Pavel Bure
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Pavel Vladimirovich Bure (Russian: Павел Владимирович Буре) (The Russian Rocket) (born on March 31, 1971 in Moscow, USSR (now Moscow, Russia)) is a former professional ice hockey player. He was a right winger and played in the National Hockey League (NHL), as well as for the Soviet Union and Russia internationally. Presently, he serves a managerial role with Russia's Olympic team where the team finished 4th in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The highlight of the tournament for the team was beating Canada 2-0 in the quarterfinal. 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. During his carrier in the NHL, he played for the Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers. During many years of his career, he was known as 'the most exciting player in hockey', due to his explosive speed and precise, fast offensive moves.
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[edit] 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 plays in the NHL.
Bure began his hockey career at 16, playing for the Soviet Red Army team.
Bure has had a relationship with tennis player Anna Kournikova, which ended in a broken engagement.
Bure did the first ever Sports Live Chat on the Internet in Canada in 1995 with Bob Kerstein, CIO of the Vancouver Canucks.
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[edit] 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. He started playing for the Canucks in the 1991-92 NHL season. Bure was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year for 1991-92. He was an integral part of the Vancouver Canucks' scoring department for many years to come, helping them all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994. Considered one of the best playoff series in NHL history, Bure's blazing rushes up the ice was one of the highlights.
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 for Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Mike Brown, Kevin Weekes, and Florida's first round draft choice in the 2000 draft. 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. Plagued by injuries throughout his career, he did not play in the 2003-04 NHL season 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).[1] 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.
[edit] Mafia Ties
In Post-Soviet Russia, Pavel Bure has become an influential figure and a business partner with Anzor Kikalishvili.
Kikalishvili is the head of the 21st Century Association, which has been named by the Russian government, Kroll Associates, Inc., the FBI, and the US senate as the top criminal organization in Russia. Kikalishvili has been specifically named by U.S. law enforcement and the U.S. senate as a top Russian mobster. In FBI wiretaps in Miami he was caught threatening to skin someone alive.
Kikalishvili has declared himself "Bure's spiritual father". When Kikalishvili ran for political office, posters of Bure and Kikalishvili with their arms around each other's shoulders were seen everywhere in Moscow with the caption "The Future belongs to the 21st Century".[2]
[edit] 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. Bure successfully sued the eXile under Russian libel law for 500,000 rubles (about US$10,000) in damages.[3]. The eXile claimed that the original article was a parody and suggested Pavel Bure's influential status may have compromised the judgement.[4]
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.[5] [6]
[edit] Awards
- Calder Memorial Trophy - 1992
- Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy - 2000, 2001
- Played in 6 NHL All-Star Games - 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001.
[edit] Career Statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1987-88 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1988-89 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 32 | 17 | 9 | 26 | 8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1989-90 | HC CSKA Moscow | Russia | 46 | 14 | 11 | 25 | 22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1990-91 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 44 | 35 | 11 | 46 | 24 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1991-92 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 65 | 34 | 26 | 60 | 30 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 14 | ||
| 1992-93 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 83 | 60 | 50 | 110 | 69 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 8 | ||
| 1993-94 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 76 | 60 | 47 | 107 | 86 | 24 | 16 | 15 | 31 | 40 | ||
| 1994-95 | HC Spartak Moscow | RSL | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | EV Landshut | DEL | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 44 | 20 | 23 | 43 | 47 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 10 | ||
| 1995-96 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 15 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1996-97 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 63 | 23 | 32 | 55 | 40 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1997-98 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 82 | 51 | 39 | 90 | 48 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998-99 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 11 | 13 | 3 | 16 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1999-00 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 74 | 58 | 36 | 94 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 2000-01 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 82 | 59 | 33 | 92 | 58 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2001-02 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 56 | 22 | 27 | 49 | 56 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2001-02 | New York Rangers | NHL | 12 | 12 | 8 | 20 | 6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002-03 | New York Rangers | NHL | 39 | 19 | 11 | 30 | 16 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| NHL Totals | 702 | 437 | 342 | 779 | 484 | 64 | 35 | 35 | 70 | 74 | ||||
[edit] International play
- Played for Russia in the 1998 Winter Olympic Games and 2002 Winter Olympics. He was to represent Russia in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, but was unable to play due to injury.
- GM for Russia during the 2006 Olympics
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Hockey statistics for Pavel Bure
- New York Rangers player profile
- Biographical sketch
- More Career Stats
| Preceded by Ed Belfour |
Winner of the Calder Trophy 1992 |
Succeeded by Teemu Selänne |
| Preceded by Teemu Selänne |
NHL Goal Leader 1994 |
Succeeded by Peter Bondra |
| Preceded by Teemu Selänne |
Winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy 2000 & 2001 |
Succeeded by Jarome Iginla |
| Preceded by Scott Mellanby |
Florida Panthers captains 2001-02 with Paul Laus |
Succeeded by Olli Jokinen |
Categories: Articles with sections needing expansion | 1971 births | Calder Trophy winners | Deutsche Eishockey-Liga players | Florida Panthers players | Living people | People from Moscow | New York Rangers players | National Hockey League 50-goal seasons | National Hockey League 100-point seasons | Rocket Richard Trophy winners | Russian ice hockey players | Vancouver Canucks players | Winter Olympics medalists
