News from January 1996
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Pavel Gossip Line
Pavel Bure enjoys his privacy Pavel Bure is under a microscope whenhe plays for the Vancouver Canucks. The constant pressure toperform, along with everyone analyzing his every move both on and off theice has Bure cherishing his privacy. But Bure will talk. He'll talk to you about hockey. He'll talk to you about subjects ranging frommusic to cooking buthe does draw the line on certain subjects. "He'll talk about most things", says his father Vladimir, "but when it comes to things like contracts or personal business, he doesn't. It's like if I were to ask you how much you are going to earn for writing this article or who you are seeing ... would you like that?" For Bure, the fame and fortune that he has received does come with a price. The 24-year-old native of Moscow is one of the most recognizable and sought after faces in the city and perhaps the province. The odds of going out for a quiet evening without being recognized are as remote as Lucien Bouchard joining the Reform Party. Women have propositioned him after games and autograph seekers hunt him down regularly for his John Hancock. Probably the most popular Canucks, Bure is a magnet for attracting fans on and off the ice. Some have criticized Bure for not being outgoing or friendly enough with the fans and media, but Bure is adapting. "I don;t have problems talking to the media. I'm getting more used to it, so it doesn't bother me', says Bure, whose English keeps improving along with his comfort level. "They can ask me any question". Bure has learned to be very careful what he says to the media. One off word or expression and people will take it the wrong way. "It's human nature. Everybody does the same thing", says Pavel when asked about dealing with reporters. That clear effort to be careful sometimes leads to short answers by Bure, which is seen as negative by reporters. The Bure you see talking to the media is a different one than others see. With no microphones in his face, Bure loosens up a bit and is definitely more at ease. "He's very easy going. he likes to have fun like every one of us", says teammate Alexander Mogilny. "he's different away from the rink. There are a lot of things that you don't see. We all like to have private lives. This is a job, it's work. You don't see every angle of a person." Bure leads a quiet lifestyle off the ice. He owns a luxurious Shaugnessy home that he moved into lastyear, as well as a three bedroom apartment in Moscow. Contrary to published reports, he does not own a house in Los Angeles. During the summer, Bure will try to get away from the attention in Vancouver by travelling. Past destinations have ranged from Hawaii to Puerto Rico. This past summer Bure split his time between Moscow and Vancouver. So what does Bure do away from the rink when he is here? For one, don't expect to find the Rocket on a golf course like most hockey players. "I don't like golf. You see, I can't play golf. That's why I don't like it", jokes Bure. "Maybe if I begin to play, I'd get into it, but right now I don't like it at all. I can't even hit the ball. It's no fun when you go out there, you swing, and you miss the ball. The you see all the other guys hitting the ball very well so you think, what am I doing here?" Much of his summer is spent training for the season with his father. The training regimen is a demanding one, and there's usually not much time for much else, although the odd tennis game will be included. "That's probably my second favourite sport after hockey. I like to play tennis and I follow the major tournaments like the US, French and Australian Opens and Wimbeldon". A member of the False Creek Yacht Club, Bure will take his powerboat out for a spin when he gets a chance. "Usually we go out in the spring or summer. Right now, it's too cold to go out on the boat. The best time is spring, in April and May after winter. Those days are sunny and warm, so we go out and cruise around on the boat. Sometimes I even go out after practice."
Athletes play the numbers game for strange reasons Pavel Bure has changed his uniform number. He used to be a 10, now he's a 96. Bure made the switch because he wanted a unique number, something to call his own. After all, there are plenty of 10's around - Ron Francis, John LeClair, esa Tikkanen. Even Bo Derek used to be a 10. Bure's not the only NHLer sporting new digits this year. Bob Probert has changed his number to 95 to mark the year he gave up drugs and alcohol and turned his life around. Although this is the first time anyone has cited that particular reason, the practice of number-juggling is nothing new. In fact, the NHL's three most famous No.9's - Rocket Richard, Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull - all began their careers with different numerals on their backs. Richard initially wore 15. He switched to 9 in honour of his firstborn, a daughter who weighed nine pounds. Howe first wore 17. He switched to 9 to improve his sleeping arrangements. Players were allotted berths on trains according to their jersey numbers, and the lower berths were bigger. Hull wore 16, then 7, before claiming 9 in his sixth season. None of those changes generated any controversy. Things are more complicated today. Bure's switch annoyed some people, especially parents who'd bought their children replicas of his No.10 Canucks jersey. It's going to cost them another $150 to keep their kids in fashion. But the grumblings over Bure's conversion to 96 are nothing compared to the tempest created last spring when Michael Jordan returned to basketball wearing 45 in place of his former 23. The NBA fined Jordan $10,000 for this unauthorized switcheroo, which suggests just how protective the league is about it's merchandising. Ironically, Jordan's No.23 had been retired by the Bulls in 1994, when he left basketball to embark on a baseball career. Thus, Jordan became the first professional athlete to play with his own retired number. There are normally only two reasons for a team to retire a number: to honour outstanding performance or to mark a tragic death. An exception to the rule is the lone number retired by the California Angels, 26. It was awarded to Angels owner Gene Autry, supposedly to recognize Autry's contributions as the club's 26th player (one above baseball's 25-man roster limit), although satisfying the demands of a grossly inflated ego sounds like a more accurate explanation. Numbers were originally put on jerseys to make it easier to identify players. The Pacific Coast Hockey League pioneered the concept in hockey in 1912, and the NHL copied it in 1918. The New York Yankees, who in 1929 became the first major-league baseball team to permanently adopt numbers, used them to indicate a player's spot on the batting order, which is why Babe Ruth became No.3 and Lou Gehrig No.4. Over the years, ceratin numerals have developed their own mystique, reflecting the virtues of the athletes who wore them. In his book 'One size Doesn't Fit All", TV analyst and former NFL coach John Madden discusses the significance of football numbers. He associates No.12 with 'a leader with charisma' No.16 'has certain softness about it' and No.22 is 'speed number'. Madden goes on to assign numbers to famous people. Woody Allen is a 2, Ronald Reagan a 16, Elizabeth Taylor a 32, Pope John Paul II a 73, and Dolly Parton a 76. The reason for this last choice escapes me. Dolly parton is clearly a 44. Although many assume Wayne Gretzky was the first NHLer to wear 99, that's not so. High numbers were in vogue during the 1930's, and the Montreal Canadiens actually employed three No.99s during the 1934-35 season: Leo Bourgeault, Des Roche, and Joe Lamb. Interestingly, Gretzky never intended to wear 99. When he joined the OHL's Saulkt Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 1975, Gretzky wanted 9, the number of his idol, Gordie Howe. But Brian Gualazzi already had 9 and refused to give it up. Gretzky tried 14 and 19, but was still unhappy. Then inspiration came from a surprising source - Phil Esposito. Esposito had worn No.7 with the Boston Bruins, but when he was traded in 1975-76 to the New York rangers, he found his favourite digit in the possession of Rod Gilbert. Espo's solution was to become No.77. After hearing about Espo's move, Sault Ste. Marie coach Muzz McPherson took Gretzky into his office and said: "There's your new number. If you can't wear one 9, wear two." hanging on the door was a Greyhounds jersey with No.99 on it. Similarly, it was only by accident that Bobby Orr became a 4. orr wore No.2 in junior with the Oshawa Generals, but that numeral wasn't available when he joined the Boston Bruins in 1966. Two was the legendary Eddie Shore's number, and it had been retired by the Bruins. Orr ws assigned 27 in training camp. Defenceman Junior Langlois was wearing 4. But Langlois got injured and didn't make the team, and so Orr took No.4, because it was the closest he could get to 2. Others have been more calculating in their number choices. The advent of player names on baseball jerseys in the 1970's prompted Carlos May of the Chicago White Sox to don No.17. The name-and-number combination revealed his birthdate. John Neves, a minor-league ballplayer whose name spelled backwards is seven, wore a backward No.7. Eddie Gaedel the three-foot-seven midget whom the St.Louis Browns sent up to bat as a publicity stunt in 1951, wore the fraction 1/8. Novelties aside, it's really only the numbers of the superstars that matter. If an athlete is talented enough, the numerals on his jersey can assume a magical aura. In adopting No.96, Bure is simply staking out his own territory, just as Gretzky did with his double 9's and Mario Lemieux with 66. If Bure goes on to put the same numbers on the board as those two greats, in a few years only trivia buffs will care that the Russian Rocket was once a perfect 10.
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