News from February 1995

Pavel Gossip Line
Summarized from PBFC newsletter

• Pavel was on the cover of the Bob Mckenzie and Murray Townsend '1994-95 Hockey Annual'

• The February edition of 'Hockey Digest' features Pavel on the cover and as the lead story.

• Pavel was on the cover of the book honouring the Vancouver Canuck's 25th anniversary entitled 'Vancouver Canucks - The Silver Edition'. The book contains many photos of Pavel.

• Vancouver is planning it's own Hollywood Boulevard (at Citygate near Main Street), where reknowed Vancouverites will be immortalized with their hand and foot prints in concrete. Pavel was one of the first invited to participate which he did on 21st February at BC Place Stadium.

• The NHL Players Association have issued their own official magazine entitled 'Be A Player'. The first issue is now out with Toronto's Doug Gilmore on the cover but Pavel hits the spotlight with the two-page centerfold.
  The photo is of Pavel in his home white jersey with a Russian red rocket streaking across the bottom with lightning strikes all over the place. Truly awesome!
  The magazine also features an uncut 1994-95 Fleer Ultra sheet of eight hockey cards including Pavel's, and there is a full page ad for a competition to win the Russian Rocket poster.

• Did you know that Pavel first met Wayne Gretzky 11 years ago in Moscow? Wayne was on a hockey tour of USSR and Pavel, then 12-years-old, was chosen for a hockey practice with him.

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You Can't Stop Liftoff
by Austin Murphy - - Sports Illustrated

For two games, the New York Rangers tamed the wind and held back the tide. During Games 1 and 2 of the 1994 Stanley Cup finals, they kept Vancouver Canuck right wing Pavel Bure in check.

Funny, though, you didn't hear any of the Rangers boasting about it. Bure, a.k.a. the Russian Rocket, had scored 73 goals since the start of the season, so the Rangers knew liftoff could not be canceled, only delayed. The Rocket's inevitable ignition occurred 63 seconds into Game 3, when he zoomed in on a breakaway and tucked the puck between the pads of Ranger goalie Mike Richter. Still, the Canucks lost that game and the next one, too, to trail the Rangers three games to one. But sparked by the electrifying play of Bure, Vancouver rallied to force a seventh game in Madison Square Garden.

It was New York that finally secured the Stanley Cup, but the finals provided the 24-year-old with a stage for displaying his phenomenal skills. In 1993-94, Bure became only the seventh player in NHL history to put together back-to-back 60-goal seasons, and his 16 playoff goals led the league.

A native of Moscow, Bure was handpicked by the Red Army hockey club during his adolescence. In August 1991, after playing for the Red Army for four years, he was told to sign a document that would have bound him to the team for another three years. When he refused, the team left for the Canada Cup tournament without him. A month later, Bure was on a flight to Los Angeles, bound for Vancouver.

The Canucks had selected Bure in the sixth round of the 1989 draft but had to purchase his rights from the Soviet Ice Hockey Federation. It wasn't until Oct. 31, 1991, that he signed with Vancouver. For the Canucks it was worth the wait: The first time Bure touched the puck in a game, he took off on a rink- length rush that sucked the breath from the 16,123 fans at Pacific Coliseum.

Vancouver fans were superstar virgins; they had never before had a player of Bure's caliber, a player capable of scoring every time he touched the puck. Two thousand of the Canuck faithful attended Bure' s first practice. He finished his rookie season with 34 goals in 65 games and was named the NHL's rookie of the year. When Hockey Night in Canada's Don Cherry referred to Bure as a ''little weasel'' for kicking the skates out from underneath an opponent, Vancouverites rallied behind the Muscovite. An apology was demanded from Cherry. For weeks, WEASEL POWER T-shirts sold briskly.

The rap on Bure had been that when it came to the postseason, he was as erasable as a stat written in No. 2 pencil. In the 1993 and '94 playoffs, opponents had assigned him a ''shadow,'' then watched Bure disappear. Not so in 1994. Despite close attention from Mike Sullivan of the Calgary Flames in the playoffs' first round, Bure scored the series-winning goal in double overtime of Game 7. Against the Dallas Stars in the next round, he scored six goals and one technical knockout, blindsiding his shadow, Star enforcer Shane Churla, in Game 2.

With his increasingly physical play, it's clear that hockey's most dazzling offensive player is still a growing talent. And after his potent display in last year's playoffs, you get the distinct feeling that the Russian Rocket has not lit up his last Stanley Cup finals.

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How to skate like Pavel

Ever wonder just exactly how the 'Russian Rocket' became one of the most exciting skaters in the NHL?

According to Peter Twist, the Canucks strength and conditioning coach, it's a combination of hard work and genetics coupled with a very strong and lean body.

Technically, there are two reasons for Bure's outstanding skills.

• 1. Genetics
• 2. Outstanding training

Let's review both to see what young hockey players can do to improve their skating acceleration.

First, Bure is gifted with a predominance of fast-twitch muscle fibres (for explosive acceleration) in his muscles. Combined with his strength and coordination, his skating skill rests on abilities he was born with. Scientists tell us you can't increase the amount of fast-twitch muscle you come into this world with, but there is evidence to suggest proper training will make the most of what you have.

The Russian Rocket also has a unique skating technique, a result of technical training and an exceptional neuromuscular system that has allowed him to acquire a skating stride and acceleration that gives an advantage on those initial bursts to get by defenders.

Many players have pure ability, but just as important in today's competitive hockey enviroment is the work ethic to capitalize on ability. Thesecret is sports-and skill specific-training.

Here are a few tips for training your fast-twitch muscles and improving your acceleration and power skating:

• 1. Develop your abdominal muscles. Believe it or not, skating's foundation is in the stomach muscles. Powerful abdominal and back muscles help keep the trunk balanced while the legs churn. Also, they can help reduce lower back pain. Do crunches or situps but watch for lower back soreness or pain.

• 2. On the ice, after a proper warmup, do short, intense bursts of acceleration from a standstill in sets of 10 or 20. Repeat.

• 3. On dry land, do foot-fire drills, run lines in the gym or run stairs to improve quickness, power and endurance.

• 4. Play other sports to keep overall fitness up. Bure plays tennis; better yet; for overall conditioning, play badminton, squash or racquetball.

• 5. When lifting weights, use less weight but more reps to improve endurance.

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