stanley Cup champions, the New Jersey Devils. It would be Bure's final appearance in the NHL playoffs.

On March 18, 2002, Bure was acquired by the New York Rangers along with Florida's 2nd round pick in the 2002 draft for Igor Ulanov, Filip Novak and the Rangers' 1st and 2nd round choices in the draft and a 4th round choice in the 2003 draft. Upon being traded, he scored 12 goals in 12 games to complete the season with the Rangers.

Plagued by injuries throughout his career, he did not play in 2003-04 due to a lingering knee injury even after two operations. On November 1, 2005, Bure announced his retirement from professional hockey due to complications with his injured knee (injury sustained in 2003). [citeweb|title=Bure retires, joins Team Russia as GM|url=http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=141598&hubname=|date=2005-11-01|publisher=TSN] At the same time, it was announced that Bure would be the general manager of Russia's ice hockey team at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Libel lawsuits

In 2001 a Moscow based newspaper called the eXile published an article claiming Bure broke up with Anna Kournikova after discovering she had two vaginas.citeweb|title=Anna Kournikova’s dignity yielded half million rubles to Pavel Bure|url=http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/06/21/30838.html|publisher=Pravda.ru|date=2002-06-21] Bure successfully sued the eXile under Russian libel law for 500,000 rubles (about US$20,000) in damages. The eXile claimed that the original article was a parody and suggested Pavel Bure's influential status may have compromised the judgment.Fact|date=July 2008

In 2005, Bure again launched another Kournikova related lawsuit, this time against perfume chain Arbat Prestige for defamation. Bure seeks 300,000,000 rubles in damages. [citeweb|title=People: Courtney Love, Scissor Sisters, Antonio Moral, Pavel Bure|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/11/features/peepsat.php|date=2005-02-15|publisher=The International Herald Tribune]

In August, 2007, a Russian court awarded Bure 67,000 rubles (Cdn $2,750) in a lawsuit he filed against British Airways after being forced to leave a plane. The pilot suspected Bure was a "soccer hooligan", and would not take off until Bure was escorted off the plane. [citeweb|title=Russian court awards Bure $2,750 in suit|url=http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=217281&hubname=nhl|date=2007-08-31|publisher=TSN]

Transactions

*June 9, 1989 - drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the 6th round, 113th overall, in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft

*January 17, 1999 - Traded by the Vancouver Canucks, along with Bret Hedican, Brad Ference and Vancouver's 3rd round draft choice (Robert Fried) in 2000, to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Mike Brown, Kevin Weekes and Florida's 1st round draft choice (Nathan Smith) in 2000

*March 18, 2002 - Traded by the Florida Panthers, along with Florida's 2nd round draft choice in 2002, to the New York Rangers in exchange for Igor Ulanov, Filip Novak, the Rangers 1st round draft choice in 2002, the Rangers 2nd round draft choice in 2002 and the Rangers 4th round draft choice in 2003.

Awards & achievements

CSKA
*Soviet champion - 1988, 1989
*European Champions Cup - 1988, 1989
*Rookie of the Year - 1989

International
*Best Forward (World Junior Championships) - 1989
*World Junior gold (Soviet Union) - 1989
*World Championship gold (Soviet Union) - 1990

NHL
*Calder Memorial Trophy - 1992
*Played in 6 NHL All-Star Games - 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001
*NHL First All-Star Team - 1994
*NHL Second All-Star Team - 2000, 2001
*Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy - 2000, 2001 (also led the league in goals in 1994, prior to the trophy's creation)

Team
*Most Exciting Player Award (Vancouver Canucks) - 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998
*Molson Cup (Vancouver Canucks' three-star selection leader) - 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998
*Cyclone Taylor Trophy (Vancouver Canucks' MVP) - 1993, 1994, 1998
*Cyrus H. McLean Trophy (Vancouver Canucks' leading scorer) - 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998

Records

*Vancouver Canucks' single-season record, most goals - 60 (1992-93, 1993-94)
*Vancouver Canucks' single-season record, most points - 110 (1992-93)
*Florida Panthers' single-season record, most goals - 59 (2000-01)
*Florida Panthers' single-season record, most points - 94 (1999-00)

Career statistics

International play

Bure has represented the Soviet Union in the following competitions:
*1989 World Junior Championships
*1990 World Junior Championships
*1990 World Championships
*1991 World Junior Championships
*1991 World Championships

Bure has represented Russia in the following competitions:
*"1996 World Cup - unable to play due to injury"
*1998 Winter Olympics
*2000 World Championships
*2002 Winter Olympics
*2006 Winter Olympics - "General Manager"

ee also

*List of NHL statistical leaders
*List of NHL players
*List of NHL seasons
*Notable families in the NHL

References

External links

*hockeydb|662
* [http://www.databasehockey.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=BUREPAV01 More Career Stats]
*legendsofhockey|10191

Persondata
NAME = Bure, Pavel Vladimirovich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Павел Владимирович Буре (Russian)
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Russian professional ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH = March 31, 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH = Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =