News from January 1999

Bure scores in vain effort

SUNRISE, FLORIDA = - The Dallas Stars shut down Pavel Bure until late in the third period and got a pair of unassisted goals from Tony Hrkac en route to a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers.

League-leading Dallas nearly became the first team to keep Bure off the scoresheet in five games since he was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks. But his power-play goal capped the scoring with 2:46 remaining.

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Cats too reliant on Bure?

by DAVID J. NEAL -- Miami Herald

Tonight could be trouble for the Panthers, especially if they rely too much on the new guy, No. 10, Pavel Bure.

``I'm concerned about that,'' Panthers coach Terry Murray said. ``It's still a team game. Great players emerge and do some things differently, but you can never rely on just one player. It puts more responsibility on the rest of the team to play better.''

For evidence of what a great player can't do without much support, look at the early careers of the two players generally considered the most purely talented ever, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux.

Everybody knew Orr was destined for greatness three years before he hit the NHL. But, though he won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year, Boston actually had a worse record his first season than the previous one. Lemieux had a Calder Trophy and a scoring title in his first four seasons. Pittsburgh didn't make the playoffs until his fifth.

Or, look at last year in Vancouver, where Bure had 90 points, third in the league, and 51 goals for a Canucks team that had the league's third-worst record.

``We've all made it clear that we can't be one dimensional, we can't be one guy,'' Panthers center Rob Niedermayer said. ``It takes everyone to win.''

If they've made it clear in word, they haven't in deed. Half of the 12 goals scored by the Panthers in the four games with Bure came off the right wing's stick.

Against Philadelphia and Montreal, there were times when other Panthers, Niedermayer especially, were simply too Bure conscious. Niedermayer often seemed to slow up on a rush to wait for Bure instead of using his own speed to create a scoring chance for himself or space for his wings.

``The first couple of times you play with him, you always have a tendency to look for him too much,'' Niedermayer said. ``You know the other team is going to pay attention to him, too.''

One of the reasons it's tempting to look for Bure is that, like most great goal scorers, he's always in, or moving toward, the places from which the best scoring opportunities can be generated.

``He's everywhere, that's why he gets so many passes,'' Panthers defenseman Robert Svehla said after the Philadelphia game.

But when Montreal gave Bure the shadow treatment Wednesday with Shayne Corson, the Panthers didn't take advantage of Bure using an old trick Wayne Gretzky says he used back in his 200-point days: find another opposing player and stick around him. That leaves your team playing four-on-three over the rest of the rink.

``You have to create space for your linemates,'' Bure said. ``Just drive to another guy, try to make confusion and just wait for your chances.''

Murray doesn't think Dallas will shadow Bure.

``Their system, the 1-2-2, neutral-zone trap, is effective,'' Murray said. ``With the big, blue-line corps they have -- Derian Hatcher, Richard Matvichuk, Sergei Zubov, Darryl Sydor, quality guys in the league -- I don't think they'll adjust for one guy. They'll worry about their game.''

Spending too much time looking for Bure could also affect the Florida power play; the Panthers' two power-play goals in the four games with Bure have been Bure tap-ins.

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Bure makes future bright for Panthers

by DAN LE BATARD -- Miami Herald

You could feel that music and that cheering and that good buzz from here. This was in the back of the building Wednesday night, after the lights had been turned off to lend proper drama to the player introductions approaching. Panthers president Bill Torrey leaned against a wall in the darkness, between a garbage can and a freight elevator, smiling about what was coming -- in the next few minutes and in the next few years. Torrey's view of the ice was completely blocked as he spoke, but he could see Florida's future clearly from here.

``Pavel won't just put fans in the seats,'' Torrey said. ``He'll pull fans out of them, too.''

The lights went on then -- for this night and for this franchise -- and the Florida Pavels were officially introduced to South Florida. Understand this: Our local hockey team matters again, friends, because Pavel Bure says so. Hockey hasn't felt as good as it did Wednesday night since this team waddled from the womb and into the Stanley Cup Finals. But, hey, this is what Florida owner Wayne Huizenga's dollars always seem to do, right? They gain interest.

And so it was, during this 2-1 victory over Montreal, that Bure's mere assist was met with a roar from a swaying, sold-out crowd and even his failed breakaway received a standing ovation. Panthers general manager Bryan Murray tried to explain Bure's gift before all of this, using words such as ``unheard of'' and ``different level'' and ``wow.'' He talked about how phones were ringing nonstop for season tickets this week, and how fans at the All-Star Game were congratulating him for pulling off the best trade in 10 years, and how big clusters of fans were waiting for Florida's team bus in cities where once there was just ``the same lady and four or five of her friends.'' Murray, not given to hyperbole, talked and talked and talked, but he didn't capture what Bure really meant until he described a skybox snapshot from the previous evening.

``I thought he was going to score every shift out there,'' Murray said, and then he leaned over, like a man looking out over the end of a cliff. ``I was on the edge of my seat. After one goal, I looked at Bill Torrey, and he had almost fallen out of his chair.''

Did you see that goal? That's what you'll be saying a lot over the next few years, and that's what Murray and Torrey, lifetime hockey men, were saying Tuesday night. It came against Philadelphia's John Vanbiesbrouck, only the game's hottest goalie the last three weeks, and it came at the end of a too-long shift. Bure went into this fight alone, parallel to Philadelphia's goal, facing an impossible angle -- or an impossible angle for someone handcuffed by less genius and confidence. Bure wound up and fired, wickedly and intentionally knocking the puck into the goal off the back of Vanbiesbrouck's shoulder -- the only place he could put it, really. The puck was rattling around in the net before Vanbiesbrouck literally knew what had hit him. Check Vanbiesbrouck's shoulder today if you want to see Bure leaving his mark.

This Florida team had no personality before Bure's arrival -- or, rather, maybe it had too many. Twelve ties? Never more than two games above or below .500? This was Team Sybil, up one night, down the next. But the Canadian, American and Romanian  press were in attendance Wednesday, making the Panthers interesting again in three languages. Why? Because Bure, coming off a nine-month layoff, had scored a completely absurd six goals in his first three Florida games, which is akin to Mark McGwire hitting six home runs in his first three games after missing an entire season. Consider this: The Panthers, as a team , had gone 10 three-game stretches this season without scoring six goals.

``And he's probably just at 70 percent,'' Torrey said giddily. ``Maybe less.''

Bure blurring in on a breakaway is like watching Michael Jordan float, Barry Bonds swing or Dan Marino throw, and that kind of thing comes with a major price tag. Bure will sign in the next few days for about $60 million, probably making him the game's highest-paid player, and the Panthers are going to have to make some budget adjustments elsewhere to afford him, selling more, seeking more sponsors, maybe raising ticket prices, too.

``It's like going to a fine Italian restaurant,'' Torrey said. ``No matter how good the meal is, no matter how much you enjoy it, eventually the bill is going to come.''

But Bure will pay for himself in many ways, too, as evidenced by how many fans have been calling the last few days, trying to buy season tickets for the remainder of the season. The Panthers explain that they can't have the same seats for all the remaining home games, that the fans will have to jump from seat to seat, but Torrey said, ``People don't care. They'll take anything.'' This is quite a leap for a franchise whose major moments seem to get overshadowed -- the expansion draft knocked off the sports stage by the Marlins trading for Gary Sheffield, Florida's first game in Chicago pushed aside by Jordan's first retirement, Florida's home opener after the lockout engulfed by a local Super Bowl. Bure? He's so big he can't be pushed away.

``He's not going to score every night,'' Panthers teammate Ray Whitney cautioned before amending. ``Well, he could  score every night.''

The red light that went on after Bure assisted the game-winner Wednesday night?

The thunderous cheering and that horn blasting?

The rock n' roll?

That's what Bure brings this franchise -- a life that includes light and noise and music.

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Bure hottest thing on ice right now

by Dave Doyle -- SportsLine Staff Writer

Florida Panthers right wing Pavel Bure has raised the bar very high for the 'Sizzlin' category in our first 1999 Sizzlin' and Fizzlin' report.

There was concern that the Russian Rocket would not be in playing shape after being traded from Vancouver to the Florida Panthers on Jan. 17.

Bure put those fears to rest in a hurry. He arrived from Moscow in truly sizzlin' fashion.

Bure put on the Florida uniform and promptly scored two goals in the Panthers' 5-2 win over the Islanders on Jan. 20. The next night, he scored a goal and assisted on the game-winner against the Rangers.

IN HIS FIRST GAME AFTER THE All-Star break, he scored a hat trick to single-handedly tie the usually unstoppable Flyers in their own house. And Wednesday, in his home debut, he assisted on the game-winner in Florida's 2-1 victory over Montreal.

That adds up to six goals and two assists in four games, while the Panthers have gone 3-0-1. Carolina is still a point ahead of the Panthers in the Southeast Division standings, but with the temperamental Russian superstar in the Panthers camp, that won't last for long.

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Pavel-mania in Florida

by STEVE SIMMONS -- Toronto Sun

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Outside the bus in Philadelphia the other night, Bryan Murray was introduced to the new existence of the Florida Panthers.

"Normally, the same lady and three or four of her friends are waiting for us outside the arena," said Murray, the general manager. "There had to be 75 people the other night. It was incredible."

Incredible is what Pavel Bure has been in his brief time with the Panthers.

During Super Bowl week, with the Dan Reeves-Mike Shanahan storm calming and John Elway out of smiles, it was Hockey Night in Sawgrass that had most of South Florida talking.

And that was even before Bure made his home debut last night at the shiny new National Car Rental arena. He had an assist in the Panthers' 2-1 win over Montreal.

"I'm really excited to be playing again," the difficult Bure said before the game.

Excited and exciting, Bure had scored six goals in his first three games since being traded from Vancouver to Florida, ending his self-imposed and mostly unexplained exile from the National Hockey League. Within a few days, he could have more goals than anyone on the Canadiens.

"You couldn't ask him to do more than he has done," said Murray, who is close to signing Bure to a lucrative long-term contract, having met yesterday with agent Mike Gillis. "This is going to help us so much."

And he isn't just talking about winning.

He is talking about selling tickets. He is talking about putting a face on a franchise in desperate need of one. He is talking about riding Bure' back into the playoffs, and financially basing the immediate future of the franchise around his rare and spectacular ability to excite.

"We're working on T-shirts, buttons, pins, all of it," said Jennifer Borell, who works in merchandising for the Panthers. "As soon as we heard about the trade, we got on the ball. Unfortunately, some things are out of our control."

The trade that sent Bure to Florida so stunned the hockey world that no less an authority than Glen Sather told Murray it was "the best trade in 10 years."

"You don't know this guy," Sather said. "He does things with the puck that don't happen very often. If you weren't on the West Coast, you didn't see all things he can do. This is one special player."

Already, the reaction to Bure in south Florida, a hockey place that once saw Brian Skrudland as a star, has been remarkable. On Neil Rogers' highly rated radio show on WQAM-AM, Rogers wanted to talk about U.S. President Bill Clinton and the impeachment process. He kept giving out the telephone numbers yesterday afternoon on his open-line show and the calls kept coming in: Almost every one asking about Pavel Bure.

"I went shopping for groceries this morning," Bure said. "People were already wishing me good luck."

In Vancouver, they were wishing him other things. For all Bure did for the Canucks, his story is as much about what he didn't do. He walked out on the Canucks, he lived something of a mysterious life, he was, too often, in some kind of difficulty.

Murray asked the appropriate questions before making the trade for Bure and has come away unconcerned about past difficulties.

"Things happen in athletes' lives," Murray said. "A lot happens when they're young. You put them aside. They never happen again. We just traded away someone who had a problem early in his career (Ed Jovanovski).

"If you deal straightforward with the athlete, tell him what you expect from him ... If he's treated right, there won't be a problem. I'm not worried about the past in any way."

Said Bure: "People can say what they want about me. People put their own thoughts in my mouth. If it's a lie, I just ignore it."

The one team that can't ignore the Panthers right now is the Carolina Hurricanes. After Murray made the deal for Bure, he ran into Carolina general manager Jimmy Rutherford at the NHL all-star game in Tampa.

"Now I have to make something happen," Rutherford told Murray. "He said more than that," Murray said. "But I can't repeat it." Last night, in a quiet and almost uneventful game against the Canadiens, Pavel Bure didn't score but made a quick pass to Oleg Kvasha, who then scored the game-winning goal. It wasn't the kind of home debut fans were looking for. But there were enough moments to know there will be better nights to come.

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Rocket fires up South Florida

-- SportsLine wire reports

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Russian Rocket enjoyed a successful landing in his South Florida debut Wednesday night.

Pavel Bure set up Oleg Kvasha's game-winning goal at 6:18 of the third period to ignite the Panthers in a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

"It's great to play in front of fans that really support us," said Bure, who was showered with cheers from the fans at the sold-out National Car Rental Center every time he touched the puck. "First of all, I'm really happy we won."

Bure, who has six goals and one assist in four games since joining the Panthers Jan. 17, also hit the crossbar and failed to score on a breakaway.

"Pavel has the gift of being in the right place at the right time to really energize a building and energize our team sitting on the bench," said Panthers coach Terry Murray.

Florida is 3-0-1 with Bure and now trail first-place Carolina by one point in the Southeast Division. Bure couldn't imagine a better start with his new team.

"I think it couldn't get any better, especially since we keep winning," Bure said. "It's a great feeling and I missed it."

The game-winner came after a delayed penalty was called on the Canadiens. Bure backhanded a pass to Kvasha, whose wrist shot from the slot beat Montreal goaltender Jeff Hackett for his eighth goal with 13:42 left in the third period.

"We knew he would want to put on a display on a night with all the media attention he's been getting," said Montreal coach Alain Vigneault. "We tried to keep him out of the equation."

"Any team that does well has to have that kind of game-breaker," said Burke, who played with Bure at Vancouver early last season.

Bure seemed fatigued after playing more than 30 minutes in his three-goal game against the Flyers on Tuesday. He didn't have a shot on net until 18:26 of the second period when Hackett snared his point-blank blast.

The fans saved their loudest cheers for Bure's penalty-killing clearing passes during a two-man Canadiens advantage in the second period.

Bure came alive in the third, with a wrist shot beating Hackett but hitting off the crossbar. Bure then set up Kvasha for his first assist as a Panther, and later wowed the crowd on a breakaway that was stopped by a sprawled-out Hackett.

"I wasn't at all (frustrated)," Bure said. "The point is you win the game, so right now I'm happy."

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HOW HOT IS THE ROCKET?

Not many players can put an arena into the frenzy Bure can, especially a week before the game.

Panthers merchandisers have done everything possible to get Bure merchandise into the arena, but only Bure jerseys and pictures will be on sale during the Montreal game.

Merchandisers struggled just to get 100 jerseys in the arena for tonight, about 80 being replicas ($199) and 20 being authentic ($324).

"We're working on T-shirts, pucks, pins, all of it," said Jennifer Borell, who works in Panthers merchandising. "As soon as we heard about the trade we got on the ball. Unfortunately some things are out of our control.

"You don't know what strings we had to pull just to get the jerseys and pictures."

More media personnel will cover the game than any other home game this season, and by a large margin.

A typical Panther game has 20 to 30 people from the media, whereas 88 media credentials have been issued for tonight's game.

Of course many reporters are already in Miami for the Super Bowl, making a trip to Sunrise more economical. But they certainly wouldn't take time to cover a Bure-less Panther game.

"People know he's a superstar who brings energy and enthusiasm and helps everyone else play better," said coach Terry Murray. "I anticipate that everyone wants to take a look at him."

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Bure lives up to billing in home debut

The Russian Rocket enjoyed a successful landing in his South Florida debut Wednesday night.

Pavel Bure set up Oleg Kvasha's winning goal at 6:18 of the third period to give the Panthers a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

"It's great to play in front of fans that really support us," said Bure, who was showered with cheers from the fans at the sold-out National Car Rental Center every time he touched the puck. "First of all, I'm really happy we won."

Bure, who has six goals and one assist in four games since joining the Panthers on Jan. 17, also hit the crossbar and failed to score on a breakaway.

"Pavel has the gift of being in the right place at the right time to really energize a building and energize our team sitting on the bench," said Panthers coach Terry Murray.

Florida is 3-0-1 with Bure and now trails the Southeast Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes by one point. Bure couldn't imagine a better start with his new team.

"I think it couldn't get any better, especially since we keep winning," Bure said. "It's a great feeling and I missed it."

Kvasha's winner came after a delayed penalty was called on the Canadiens. Bure backhanded a pass to Kvasha, whose wrist shot from the slot beat goaltender Jeff Hackett for his eighth goal with 13:42 left in the third period.

"We knew he would want to put on a display on a night with all the media attention he's been getting," said Montreal coach Alain Vigneault. "We tried to keep him out of the equation."

Mark Parrish's 12th goal two minutes earlier tied the game 1-1 for the Panthers. Parrish, who was sent down last week to make room for Bure, was called up Tuesday when Scott Mellanby was placed on injured reserve.

"It's exciting to play alongside the guy," said Parrish, a rookie. "It's a dream to play with all the superstars."

Panthers goaltender Sean Burke, who made several spectacular saves, including a sliding glove save to foil Martin Rucinsky on a 2-on-1 breakaway with five minutes to play, finished with 29 saves.

"Any team that does well has to have that kind of game-breaker," said Burke, who played with Bure at Vancouver early last season.

After two scoreless periods, Patrick Brisebois long slapshot beat Burke for a 1-0 lead 50 seconds into the third period. Mark Recci set up Brisebois's second goal of the season.

"They showed us a lot of character after we got that first goal," Recci said. "You really have to be aware of what he (Bure) does.

"He's a superstar, but he's not the only good player they have."

Montreal had a goal disallowed in the second period when Scott Thornton kicked a puck in the net with his skate.

Bure seemed fatigued after playing more than 30 minutes in his three-goal game against the Flyers on Tuesday. He didn't have a shot on net until 18:26 of the second period when Hackett snared his point-blank blast.

The fans saved their loudest cheers for Bure's penalty-killing clearing passes during a two-man Canadiens advantage in the second period.

Bure came alive in the third, with a wrist shot beating Hackett but hitting off the crossbar. Bure then set up Kvasha for his first assist as a Panther, and later wowed the crowd on a breakaway that was stopped by a sprawled-out Hackett.

"I wasn't at all (frustrated)," Bure said. "The point is you win the game, so right now I'm happy.

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Pavel's hat-trick !

PHILADELPHIA -- Pavel Bure missed out on the All-Star Game but continued to show that he belongs there.

In just his third game with his new team, Bure notched a hat trick that gave the Florida Panthers a 3-3 tie with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Having sat out most of the season while in a contract dispute with the Vancouver Canucks, Bure was not going to be selected for the All-Star Game played Sunday. But since being traded eight days ago, Bure has been nothing less than an All-Star for the Panthers.

A two-time All-Star in seven seasons with Vancouver, Bure has collected six goals in three games since joining Florida, leading his new club to a 2-0-1 mark.

"It's a great feeling to know that when your team is playing well defensively, you'll have opportunities to score," Bure said. "I'm surprised because I'm still getting tired quickly. You can practice as much as you want, but it's different when you step on the ice and play an NHL game." "Right now, Pavel has come in and had three really good games," said Panthers coach Terry Murray. "When you bring in a superstar and an excellent defenseman in (Bret) Hedican, that is a tremendous commitment by your owner. The players read that stuff loud and clear, and it does something good for your confidence."

It was the 10th career hat trick for Bure and his first since December 15th, 1997 against Los Angeles.

An impressive individual effort by Bure allowed Florida to score the tying tally with 12 minutes left in regulation. He raced along the left wing into the Flyers zone and deked defenseman Dan McGillis. Upon reaching the goal line, Bure put on the brakes and lifted a shot that bounced off the shoulder of goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck and slipped inside the left goalpost.

"I didn't know what to do with the puck," Bure said of the tying goal. "I took the pass and I saw him (Vanbiesbrouck) slide a little bit to his left. That left an opening, so I shot the puck at him and hoped it would rebound in the net and it worked."

"I was caught cheating a little bit, toward the idea of making a pass," Vanbiesbrouck said. "Those are things you have to work on."

Despite blowing two one-goal leads, the Flyers still have lost only once in their last 19 outings, going 12-1-6. They sit two points in front of New Jersey and Toronto for first place in the Eastern Conference.

Philadelphia All-Star center Eric Lindros failed to score for the first time in eight games but assisted on Eric Desjardins' goal that made it 3-2 at 6:51 of the third period.

Playing against his former team, Vanbiesbrouck had to leave with 23 seconds left in regulation due to a bruised buttocks. Desjardins slid into Panthers center Rob Niedermayer, who in turn fell into Vanbiesbrouck, and the Flyers netminder rammed his backside into the post.

"He kind of carried me right up into the post," Vanbiesbrouck said. "My legs got up a little bit high. It was my rear end. That's what happens when you have a big rear end, I guess."

With the Panthers facing an early 2-0 deficit, Bure sparked a comeback with 8:07 left in the opening period. The "Russian Rocket" carried the puck into the left side of the Flyers' zone and passed to Ray Whitney at the top of the faceoff circle. His blast was stopped by Vanbiesbrouck, but the streaking Bure poked the rebound out of the air and into the left side of the net.

Following a scoreless second period, Bure's power-play tally at 5:39 of the third tied the game. From the left point, Robert Svehla found Bure at the right side of the crease and he one-timed a shot into the open net.

"Things have really been bouncing for him," Lindros said. "You've got to watch out for him. He'll sit and hide and then come through the middle for a breakaway. He is somebody that can really finish."

Bure is expected to receive a rousing welcome from the fans at the National Car Rental Center in Florida on Wednesday as he makes his Panthers' home debut against the Montreal Canadiens.

"It's no surprise, he's a great player," Desjardins said of Bure. "If you give him room, give him time to make plays, he is going to make things happen like tonight."

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Pavel Bure's arrival improves the Panthers' chances.

Pavel Bure's arrival improves the Panthers' chances.

The Panthers were stuck in the neutral zone, but that was BPB: Before Pavel Bure.

Until the Panthers brought perennial 50-goal scorer Bure to South Florida, they were a so-so team; they had a nice young defense, but not a single game-breaker on the other side of the ice. This week, GM Bryan Murray changed that when he went shopping in Vancouver and came home with the goods.

In his first two appearances in a Panthers sweater, Bure -- hardly in game shape -- netted three goals in limited playing time. His production also helped the Panthers earn two victories, which put them over the .500 mark and has them breathing down the necks of the Carolina Panthers in the Southeast Division.

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Simply Pavel-ous

It was last Sunday in Pavel Bure's home in Moscow. Every 10 or 15 minutes, the phone would ring and on the other end would be his agent, Mike Gillis, saying, "This is what's going on. We're getting close, but it's not done. I'll call you back in five."

Bure smiles as he recounts the day his five-month holdout with the Vancouver Canucks finally ended with a trade to the Panthers.

"Everybody was waiting, and when Mike finally said we got a deal done with the Panthers, my mom (Tanya) started to cry," Bure said, now with a look of profound seriousness.

"She knew how hard this was for me. Sitting out. Waiting for Vancouver to trade me. She knew this was the hardest five months of my life, and she was so happy for me. We went out with some close friends and celebrated."

And with that, the Panthers gained a superstar. It still sounds funny to say. Panthers ... superstar.

A week after the blockbuster deal, General Manager Bryan Murray continues to look smart. Not so much that he pulled off the trade that includes Bret Hedican and Brad Ference, but that he did so by essentially grouping a list of players (Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Kevin Weekes and Mike Brown) that if he were trying to make the same deal on Sega's NHL '99, the computer would have even said, 'Are you kidding me? No way."

There aren't many players in the NHL with the ability to change a game with the simple snap of his hockey stick, but Bure, a two-time 60-goal, 100-point scorer, isn't typical. He's explosive on the ice, yet unbelievably quiet off of it.

Mystery man

Strange rumors and reports follow him everywhere, yet he remains supremely secretive and quiet. Few players are as guarded about their personal lives.

Does he associate with the Russian mafia? Did he threaten to go home if he didn't get a new contract from the Canucks during the 1994 playoffs? What were the real reasons for throwing away an $8 million contract to play in Vancouver? Did he fake a whiplash injury two years ago? And, who was that woman he was married to seven years ago?

This is just a sampling. Murray was well aware that Bure carries baggage off the ice, but the Panthers aren't going to pay him close to $10 million a season for what he can do off the ice.

"Nothing like that bothers us at all," Murray said. "We started our relationship with him (Tuesday night) knowing full well his talent level, knowing what he's done in this league as well as back in Russia. But all the Russians I've had experience with in the past -- Sergei Fedorov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Slava Kozlov -- I've never had a problem at all."

Difficult days

In those days, it was difficult to get Soviet players out of the country, so everybody shied from taking the highly regarded Bure because it was believed the Soviets were not going to release him until after the 1994 world championships.

After the first three rounds passed, Bure wasn't an issue because teams were not permitted to select Europeans after the third round if the players had not played in at least 11 elite-level games.

Records showed that the 18-year-old Central Red Army right winger had played in five, so every other NHL team felt Bure should not have been available to the Canucks.

It created a furor when they took him three rounds later. Teams protested, and 11 months later then-NHL president John Ziegler ruled that Bure wasn't eligible, thus throwing him back into the 1990 draft.

Three weeks later, Ziegler reversed his decision because the Canucks uncovered documentation -- six more scoresheets -- that proved Bure played the minimum number of games in the Russian Elite League.

Surprise visit

The Red Army team wanted Pavel to sign a three-year deal, but he decided to follow the path of other defected Russians, such as Fedorov and future teammate Alexander Mogilny, his two linemates with the Red Army team three years prior.

Even before Bure headed to Vancouver, he was angry at Canucks management, the start of what would become a tumultuous relationship.

Nobody met him in Los Angeles when he arrived, and it wasn't until two weeks later that the team's vice president of hockey operations, Brian Burke, came down to L.A. for a quick lunch.

"It was really hard. I thought they'd be waiting for me when I got there but there was nobody," Bure told the Vancouver Province last week. "I'd heard all this about how badly they wanted me, and then I'm down there wondering what's going on."

The club had been waiting to settle a court case with the Red Army team, who had Bure under contract. The Canucks ended up buying his rights for $250,000 in October 1991, but Bure was so fed up with the ordeal that he chipped in $50,000 of his first contract to pay off the Russians.

More mystery

She was said to be a fashion model, the two having met at the Goodwill Games in Seattle. By training camp the following September, Bure was single again.

It was immediately alleged in newspaper reports that the marriage was merely an arrangement to stay in the country if things hadn't worked out with the Canucks, although Bure has always denied that.

Tough times

The first was when rumors arose during the 1994 playoffs that Bure threatened to sit out if the Canucks didn't sign him to a new contract. Then, when he signed a five-year, $25 million contract in the middle of the Stanley Cup Finals, the story was reported in the media.

Bure believes somebody from the Canucks' management planted the story and denies he ever threatened to sit out.

He then got into a feud during the lockout-shortened season in 1994-95 when the Canucks were going to prorate his salary over 48 games. Bure felt he was exempt because there was a clause in his contract that said he should be paid a full year's salary regardless of the amount of games he played.

He threatened to sit out the season, but then decided to report. But the issue wasn't resolved for three years, and he always resented having to wait before finally being paid the $1.7 million owed to him.

The last incident occurred during the 1996-97 season. After missing most of the previous year with a knee injury, Bure was back to his typical form at the start of the season.

In the first game, Bure was flying down the right wing at full stride when he was hit by Calgary's Todd Simpson. He slid into the boards head first, and his neck snapped backward. He sustained whiplash on the play and played most the season in pain before the injury forced him to end his season in March.

The Vancouver media began to allege that he was faking the injury, and Bure was upset that management didn't do enough to dispell the story.

Rumorville

In December 1993, it was reported that he was one of several prominent Russian players who were targets of extortion by the mafia.

In the reports, it was alleged that he had made payments to the mafia, supposedly shaken down a few times during extortion attempts. But he has always denied this, and Gillis has said in the past that every penny that Bure has ever earned has been accounted for.

But people have alleged he hangs out with well-known Russian mafiosos, and other people connected with the underworld.

Rumors sprung up again three years later. Bure's great-great-great grandfather, Pavel, started the family's watchmaking business during the 1800s. The company ceased after the 1917 Communist Revolution. A couple of years ago, Bure started up the company again.

In November 1996, ESPN reported allegations that Bure's Moscow business partner in the watch-making venture, Anzor Kikalichvilli, was a major player in organized crime and on a Central Intelligence Agency watch-list.

Bure denied any knowledge of this, claiming Kikalichvilli was nothing more than a business partner, a sports entrepreneur he knew has known since he was a teen-ager.

Superstar

After the season, Bure decided he would force a departure from the Canucks. After five years of trying to be traded, he knew the only way he could guarantee it happened was to withhold his services and hold out.

The Canucks' loss appears to be the Panthers' gain. In two games, Bure has three goals, and the Panthers seem on their way at overtaking division-leading Carolina, which would mean a top seed in the playoffs. The Panthers trail Carolina by two points.

Bure loves to work out, one reason he was in good enough shape to play 31 minutes in two exceptional games after a nine-month layoff. He kept in tremendous shape in Russia, working out with his old Red Army team twice a day.

But there are skeptics, including Carolina General Manager Jim Rutherford.

"He's a player who walked out on his team," said Rutherford, conveniently overlooking his October 1996 acquisition of Keith Primeau, who held out for three weeks until the Red Wings traded him.

"A guy like Bure is not going to disrupt anything, but I don't know if he's going to give (the Panthers) their money's worth."

There are people who think it's a tremendous trade.

"He seems to elevate everyone's game," said Buffalo captain Michael Peca, who played with Bure in Vancouver. "He's that kind of a player. You put a guy like that with (Viktor) Kozlov, which is what they seem to want to do, and that's going to make (Kozlov) that much better."

Added former Panthers assistant and current Sabres coach Lindy Ruff: "He could be just the push they need to put them in the playoffs."

Dominator

In the first two games with the Panthers, he showed what kind of scorer the Panthers will have for several seasons. Bure says he is looking forward to the challenge of helping turn the Panthers into a contender.

He got his first taste of South Florida this weekend, in town during the All-Star break searching for a home.

"I don't even have summer clothes," he said. "So I have to go shopping."

And if he has trouble picking some things out, his mother will be in town for a few days after stopping in Calgary to visit Valeri, whom Pavel calls his best friend.

"I just want to get adjusted to South Florida," Bure said. "I can't wait to get settled, and I can't wait to play in front of the fans."

And they can't wait, either, for Wednesday's game in a sold-out building against Montreal.

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Bure an instant hit

MIAMI (CP) -- Pavel Bure looks forward to a breather during the all-star break after a hectic first few days with the Florida Panthers.

"I am surprised big time in having three goals in two games," said Bure, acquired in a seven-player deal with Vancouver last Sunday. He eased back into action by playing 12 minutes in a win over the Islanders on Wednesday, when he scored two goals, and he played nearly 20 minutes and scored a breakaway goal in a win over the Rangers on Thursday.

"Miami fans are in for a treat," said Rangers star Wayne Gretzky. "He's an exceptional hockey player worth every penny he's paid."

Pavel Bure returned to NHL action last night. Bure was plus-1 in 12:09 of ice time (16 shifts). He had four shots on goal in the game -- three in the second and one in the third. Bure played on a line with countrymen Oleg Kvasha and Viktor Kozlov at even-strength and was on the power play with Ray Whitney and Rob Niedermayer. EuroReport was there for Bure's post-game press conference.

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There's no looking back, Bure's focus on Panthers

by Ike Kuhns -- Star Ledger

New York - - Pavel Bure skated onto the ice at Madison Square Gardens last night to a mixed reception from Rangers fans who no doubt lamented what might have been.

If things had worked out differently, the Russian Rocket might have been wearing the uniform of the Rangers. Istead, Bure was on the visitors' bench with the Florida Panthers, who aquired him in a deal earlier this week.

Bure made his presence felt, too. He scored a goal - his third in two games - helping the Panthers slip past the Rangers, 2-1.

Bure insisted he isn't thinking about what might have been, nor was he trying to send a message to the Rangers that they should have bid higher for his services.

"It's not my point to prove anything to anybody," Bure said. "I just wnat to go out and do the best I can. My home is in Miami now and I am happy."

Bure didn;t waste any time paying dividends for the Panthers, scoring two goals in his debut, a 5-2 victory over the Islanders on Wednesday night, But he warned that the long layoff and jet lag after the flight from Moscow are still factors.

"That game was so emotional," he said, "and we got a lead and everybody was playing so well. It is going to take a little time for me to begin to feel comfortable.

"It was different feelings in that first game. It was strange and I was happy and nervous and everything."

Bure doesn't want to discuss the protracted contract dispute with the Canucks.

"I really don't want to talk about it," he said. "It is in the past and I just want to forget about it and just move on with my new team."

Obviously, Bure didn't get to select the team that Vancouver traded him to buthe insisted he will be happy with the Panthers. He said he would enjoy playing in a big city (New York is the biggest) but said, "Miami is a big city, too."

It's not like I could choose where I could go or what I could do," Bure said, "but it happened and I ended up with the Panthers and that's great."

In fact, Bure said he and the Panthers already are discussing a long-term deal before the speedy winger becomes a free agent next year. He is expected to agree to a long-term pact that will average just under $10 million annually.

"It depends on how many years we sign for, but if everything goes well I could end my career with the Panthers.

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Russian Rocket is too much for Rangers

by Ike Kuhns -- Star Ledger

So who needs Pavel Bure? Well, the Rangers for one.

It was bad enough that the Rangers lost out in the Bure sweepstakes this week when the Russian Rocket was traded by the Vancouver Canucks to the Florida Panthers. But it was really rubbing salt in the wound when Bure, slowed by jet lag and rusty from being away from the game since last April, scored a goal as the Panthers edged the Rangers 2-1, last night at MSG.

And to make matters worse, the winning goal was scored by Bret Hedican, the other player to come to Florida in the deal with the Canucks, at 18:17 of the third period, dealing the Rangers their fourth staright defeat. Over that span they have scored just three goals.

The rangers, who have been seeking a big-time goal scorer all season, felt the asking price was too high on Bure. General Manager Neil Smith was upset that Cancuks GM Brian Burke failed to check back with him before finalizing the Bure deal and is probably even more mad today.

The Rangers' scoring woes continued last night when they were held to a third-period goal by Kevin Stevens. The Rangers should have had an edge last night beacuse the Panthers wre playing their second game in two nights after beating the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum Wednesday night, as Bure made his season debut scoring two goals.

But Florida had the lead on Bure's breakaway goal entering the third period. The Rangers got even at 7:47 when Stevens took a pass from Brent Fedyk and fired a shot from the right circle that beat Florida goal-tender Sean Burke to his far post.

It appeared the game was headed for overtime when Hedican intercepted a clearing attempt by Jon MacLean and fired a shot from just inside the blue line that got past Mike Richter.

Burke has a big game for the Panthers, but so did Richter, who robbed Bure on at least three other occasions. The Rangers outshot the Panthers, 28-26.

Understandably, Bure didn't get the ice time he normally will once he is in top form, but he made his presence felt nevertheless.

The Rangers had the first powerplay opportunity of the night when Oleg Kvasha of the Panthers was sent to the box for interference at 2:19. However, the Rangers managed only one shot on Burke.

Steve Wasburn of the Panthers was penalized for tripping at 8:19, and the Rangers nearly took the lead on the power play, but Wayne Gretzky's rebound attempt clanged off the post.

After several big hits, including one by Jeff Beukeboom on Florida's Bill Lindsay at center ice, Petr Nedved of the Rangers was sent to the box for high-sticking at 16:43 and durintg the ensuimg power paly, Richter had to come up big to rob Bure from point-blank range.

The period ended with the Rangers on another power play when Florida was assessed a bench major for too many men on the ice at 19:11, and within the first two minutes of the second period, the Rangers twice though they had taken the lead.

The first came at 1:03 when Nedved took a pass from Gretzky and flipped a shot that appeared to hit the roof of the net. However, a video replay revealed the puck had actually rebounded off the crossbar and did not go in. Thirty seconds later, Adam Graves put in a rebound off a scramble in front of Burke, but Paul Stewart, one of the two referees in the game, ruled he blew the whistle before the shot, and another review from TV backed him up.

With the teams skating four-on-four, the Panthers took the lead when Rangers defenseman Jan Mertiz lost the race to a loose puck to Rob Niedermayer, whose pass sent Bure in on a breakaway. The Russian Rocket showed he hasn't forgotten how to put the puck in the net when given that kind of opportunity, giving Richter no chance with his shot and the Panthers had the head at 6:35.

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Did Burke burn Smith in Bure trade dealings?

by L STRACHAN -- Toronto Sun

NEW YORK -- On the surface of the National Hockey League, all is calm. The Pavel Bure deal has been done and the last major uncertainty of the season is over.

But underneath the surface, the waters are boiling.

Did Rangers general manager Neil Smith back out of the bargaining for Bure at the last minute as Vancouver Canucks GM Brian Burke claims?

Or is Smith right when he tells everyone who asks him about it that Burke double-crossed him?

And if Burke did indeed do that, what was his reason? The conspiracy theorists suggest it was Burke's way of punishing Bure for causing him so much trouble. He knew Bure wanted to play in New York, so he shipped him to the first non-Manhattan team to make a reasonable offer.

Burke, naturally enough, denies any wrongdoing.

In Madison Square Garden last night -- as appears to be the case around the league whenever GMs talk to each other -- the Bure affair was front and centre.

Both Smith and Burke agree on the starting point. Last Thursday, Burke was closing in on a deal with Florida so he called Smith and asked whether Manny Malhotra was in or out of the Rangers offer. Smith said he was out, but that he was trying to make other arrangements to give Burke a different package.

So far, no problem. But at this point, the paths diverge.

According to Smith, Burke said he would call back later in the day to see if the Rangers had another offer to make. In fact, he says, it was Burke's assistant, Dave Nonis, who called. He told Smith that nothing had changed and that Burke would call on Friday.

Smith says he never talked to anyone from the Canucks again.
 Burke's story is that he did the deal on Friday. That night, Smith called and Burke told him the Florida deal was done.

At least four people who asked Smith about the trade's status on Saturday or Sunday morning were given the same answer. Smith told them he thought Burke again was drumming up publicity for a deal that didn't exist.

If Smith was lying, those people agreed, he deserved an Academy Award.

Meanwhile, by Friday, the Panthers thought the deal was off. Burke had called Florida GM Bryan Murray and left a message on his car phone. But Murray had been attending a function and hadn't checked that particular phone.

On Saturday morning, Murray called Burke to ask if the deal was still on and was told about the message. But it was at that point Burke asked for a first-round pick to be thrown into the mix. Obviously, therefore, the deal was not done on Friday.

Burke and Murray did the usual bartering and Florida ended up including a first-round pick but getting a third-rounder back.

Smith now is furious. He's under extreme pressure in New York, where the urgency to win is so great that the corporation he works for just hired a coach-assaulter to play for its basketball team.

Smith tried frantically to get Bure out of Vancouver for four months and it seemed so likely he would be successful that some pundits based their seasonal predictions on the premise Bure would become a Ranger.

Although Smith won't say anything publicly, it's common knowledge that he would have put Malhotra in the right Bure package -- Malhotra and Niklas Sundstrom for example -- but he wasn't going to add Malhotra to the offer he already had put on the table, which was Sundstrom, Dan Cloutier and a first-round pick.

B>FRUSTRATED

At various times, Smith had proposed different packages which included Mike Richter and the now departed Alexei Kovalev and he repeatedly had expressed his frustration with Burke who, according to Smith, refused to negotiate.

No matter how Burke personally felt about Bure, whom he occasionally threatened to sit out until the summer, he would not accept an inferior deal just to get back at him.

But if he saw the offers as equal, would he send him to Florida just to keep him off Broadway?

That's the kind of speculation that has the general managers talking. Until some more facts are released, this story simply does not add up.

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This time, Hedican is Cats' hero

by MICHAEL RUSSO -- Sun-Sentinel

NEW YORK -- Boy-oh-boy, that trade's looking better with each passing day.

Four days after the biggest trade in franchise history, and one night after the key fixture in the deal, Pavel Bure, stormed his way back into the NHL in heroic fashion, the forgotten man in the trade, Bret Hedican, turned hero.

Hedican scored his first goal as a Panther in dramatic fashion Thursday night by blasting the game-winner from the point with 1:43 remaining, allowing the Panthers to enter the All-Star break on a high note -- a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers.

With the atmosphere more positive than it's been all season, the Panthers closed within two points of the division-leading Carolina Hurricanes, who lost 4-1 to the Detroit Red Wings. It's the closest the Panthers have been since Nov. 14.

"It's just a huge two points -- very huge -- just a gigantic win for us," coach Terry Murray said. "We're going into the All-Star break with a great feeling."

It's the first time the Panthers have won two in a row since Dec. 26 and 28, the first time the Panthers (17-16-11) have been above .500 since Dec. 28, and the first time they've won on back-to-back nights since Nov. 26 and 27.

"I'm just happy to be able to contribute," Hedican said. "It's a good feeling to be playing for a team that wants you."

The goal was dramatic for two reasons.

The first: After Bure scored his third goal in two games (he's on pace for 60 goals -- his career high), Kevin Stevens tied the game 7:47 into the third, so the Panthers were staring at their 12th tie before Hedican scored.

The second: The last time the Panthers played in Madison Square Garden, it was not a happy one. Brian Leetch scored with less than a second left in regulation to tie it, and Adam Graves won it 2:10 into overtime.

"It's a lot better standing here than the last time we played the Rangers," Murray said. "The last time was a very disappointing game for us."

"But in a lot of ways, that loss has helped turn things around because we've played a lot better since then," added goalie Sean Burke, who made 27 saves. "I thought we played with the lead with a lot more confidence."

That's easy to do when you have a weapon like Bure. Bure, who scored two goals in his debut against the Islanders, scored yet another breakaway goal to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead 6:35 into the second.

"Miami fans are in for a treat," said hockey's greatest ever, Wayne Gretzky. "(Bure) will be worth every penny they're paying."

Bure is one of the best players in the NHL on a 4-on-4 because of the open ice and, being the cherry picker that he is, Bure's always in position for the breakout pass.

He got it again, this time from Rob Niedermayer, who beat Chris Tamer to a loose puck before being hit. Bure skated in alone on goalie Mike Richter, made a couple of moves, and popped it between Richter's legs.

"It was another great pass, just like yesterday," Bure said.

"I knew Pavel would have a free lane to the net, and all I had to do was poke it to him," Niedermayer said. "Pavel's pretty much automatic on the breakaway."

What made the win even more sweeter for Bure is that two minutes after Stevens tied the game, Bure thought he had the winner on his stick midway through the third. He had Richter in the perfect place -- out of position -- but he blasted Niedermayer's feed off the side of the net.

"I had an empty net, but it happens and it didn't matter because of (Hedican)," Bure said.

Bure is pleasing people. There's no doubt GM Bryan Murray's happy with the deal -- that was evident when he walked by the dressing room after the game. Bure walked out and Murray gave him a huge high-five, with a giant smile on his face.

"It's a huge two points for us," Bure said. "Two wins in two nights is great. There's a great feeling in the dressing room."

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Even before first game, Bure makes a difference

by DAVID J. NEAL -- Miami Herald

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The sign on the door to the small news conference room at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum encapsulated the tone of the hubbub while hinting at the reason for said hubbub:

``AFTER THE MORNING SKATE: BAGELS AND BURE.''

``Bure'' is not some hip new spread. Rather, it's the Panthers new right wing whose appearance changed everything about Wednesday's morning skate on Long Island.

To the usual six or seven newspaper reporters were added sports columnists and television crews from Canada, South Florida and, of course, New York. It didn't hurt that Bure's first games as a Panther would be against the two New York area teams who unsuccessfully bid for Bure's services.

``Looks like the Stanley Cup playoffs,'' observed Panthers coach Terry Murray as he took his turn in front of the media throng after Bure said he felt ``all right'' and would play that night.

``There was a small meeting with [Panthers coach] Bryan [Murray] and Terry,'' Bure said. ``They said it was up to me, and I have to start playing sometime, so it might as well be tonight.''

Monday, Bure said he doubted he would play Wednesday because he would be wiped out by the eight time-zone trek from Moscow to New York on a direct Aeroflot flight. To get himself on Eastern time zone sleep schedule, Bure stayed up until midnight, which made Tuesday a 25-hour day for him.

``He looked awful when he got off the plane,'' Bure's agent, Mike Gillis, said.

But after the stay-up, a well-known trick among time-zone jumpers, Bure slept until 9 a.m. Wednesday. Murray said he would use Bure only 12 minutes and on power plays but not penalty killing.

Wednesday was an optional morning skate, but every Panther took the ice aside from Ray Whitney, who was kept off because of a cold. And everybody on and off the ice was tracking Bure.

``You've got to be careful,'' Terry Murray said. ``You tend to stay too long. Everybody wants to show what they can do. You don't want them to leave their games on the ice.''

Left wing Bill Lindsay said the rest of the team was excited about Bure's appearance. After a while -- a smoking shot through the five-hole, a backhand breakaway goal, a perfect set up for Kirk Muller on a two-on-one tap-in -- it was evident the only people not completely enjoying the skate were the goalies.

That Panthers owner H. Wayne Huizenga said Bure must take the team to this year's playoffs didn't faze Bure.

``No, it's not pressure on me,'' Bure said. ``I know they want to make playoffs, and that's why we're here.''

``We're not looking for him to come in and be the savior,'' Terry Murray said. ``We're not looking for him to shoulder responsibility for the team. This is still a team game.''

How much of this team's money will be spent on Bure over the next several years was being kicked around by Gillis and Bryan Murray, who said an outline for a contract is done. Gillis and Murray will meet next week in South Florida, where Bure will remain and work out during the All-Star break.

Wednesday, Bure again deflected a question on why he was angry at Vancouver management, but in a private Tuesday meeting with two Canadian hockey columnists, he made accusations of mistreatment as far back as 1991 and says his trade demand dated to November 1993.

Other Bure bits:

Lindsay was the first teammate with whom Bure was seen speaking on the ice.

``He came over and asked me about the drill we were running,'' Lindsay said. ``He comes across as a shy kid. It'll take a while to feel comfortable with us. You've really got to help out and talk with all new players. With [fellow Russians] Viktor [Kozlov] and Oleg [Kvasha] there, it helps, because they can speak the native tongue.''

Bure's discomfort in the spotlight was evident in how he answered when asked if he enjoyed the media attention he draws as a superstar: ``Do I have a choice?''

Bure brought his own skates and, otherwise, there was nothing special about his equipment. Bure's only request of associate equipment manager Tim LeRoy concerned the length of his gloves.

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Newcomers carry Panthers past Rangers 2-1

SportsLine wire reports

NEW YORK -- Recently returned Pavel Bure made an impact for the second straight game, scoring a second-period goal as the Florida Panthers beat the New York Rangers 2-1 Thursday night.

Bure, who had two goals in his Panther debut in Wednesday night's 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders, broke a scoreless tie with one of his patented breakaway goals.

Bret Hedican, another player acquired by Florida in Sunday's seven-player trade with Vancouver, scored the winner with 1:43 left as the Panthers completed a two-game sweep of the NHL's two New York teams.

Sean Burke won a goaltending battle with Mike Richter, making 27 saves including a terrific glove save on Brent Fedyk's shot on his own rebound with a little more than six minutes gone in the third period. Burke then gave up the tying goal to Kevin Stevens before Hedican came through.

BURE GAVE THE PANTHERS a 1-0 lead when he scored on a breakaway at 6:35 of the second period. With the teams skating four aside, Bure received a breakout pass from Rob Niedermayer at the Ranger blue line, skated in and beat Richter between the pads.

It was almost a carbon copy of Bure's first goal in Wednesday night's game against the Islanders, when he was set up on a pass by Robert Svehla skating into the Islanders zone and beat Felix Potvin.

Bure, a season-long holdout at Vancouver, saw his first NHL action in 10 months Wednesday night and played 12 minutes against the Islanders. He had more playing time Thursday night, and made a great defensive play when he caught up with New York's Adam Graves on a breakaway and poke-checked the puck away from him.

WITH HIS THREE GOALS IN TWO GAMES, Bure had as many as the entire Rangers team in the past four.

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Bure buries another one

NEW YORK (AP) -- Pavel Bure is breaking out in a big way for the Florida Panthers.

Making an impact for the second straight game, Bure scored his third goal as the Panthers beat the New York Rangers 2-1 on Thursday night.

"Miami fans are in for a treat," the Rangers' Wayne Gretzky said. "He's an exceptional hockey player worth every penny he's paid."

Bure, who had two goals in his Panther debut in Wednesday night's 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders, broke a scoreless tie in the second period with one of his patented breakaway goals.

Bret Hedican, another player acquired in Sunday's seven-player trade with Vancouver, later scored the winner with 1:43 left as the Panthers completed a two-day sweep of the two downstate New York teams.

"I felt much better today than last night," Bure said.

Especially after scoring his big goal in the second period.

"It was a great pass from (Rob Niedemayer)," Bure said. "(Rangers goaltender Mike) Richter tried to get the puck with his stick and he opened the space between his legs, and I threw the puck there."

Sean Burke won a goaltending battle with Richter, making 27 saves including a terrific glove stop on Brent Fedyk's shot on his own rebound with a little more than six minutes gone in the third period. Burke then gave up the tying goal to Kevin Stevens before Hedican came through for the Panthers.

"I felt pretty solid," Burke said. "All the talk about the Rangers is that they've struggled to score. I knew they'd be hungry and that I had to bear down."

Bure gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead when he scored at 6:35 of the second period. With the teams skating four aside, Bure received a breakout pass from Niedermayer at the Ranger blue line, skated in and beat Richter between the pads.

It was almost a carbon copy of Bure's first goal in Wednesday night's game against the Islanders, when he was set up on a pass by Robert Svehla skating into the Islanders zone and beat Felix Potvin.

Bure, a season-long holdout at Vancouver, saw his first NHL action in 10 months Wednesday night and played 12 minutes against the Islanders. He saw more playing time Thursday night, and made a great defensive play when he caught up with New York's Adam Graves on a breakaway in the first and poke-checked the puck away from him.

With his three goals in two games, Bure had as many as the entire Rangers team in the last four.

Stevens tied it for New York with a shot from the lower right circle at 7:47 of the third period. The game appeared headed for overtime when Hedican scored on a shot from the deep slot.

Richter otherwise played a strong game, making 24 saves. The loss was the fourth straight for the Rangers.

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Russian Rocket just might lift Panthers into stratosphere

by Ian Browne -- SportsLine Staff Writer

Pavel Bure celebrates the first of
what will be many Panthers goals. (AP)

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- It didn't take long for Pavel Bure to turn the rust into dust.

Nor did it take much time for his critics -- of which there were many -- to ooohhh and aaaahhh along with everyone else over his magnificent Florida debut Wednesday night.

On the heels of a nine-month layoff, the Russian Rocket finally touched down on NHL ice and earned rave reviews. He also left people wondering just how good he can be once he gets into game shape.

Then again, potential has always been the issue with Bure. The man is built like some sort of hockey machine. Blazing speed, magnificent hands and the type of scoring touch you can't teach. It has always been his heart and dedication that came under question.

Never his skills.

There were a lot of dropped jaws at the Nassau Coliseum. And for once, it wasn't over how horrific the home team was.

ON THIS NIGHT, BURE SERVED AS a pleasant diversion for one of the most disenchanted fan bases in the league. And he provided endless hope for his new team, the Florida Panthers, who drilled the hapless Islanders 5-2.

What can you say about a man who takes the first three-plus months of the season off amid a nasty holdout, then hops a plane from Moscow to New York and scores two goals in his first game back?

"He's just an all-world player, marveled defenseman Gord Murphy, who is one of many Panthers thrilled to have Bure on his side. "You couldn't write a better script than what he did tonight.

"With all the media attention he got, and all the travel, and all the time he took off ... and then to do this is just amazing. For him to do what he did tonight just elevates and energizes everyone."

Everyone, that is, except for Bure. The man was whipped and understandably so.

He found out he had been traded from the hockey purgatory known as Vancouver to the young Panthers Sunday night. He spent Monday packing and spent Tuesday traveling. He saved just enough energy to destroy the Islanders on Wednesday.

"My timing wasn't there," Bure said. "But I know it will come back."

THE SAME COULDN'T BE SAID for his scoring touch, which came back in a big way.

With the game tied at 1-1 in the second period, Bure showed how he got his flashy moniker in the first place. He glided down the slot, then curled to the left before laying a beautiful shot past Islanders goaltender Felix Potvin.

"Bure's first goal, that's the kind of goal he is famous for," said Panthers coach Terry Murray, whose job suddenly seems a lot easier. "He finds a way to get open and he does so many things coming in on the goaltender. Most of the time, he's going to finish."

Bure, in essence, finished off the Islanders with his second goal, a short blast just outside the crease he didn't even get good wood on.

If anything, his Panther debut was a reminder of how easy things seem to come for the gifted right wing. He played just 12 minutes, took just four shots and still managed to have a field day.

The question now is whether his dark side resurfaces.

For all of the 27-year-old Bure's talent, there have been so many nights in his career he seemed disinterested and generally unwilling to pay the price it takes to succeed in the best hockey league in the world.

THUS FAR, HE HAS DEFINED the term "enigma." And he only soured his already large list of critics with his ill-timed holdout.

But now he seems intent on putting all that behind him and getting the Panthers (16-16-11) into the playoffs.

"I'm not talking about any of that other stuff. I'm leaving it all behind me," Bure said. "It's important just for me to play hockey after not doing it for nine months. It's important just for me to be a part of this team."

It's no mystery which part Bure will play. A supporting role just won't do. It's time he steps up and plays the leading man.

"When great players get into your lineup, it has a huge effect on the rest of the team," noted Murray, who coached stars like Eric Lindros and Peter Bondra earlier in his career.

However, Bure has been unable to elevate his teammates since willing the upstart Canucks into the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994.

Which makes you wonder if there was a method to Bure's madness. Perhaps he knew in his heart there was no end to the nightmare Vancouver had become under Mike Keenan's dictatorship.

SURE, THERE WERE MORE TACTFUL ways for Bure to get out of Vancouver. He could have demanded a trade and played until his wish was granted.

But he has no regrets. After all, the fresh start he yearned for is now right in front of him.

"It will be great," said Bure. "It's always sunny and warm (in South Florida)."

And so, too, suddenly, is the outlook for the Panthers.

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Press Conference

by Ezra Shaw/Allsport -- CNN

Question: Can you talk about how frustrating it was last season after getting off to such a great start with Florida with 13 goals and 11 games; then suffering the knee injury and being out for the year. How hard that was for you?

Pavel Bure: Well, injuries are a part of hockey and it is not what happens to you, it is how you react. Obviously, it was a big disappointment for me, but I just have to deal with it. I am really happy it is behind me.

Question: Is this the happiest you have been in a long time? You certainly seem to be playing like the old days when you were scoring 60 goals a year.

Pavel Bure: I am just really happy right now because things are going really well.

Question: I was wondering if you might be able to comment on all the speculation out there on what is going on between you and Sergei Fedorov and Anna Kournikova?

Pavel Bure: Well, you know, I thought we were going talk about hockey. My private life is mine so I will not talk about my private life.

Question: Can you just talk about what all you had to do to come back from the knee injury?

Pavel Bure: Well, it wasn't that easy. It was pretty hard time for me. I was kind of down, but I think I was just lucky because I have really good friends, really good family who was supporting me through this hard time. As I said, it is all behind me and now I have to move on.

Question: A lot of times when players come back from major injuries like that, they tend to be a little hesitant going into the thick of things. Did you find that was the case with you, and are you getting more confidence as the season is going on as far as the knee?

Pavel Bure: The more games you play, the more confidence you have in yourself.

Obviously when I stepped on the ice after my second surgery, I didn't have confidence. But, you just have to take one step at a time and the more you play, the more confidence you have.

Question: I was just wondering what do you feel about the media and the public being so interested in your personal life.

Pavel Bure: Well, I guess it comes with the territory and I understand people like hockey a lot and they want to know things. I am really open and I try to do the best what I can to let people know how I play and what I do.

Question: Your team has a nine-point lead, the largest lead of any division leader right now -- nine over Carolina that won it last year. What are the reasons that Florida has opened up such a big lead? Why have you gotten off to such a great start as a team?

Pavel Bure: I think we should give credit, first of all, to the management and the coaching staff who put a really good team together. And it is a great mix we have on the team. We have some guys, who played for a long time. We have some young guys who bring lots of energy.

Question: Considering what you went through last year before the trade with Vancouver, is it surprising to you that Nikolai Khabibulin in Phoenix and Keith Primeau here in Carolina are sitting out and they don't know if they will even take part in this season? Does it surprise you when that happens in light of what you went through?

Pavel Bure: Well, hockey, it's really big business right now and you have to do what you have to do. I didn't know -- I don't know what to tell you about that. I guess every player has to decide what he has to do for himself and for his team.

Question: Can you compare living in Vancouver to living in Miami, the differences and the similarities. Are you anonymous there in the south as compared to what you were in Vancouver?

Pavel Bure: Well, usually I don't really like to compare anything, but, you know, obviously Florida is different than Canada. I would say probably in Canada people concentrate more on the hockey than Florida because it is a pretty new sport for Florida and we are trying to get the sport popular here. We have a great support from the fans.

Question: Does it make it easier for you to play your game because you are not bothered as much and you can be relaxed more or be yourself a little bit more in Florida than you could have in Vancouver?

Pavel Bure: Well, it doesn't really matter where you play. You still have to go out on the ice and perform and you have to win the games and you have to score goals. So it doesn't really matter where you play.

Question: This week Scotty Bowman of the Red Wings and Jacques Martin, the coach for the Senators both said they thought interference was back in the league; a lot of clutching and grabbing. Have you noticed anything different?

Pavel Bure: Well, I would say so. In the game against Pittsburgh, lots of guys were holding me and I didn't know what to do. If I go down the ref will say I am diving and just turn my skates, there is no call. So it was kind of funny situation. I didn't know what to do. Obviously there is lots of grabbing and hooking.

Question: I have seen that the attendance in Florida at games is down this season from the past. I was wondering if you could perhaps talk about whether the Panthers are having trouble drawing fans; what the team could do and whether, as you have gone around the League, you have seen empty seats and whether you think this is a problem for the NHL?

Pavel Bure: Well, I don't think it is a problem for NHL. Obviously it is hard to compete with the Miami Dolphins because they are in town. And we have the Miami Heat and the Florida Marlins, so obviously, it is hard to compete with those teams. But if you go outside, you meet the people and the people are really staring to get interested in hockey, so it is a good sign. We only can control so much, so we just have to go out there and do the best we can to try to win some games and hopefully people will come.

Question: Do you follow the Russian elections at all?

Pavel Bure: Yes.

Question: What do you think happened on the vote the last couple of days - your interpretation?

Pavel Bure: I know who won the election for the mayor of Moscow. That is Mr. Luzhkov who was in there before and I don't think there was big surprises who got elected to Parliament; it was pretty much the same people.

Question: When you are talking about one of the ways you can draw fans is by the Panthers winning more, is there anything that the team is doing with you as their main superstar, public appearances you're making or things like that to try to sell the team more?

Pavel Bure: Well, yeah, we are trying to do the best we can. We go to the hospitals and we do some signing sessions. But, obviously, our main job is to go out on the ice and perform there. As I said before, I can feel more and more people giving to hockey because it is really a new game for South Florida. I think it is like California years ago, when nobody knew of hockey in California and look at it now. They have three teams and people just relate to hockey, so hopefully it is going to happen in Florida.

Question: I wanted to ask you about what impact Trevor Kidd had on the team before he got hurt and how much of a factor was he in the start your team had got off to?

Pavel Bure: He was playing really well for us and because of him we won lots of games. It is really a big deal when you have a great goalie and he is stopping lots of pucks. You get confidence about yourself when you know there is a guy who is helping you to save the puck and, you always know you just have to go and score and everything will be fine.

Question: What effect a veteran like Ray Sheppard has had since he has signed on with the team? How has he helped?

Pavel Bure: Obviously he is really good hockey player. He scored 50 goals and he has been around for so many years and he brought lots of experience to our club. Even when he is not playing, like right now, he is still a big presence on the team. He is talking to the young guys and is helping them and he is just giving lots of advice. So it is really nice to have him on the team.

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Pavel trade leaves Gino in stitches

Tony Gallagher -- The Province

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Gino Odjick hurts when he laughs but even with stitches from abdominal surgery Monday he chortles over the trade of his friend Pavel Bure.

"I talked to him this morning and he's pretty happy," said Odjick from Montreal where he had three tears repaired in his abdomen and is out of the New York Islanders lineup for the season. "He had some pretty good reasons for wanting to get traded.

"I suppose it's a good trade for both teams. They get Pavel and Vancouver finally gets some players, although not right away. Who knows? We certainly know what kind of player is going to Florida."

Odjick added some new info as well.

"When I got traded last year Pavel was pretty upset and called (the Canucks) and said, 'Trade me' again. I'm not surprised he didn't show up to start the season. He'd been asking a long time."

Meanwhile, Trevor Linden refused on-the-record comment about the Vancouver situation other than to smile and shake his head at some of the goings on.

"You have to remember it's a business," said Linden. "I didn't think they would go after me (in his contract dispute), but I almost missed part of the season the year I was holding out."

Linden was asked about his relationship with Bure, which some observers suspected was marked by resentment at the Rocket taking away his spotlight.

"That was not true at all, I'm not that way. Do you think I didn't realize we needed good players to get better? We weren't great friends. He went his way and I went mine. ... But we had some good laughs on the way to the (1993-94 Stanley Cup) final. And I remember our slow starts during the lockout season and how we joked, 'We were both still locked out.' "

Linden was asked about coach Mike Keenan but refused comment.

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Griffiths says it's a joke

by Terry Bell -- The Province

Ex-Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths says it's ludicrous to suggest he planted negative stories in the media about Pavel Bure.

Bure told Province columnist Tony Gallagher the main reason he wanted out of Vancouver was because "somebody from management" planted a story saying he threatened to leave the team during the 1994 playoffs if he didn't get a new contract.

"The reality of the whole situation is that I was not even aware that there was a story until after the playoffs that year," Griffiths said Wednesday. "A reporter asked me about it then and I said, 'That's ridiculous.' "

Pat Quinn, Canucks general manager at the time, eventually denied the story, but Bure feels the denial was so late it gave the appearance of a cover-up.

Then vice-president/assistant GM George McPhee is also a candidate to have leaked the story. Now the GM of the Washington Capitals, McPhee is on vacation and couldn't be reached Wednesday. A spokesman from the Caps' PR staff said McPhee didn't want to comment on the Bure situation.

The leaky front office tale is one that Griffiths, who conceded full ownership of the team to John McCaw in November 1996, still finds hard to fathom.

"Why would we create a story like that about our star player?" Griffiths said. "It's a joke. The idea that we'd do that in the middle of a huge series like that ... it's ridiculous."

Griffiths suggested Bure's bolt had more to do with Canadian taxes and the Canucks' difficult travel schedule.

"I spoke to him just after the end of last season," said Griffiths. "He told me prior to his (last) trade demand that his wanting to leave only had to do with taxes and travel.

"I told him that he'd just finished a long season. He'd gone to Japan (with the Canucks) and the Olympics (in Japan) and that it might be better to think about it during the summer."

Griffiths said the Canucks always treated Bure well.

"The Canucks looked after Pavel, his father (Vladimir Bure) and his agent (ex-agent Ron Salcer) very well."

Pavel, now represented by Mike Gillis, also said confusion over whether a '94 contract was in U.S. or Canadian dollars and a difference of opinion about his demand to be paid for the lockout year led to his trade demand.

In '94, Bure was set to sign a five-year, $14.7-million deal he assumed was in U.S. dollars. When he went to sign he saw the deal was in Canadian funds.

"That's correct," confirmed Griffiths. "Pavel thought it was U.S. funds. But it was in Canadian dollars and we negotiated that with his agent."

Griffiths also said Bure never had a clause in his contract offering compensation in the event of a lockout. The NHL locked out players prior to the start of the '94-95 season and Bure contended he should have been paid regardless.

"He had his contract guaranteed," said Griffiths. "That means in the event of an injury. In a labour disruption, you do not get paid.

"He did get some compensation, though."

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Rocket blasts off

by Tony Gallagher -- The Province

He had to rub it in.

He couldn't be content to just play his first game in a jet-lagged-induced stupor.

No, Pavel Bure had to flash his trademark form scoring his first goal in the growling uniform of the Florida Panthers in what had to remind Canucks fans of his series winner in Game 7 against Calgary in double overtime in 1994.

Then he added a second goal, right in front of Canucks general manager Brian Burke who had flown in for the occasion.

Taking a pass from Jeff Brown -- check that, Robert Svehla -- between two stunned New York Islanders defencemen, Bure split them with speed, broke in alone, deked right and then went left to his forehand to slide the puck past goaltender Felix Potvin to begin a new chapter. In only seven of the shortest shifts of his career, the Russian Rocket had launched into the hearts of South Florida fans and out of the lives of those who watch the Canucks.

"It was just like Calgary, wasn't it?" Bure said with a huge grin. "I didn't think about it at the time. I just saw space and went for the breakaway. I was using new equipment and I didn't feel too good out there. But I got a couple of great passes from the guys."

The goal gave his new team a 2-1 lead in what turned into a 5-2 win over the sad-sack Isles, who have quit on coach/GM Mike Milbury. Bure's second goal Wednesday came when he tipped in a pass by Ray Whitney with Florida on a two-man advantage.

In the first period it looked as though the Murray brothers, Bryan and Terry, of Florida management knew little about Rocket science when they gave Bure the call on whether or not to play after a seven-hour time change the previous day. When you have the player make the decision in the macho world of hockey, it's virtually an order to play. If a player bails, eyebrows get raised. So everyone convinces themselves it's a good idea and promises they'll limit his ice time. But this time it was a sound decision.

Using four lines because of tonight's game at Madison Square Garden and not using him to kill penalties, coach Terry Murray did limit his ice to 12:09. And even then their $47.5 million US investment began to look like money artistically spent.

Milbury was upset and appeared to be setting the stage for his departure, at least as coach. He made a quick statement to reporters and left before taking questions.

"It looked like they quit," Milbury said. "They were disorganized, so consequently we lost. There are no excuses for that. That was a stinker without much sign of effort. We've got to do something about that."

The fans made a recommendation when they chanted, "Mike must go!" in the third with the Isles looking as though they were the ones jet-lagged.

Bure has apparently come to the Panthers with considerable humility, downplaying his goals and talking about wanting to contribute. It's captured captain Scott Mellanby.

"I sat beside him and I was really impressed with him as a person," Mellanby said. "I'd always heard from other guys he was pretty good."

"Wait till he gets in shape," chortled Panthers president Bill Torrey, who hasn't had a smile that big since the last Isles' Stanley Cup win. "We had the Devils doctor come in and give him a physical late last night. He said, 'I've seen some athletes in my day, but this one is unreal.' Turns out (Bure's) been working out twice a day.

"The two Russians playing with him (Viktor Kozlov, Oleg Kvasha) are really excited. I guess I can see why."

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Pavel's no longer in exclusive club

by Steve Milton

You can slice the Pavel Bure trade just about any way you want, and all the pieces would make some sense.

- Florida Panthers win because they get the best player in the swap.

- Vancouver Canucks get Ed Jovanovski, whose premature matriculation helped carry Florida to the Stanley Cup final three years ago, and suddenly the left coasters have the best young defence in the National Hockey League.

- Brian Burke's reputation rests on the longterm outcome of this swap.

- The NHL Players' Association wins in the long run because three elite players -- Felix Potvin, Sandis Ozolinsh and Bure -- could sit out a significant stretch but still come out way ahead financially, even when missed wages are taken into account. Ergo, not reporting works, if you're good enough.

- Teams in jurisdictions with the best tax deals have a distinct advantage when trying to land a player whose signability is an issue. Florida, it should be noted, has no state income tax.

All of the above are valid comments on the trade which la-la-landers had anticipated, or feared. And, as one Florida columnist put it, the Canucks may have waited nearly 200 days to deal Bure, but the Panthers have waited for 1,929 days for a skater worth watching.

But there is another way of looking at this trade. It kicks the Russian Rocket out of one of the most exclusive circles in hockey:

Fifty-goal scorers who have not been traded.

During the 1990s, there have been 32 different players who have managed 50 goals or more in a season. Until Sunday, only 10 of them had been on the same team for all of their careers. Now there are nine and the list will shrink by at least one because the Flames will lose Theoren Fleury sometime this year.

The nine one-teamers: Fleury, Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux, Adam Graves, Jaromir Jagr, Petr Bondra, Joe Sakic, Keith Tkaczuk and Paul Kariya. That means 23 players who scored 50 goals -- considered the benchmark of a brilliant offensive season -- in a single season this decade have played on more than one team in their careers. While you might expect that kind of instability of, say, 45-homer guys in baseball, hockey isn't subjected to the same kind of liberal free agency. If it were, Keith Tkaczuk would be a Blackhawk, instead of still being with his original franchise (although that franchise was traded from Winnipeg to Phoenix).

Nope, this isn't about free agency. Almost all of these 23 guys were traded.

Understand that not all were traded after they scored 50. Some were traded before they hit the plateau. But isn't that, in a way, more telling? An organization scouts and develops a guy, then moves him somewhere else to score 50? How dumb is that? Stand up you Vancouver Canucks, in your legendary misread of Cam Neely.

In case you think this is a recent development, skewed by the nomadic nineties, consider the first four 50-goal scorers: Rocket Richard, Bernie Geoffrion, Bobby Hull and Phil Esposito. Only Richard played for just one team in the NHL.

Bure, who notched his first of three 50th goals at Copps Coliseum in a 1993 neutral-site game, has a lot of company, although it's rare for a player to score 50, and be dealt the very next season as he was. Usually, as in the cases of Ray Sheppard, Brendan Shanahan and Luc Robitaille, there is a decency period of one full season before the trigger is pulled.

Bure falls into a recently founded lodge of 50-goalers who are dealt or allowed to walk: snipers who can no longer bear the management of their team. Also included in that club are the likes of Alexander Mogilny, Pat LaFontaine, Jeremy Roenick and president-for-life Brett Hull. BR>
Other categories into which traded 50-goalers of the '90s fall:

Teammates Made Him Look Better Than He Was: Kevin Stevens, Luc Robitaille.

Original Team Didn't Know What It Had: Cam Neely, John LeClair, Mark Recchi (Pittsburgh).

Bait for Bigger Fish: Ray Sheppard (traded for Igor Larionov), Mark Recchi (traded by Philadelphia for LeClair), Peter Forsberg (part of the Eric Lindros deal), Pierre Turgeon (once for Pat LaFontaine, once for Kirk Muller and Mathieu Schneider).

Economic Expediency: Teemu Selanne, Brian Bellows, Dave Andreychuk, Brendan Shanahan (with Theoren Fleury joining soon).

Who knows how many of the nine 50-goalers from the '90s who are still with their original teams will stay there. You'd figure that Yzerman, Kariya and maybe Sakic are the kind you'd want on your team forever, no matter the cost.

But some of the others could be traded in the final year of their contract, if their current teams risk losing them to free agency.

That means that the 'Economic Expediency' category is in for some rapid expansion.

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Griffiths denies spreading Bure rumours

by JIM MORRIS -- Canadian Press

VANCOUVER -- The former owner of the Vancouver Canucks denies planting false rumours that Pavel Bure threatened to withdraw his services during the Canucks' 1994 run to the NHL Stanley Cup final.

"I'm shocked, stunned, that there's any insinuation that me, or ownership or my family didn't treat Pavel with anything other than first class," Arthur Griffiths said Wednesday.

Bure, who refused to play for the Canucks this season to back up his demand for a trade, said in an interview "someone from management planted that story" he had threatened not to play during the 1994 playoffs to force a new contract.

Bure called the story a lie. He said he didn't know who spread the rumour but local media has speculated it could be either Griffiths, then owner of the team, or George McPhee, then acting assistant general manager.

Griffiths flatly denied any part in a smear campaign and questioned why management would alienate its star player at such a key time.

"That I would, in any way, shape or form, at that time plant a story about Pavel in a negative fashion, is a joke," Griffiths said.

"He never, ever requested of me a trade. Period. End of discussion."

McPhee now is vice-president and general manager of the Washington Capitals. A spokesman for the Capitals said McPhee was on holidays with his family and "wishes not to comment at this time."

Bure was traded to the Florida Panthers on Sunday in a seven-player deal.

Bure said he asked to be traded as early at 1993.

He said he also was frustrated that when he first came to North America he spent two weeks in Los Angeles without anyone from Vancouver management contacting him and that after negotiating a new contract, the Canucks tried to pay him in Canadian dollars instead of U.S. funds.

Ron Salcer, Bure's former agent, refused comment on Bure's allegations.

"I'm not in the picture anymore," Salcer said. "He can say what he wants to say. I don't want to get involved in any kind of a situation."

Griffiths, who owned the Canucks before the team was purchased by Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment, said he was surprised by Bure's comments.

"I'm disappointed that's his view of things," he said.

"The reality is ... Pavel knows exactly how hard we tried in the initial steps to get him here, what we did to resolve his problems. I thought we treated him with the utmost respect and tried to do the right thing for him. Quite honestly, we bent over backwards."

Griffiths said he had lunch with Bure last spring. At the time, Bure said he wanted to be traded but gave his reasons as Canada's tax structure and the Canucks' gruelling travel schedule.

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Bure scores twice in Panthers debut

-- Reuters

UNIONDALE, New York, Jan 20 - Superstar Pavel Bure shot just four times in his Florida Panthers debut on Wednesday. But the Russian Rocket scored twice, including the most spectacular play of the game for the go-ahead goal.

Bure, who sat out the first half of the 1998-99 NHL season rather than play for the Vancouver Canucks and earn a guaranteed $5.6 million, led his new team to a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders, playing just a little over 12 minutes.

"I wouldn't want to play more than that yet," the blond, 189-pound (86 kg), 5-foot-9 (1.75 metres) right wing said with a smile. "I'm not nearly there yet. Sometimes you play well and don't score. My conditioning is nowhere near 100 percent. I'll be skating again tomorrow morning."

The 27-year-old Russian was obtained Sunday in a seven-player trade with Vancouver, for whom the Russian had played seven season scoring 254 goals and 224 assists in just 428 games. Twice he reached the 60-goal plateau. Last season he scored 51 goals, second in the NHL.

The Panthers got him for goal-scoring punch, and he delivered, playing on an all-Russian line with center Viktor Kozlov and left wing Oleg Kvasha.

The best play of the night came when Florida defenseman Robert Svelha of the Czech Republic fed Bure a breakaway pass behind the Islander defense at 7:39 of the second period.

Bure skated in alone on Islander goalie Felix Potvin and faked him left, then tapped the puck into the open side of the net to the goalie's right. That broke a 1-1 tie and enabled Florida to take charge.

"Great players make great plays," said Panthers coach Terry Murray. "Bure played instinctively. He'll get a lot more ice time in the future."

Added Murray: "Bure is a great player and great players make the other players on their teams better. The other guys feel right about things and try to be more creative and o more with the puck."

"I got two goals but the best part of this was the feeling of playing again," said Bure. "I'm happy to be with the Florida Panthers. When the call came to me in Moscow, I was fed up with just practicing and couldn't wait to get to Florida. I was really very very happy."

Bure added: "Florida wants me to score goals. Tonight they went in. But the biggest thing was the welcome the guys on the team gave me. We can win here in Florida. But one man alone cannot do it. It takes teamwork."

He would not say anything about his long battle with the Canucks. " I don't want to talk about anything in Vancouver," Bure said. "I'm in Florida and I think we can make things interesting jhere in the East."

Vancouver general manager Brian Burke, who let Bure dangle in the wind without playing half the season before completing the trade, happened to be at the game scouting, and did not try very hard to hide his continuing anger at Bure and the trade.

"Time will tell who got the best of this," said Burke. "We are happy with our players. Bure didn't want to play for Vancouver but I had to get full value for him, although some people think I should have gotten more. The first player that asks me for it can have Bure's old number."

Bure, who led Russia to the silver medal at the Nagano Olympics and topped all Olympic scorers with nine goals in just six games, has played financial hardball before.

In 1994 he threatened to sit out Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the New York Rangers unless his present contract was signed in the afternoon of that game. It was.

Bure is negotiating a multi-year contract extension with the Panthers expected to go five years and exceed $50 million.

Murray, whose brother Bryan is the Florida general manager and made the trade, said: "We think we have the man we need, a great player who can mean great things for the Florida Panthers."

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Bure makes immediate impact

Bure's new duds.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- The "Russian Rocket" came back with a bang.

Just acquired in a blockbuster trade, Pavel Bure scored twice Wednesday night to lead the Florida Panthers to a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders.

"It was good to play," Bure said. "I had great passes from the guys. The puck was there for me."

And Bure knew what to do with it, as he usually does.

Bure's first goal of the night broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and was a classic. He zoomed in on goaltender Felix Potvin after taking a breakout pass at the blue line from Robert Svehla.

Bure steamed down the center of the ice, split defenders Zdeno Chara and Scott Lachance, showed Potvin a backhander that put him down before beating him with a forehand at 7:39 to break a 1-1 tie.

"It was a great pass from Robert and I just went in on a breakaway," Bure said. "I lost the puck before I wanted to shoot. That's why I went to the backhand first."

Potvin said he made a mistake on the play.

"I probably committed too early."

Bure added a power-play goal as the Panthers broke open the game with three goals in the third period as Florida extended the Islanders' winless streak to 11 games (0-10-1).

That's just what the goal-starved Panthers hoped to see from the explosive right wing, who forced his trade from Vancouver with a season-long holdout. The Canucks finally traded Bure to the Panthers on Sunday in a seven-player deal, hoping to pump more life into an anemic offense that was rated 21st in the 27-team NHL prior to Wednesday's games. Bure had scored 60 goals twice and 51 goals another season for the Canucks.

Bure made himself immediately available to the Panthers, flying from Moscow to New York on Tuesday. He stayed up until midnight to adjust to the time difference, slept until 9 a.m. Wednesday and reported in time for the morning skate.

Skating on an all-Russian line with Viktor Kozlov and Oleg Kvasha, except for power plays, Bure went out on 16 shifts for a total time of about 12 minutes. He scored on his second shot after Potvin stopped him on his first 3:24 into the second period. His power-play goal at 11:17 of the third came with the Panthers skating with a two-man advantage.

"Pavel had an impact right away," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "Everyone knows who he is and what he can do."

Bure's first appearance of the season sparked a turnout from the media at the Nassau Coliseum that was about triple the normal amount.

The night also featured the Islanders' debut of Craig Janney, recently acquired from Tampa Bay.

Robert Reichel gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead when he beat Sean Burke with a shot from the high slot at 6:42 of the first period. Johan Garpenlov tied it for Florida when he poked in a rebound at 7:11 that Potvin lost in the crease. Following Bure's dramatic goal in the second, Scott Mellanby, Bure and Radek Dvorak scored for the Panthers in the third. Ted Crowley added a power-play goal for the Islanders, the first of his NHL career.

"I was not surprised by Pavel," said Islanders captain Trevor Linden, a former teammate of Bure's at Vancouver. "He's a goal scorer."

The Panthers improved to 3-1-0 against the Islanders this season.

Pavel skated in his usual #10 on his jersey.

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Bure backed by Russian linemates

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (CP) - The Florida Panthers, wanting to make Pavel Bure feel at home, surrounded him with Russians on Wednesday.

Coach Terry Murray put Bure on right wing with centre Viktor Kozlov and winger Oleg Kvasha in a makeshift line at his first practice.

"The chemistry could be pretty good there right away," Murray said prior to Wednesday night's game against the Islanders. "The fact that both speak the same language will make him feel more comfortable at the start."

But that will likely change as soon as Bure works himself back into game shape according to Murray.

"In the big picture he is going to play with all the different centreman. When you have that calibre of a player you are going to look to double-shift him," said Murray.

But Murray is not ready to annoint Bure the saviour of a team that would miss the playoffs if the season ended Wednesday.

"I am not looking for him to come in and shoulder the responsbility of the whole team. It is still a team game. It is going to take everybody else to be better," said Murray.

"(I want him to) just come in and be the best that you can be. That is all you are looking for from him, from any great player. With that the rest of the team gets better."

Murray doesn't thnk it will take that long for Bure to be going at full speed.

"When you have elite athletes like that, they play with a lot of pride. They are going to keep themselves in great condition physically, mentally they are sharp," said Murray.

"I don't think it is going to take him really that long. Putting a number on it, four, five, six games, that is hard to do but he is certainly close."

Bure had arrived in New York on Tuesday after a 10-hour flight from Moscow and managed to sleep through most of the night.

Murray made the decision to start Bure after the team's 30-minute morning skate at the Nassau Coliseum.

"The conversation was basically let's get the thing started, I am not going to use you 30 minutes tonight, but let's get a dozen minutes in and get your feet under yourself," Murray said.

Murray didn't really need much convincing to pencil Bure into the lineup or put him on the wing on the power play against the cellar-dwelling Islanders.

"He is a true superstar in the league. He is certainly in the top four, five in the league," Murray said of Bure, who has twice scored 60 goals in the NHL and had 51 last season for Vancouver.

"He is creative, he has great speed, can do everything at top speed."

The Panthers acquired Bure from Vancouver in a seven-player trade last Sunday. Bure had been sitting out the season at home in Moscow in a bitter feud with Canucks management.

But that is all behind him now said the soft-spoken Bure.

"I have a brand new start," said Bure. "I was missing hockey a lot, finally it is over and I'm glad so now I can play hockey."

During his layoff Bure had been practising with the Red Army team. But the 27-year-old admitted going up against NHL competition would be completely different.

"You can't compare practice with the real hockey game especially the level of the NHL," said Bure, who was given No. 10.

Bure has one year left on his existing contract and was to make $8 million this season. A contract extension is in the works according to GM Bryan Murray and talks are ongoing.

"We have had an outline of a deal and there was one before we made the trade. We were not going to make this kind of trade if we didn't know that we could get a deal done," said Murray.

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Rocket blasts off

In an exclusive interview, Pavel Bure says management's chintziness doomed relations
with Canucks from the start

by AL STRACHAN -- TORONTO SUN

Pavel Bure has always maintained he loves the Vancouver fans.

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. -- Pavel Bure did not leave the Vancouver Canucks because the relationship turned bad. He left because the relationship always was bad.

Take the first North American meeting for example. Penniless and unsure of his status, he had left the Soviet Union and told the Canucks he was off to Los Angeles and would be staying at his agent's house.

"Then it took two weeks before somebody showed up," he said.

Ever since Bure walked out on the Canucks before training camp, there has been speculation about his reasons. Yesterday, in a Long Island hotel room with only two reporters present --Tony Gallagher of the Vancouver Province was the other -- Bure finally gave his explanation.

But before he started he insisted on a provision. He wanted it made clear he loved Vancouver and he loved the fans. His problem, he said, was neither with his teammates nor with coach Mike Keenan.

He hopes not to be perceived as a complainer. He merely wants to set the record straight and move on to his new life as a Florida Panther. The Vancouver fans, he said, treated him well and deserve to know the truth -- that he got sick of the way the Canucks organization made his life difficult at every turn.

He got sick of it so quickly that he first asked for a trade in 1993. General manager Pat Quinn agreed, he said, but it was 1999 before the deal was done.

Let's go back to 1991. Bure had just arrived in North America. He had no equipment and no money to buy any.

"It was really hard," he said. "I thought they would be waiting for me when I got there. But there was nobody."

Finally, Brian Burke, then Quinn's assistant and now the team's GM, arrived. "We just had a quick lunch and I didn't see them again for another 10 days," Bure said. "I was nervous. I was young."

Burke subsequently arranged a court hearing in Detroit to get Bure's release from Red Army. The cost of that release was $250,000. The club paid $200,000. Bure had to pay the other $50,000.

The day before the court judgment, Bure agreed to a contract worth $600,000 annually. But there was an understanding, he said, that if he proved he was a solid NHL player, a new deal would be written.

He scored 34 goals that season and won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's best rookie, even though he didn't break in until late November. So he asked about the new deal.

"They said, 'Hold on, you have to play a little bit more. You have to prove it to us,' " Bure said with a chuckle.

Pavel Bure was never happy with the Canucks. He was mad at team management even before he arrived in Vancouver, when no one was in Los Angeles to greet him.

So he played another year. This time he scored 60 goals. "They said, 'Okay, let us think about it.' "

They thought about it during the summer and finally made an offer -- $14.7 million over five years. "I said, 'Great! I'm happy,' " Bure said. "I was ready to accept it. I was really happy." It was in line with the salaries being paid to two compatriots, Alex Mogilny and Sergei Fedorov.

When he went to sign the deal, there seemed to be a mistake. "They said, 'Sorry, it's Canadian,' " Bure recalled.

NHL stars are not paid in Canadian dollars. Fedorov and Mogilny weren't and Bure certainly wasn't about to set the precedent. He refused to sign.

"Ronnie (agent Ron Salcer) said, 'Okay, start to play and we'll figure it out over training camp. It was a mistake obviously.' "

But Bure got off to a slow start and two months into the season, someone from the team, probably assistant GM George McPhee, told Salcer the Canucks were having second thoughts.

"I asked for a trade in '93," Bure said, "because they said, 'Well you can't play any more. You got 60 goals, but you just got lucky. You'll be lucky to get 30 goals again.'

"I said, 'Okay. You don't trust me. Then trade me.' "

Shortly afterward, he started to roll, racking up another 60-goal season and by spring, the Canucks were heading into the Stanley Cup final against the New York Rangers. By that time, Salcer had hammered out a new contract, but Bure didn't want it. "I said, 'Listen, I asked for a trade. Don't sign me. Just trade me.' "

But it was an extremely lucrative deal, eventually costing the Canucks more than twice the one Bure cheerfully would have signed eight months earlier. Now, the average was in the $5-million range US. Also, there were astonishing bonus clauses that gave him an extra $3.5 million last year.

"Ronnie said to sign the contract, but I asked for a trade before that," Bure said.

He acceded to Salcer's wishes, but when the time came to sign the deal, Bure said, Quinn wanted no part of such a precedent-setting contract, which had been forced upon him by ownership. However, Bure refused to put pen to paper until Quinn was summoned to the room and shook his hand.

By that time the allegation already had been leaked that Bure had threatened to quit the team unless he got his deal. "That really pissed me off," he said. "That's a lie."

He's certain someone in the organization spread the story but doesn't know who, "and I don't want to say what I don't know," he said. "But I know one thing. I was promised to be traded."

That contract carried a signing bonus to be paid immediately. It was not until September that Bure got it.

Then came the lockout. Having realized a labour disruption was likely, Salcer had insisted on iron-clad guarantees that Bure would be paid whether the league operated or not. But the Canucks refused to pay.

It was not until October 1997 that Bure got his payment for that part of the 1994-95 season. And even then, it was a settlement. To save legal fees -- not to mention the acrimony caused by suing the club for which he played -- he settled for $1 million of the $1.7 million he was owed.

In the meantime, Bure was getting injured with some frequency. "So at the end of 1996-97, I went to see Pat and I said, 'I'm getting too many injuries with my knee and my back. It's time to move me on. Maybe if I go somewhere else, I'm going to play with more emotion and it's going to stretch me out and maybe I'll play better.'

"He said, 'If you really want that, we'll trade you. I understand that's what you want.' That was '97. Then I waited all of '97 and '98."

When he still hadn't been moved by the start of training camp this season, Bure walked out. Ever since, people have been asking why he did it. During his news conference on Sunday, Burke professed not to know the reasons.

Now, he does. And so does everyone else.

Upon reflection, Bure says Iron Mike Keenan was the only Canucks boss whom Pavel really liked.

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Panthers excited about keeping up with Bure

by JEFF SHAIN -- AP Sports Writer

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) - Florida Panthers defenseman Rhett Warrener almost can't wait to be victimized by Pavel Bure now.

``It's going to be nice to be embarrassed in practice instead of games. He just keeps you backing up and hoping he'll shoot wide of the net,'' said Warrener, who gains Bure as a teammate when the high-scoring Russian joins the Panthers today.

Bure ended his five-month holdout Sunday when the Vancouver Canucks sent him to Florida as part of a seven-player trade, giving the Panthers their first true offensive star.

No Florida player has scored more than 32 goals in the franchise's six-year history. Bure has topped 50 goals three times in his seven NHL seasons, bringing a combination of speed and explosiveness that is virtually unmatched.

``Everybody can do things at top speed. His top speed is just faster,'' said Ray Whitney, Florida's leading scorer with 14 goals. ``It's noticeable. The things he can do at top speed is different.''

Rob Niedermayer called Bure's acquisition ``a dream come true.''

``To get a chance to play with a guy like that - any centerman in the league would relish that,'' Niedermayer said. ``It certainly gets me excited.''

Bure spent Monday finalizing travel to New York, where the Panthers play Wednesday against the Islanders and Thursday against the Rangers. A decision on whether Bure would play Wednesday was put off until he had a chance to meet with team officials.

``I was really happy when my agent called me and said I was going to the Florida Panthers,'' Bure said Monday from his home in Moscow. ``I know it's a young team. I hope we can do something good for the franchise.''

A history of confrontations with former general manager Pat Quinn apparently soured Bure on the Canucks, leading him to demand a trade last summer and vow he would not return to Vancouver.

In 1994, Bure threatened to sit out the Stanley Cup finals if the team didn't move to finalize a five-year contract that had been negotiated. When that was done, he said management didn't back him strongly enough.

Two years later, he made similar complaints after major knee surgery and back spasms limited him to just 23 goals in 63 games.

Bure would not discuss his relationship with the Canucks when asked Monday. But he disputed a statement by Canucks president Brian Burke that he had wearied of living in a fishbowl atmosphere in Vancouver.

``That's so funny. I never said that,'' Bure said. ``People were really nice to me there. I have a lot of friends there.''

Since returning to Russia, Bure has been working out twice a day with CSKA Moscow, the former Red Army team where he spent his first four years as a professional.

He said the workouts have left him in good shape, but not playing in games became a grind.

``It was really frustrating for me,'' he said. ``I was missing hockey a lot and was missing the fans. It's really hard - day after day going to practice and no games, not knowing when I'd start to play. I'm really happy it's over.

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Messier ends silence on trade

by Iain MacIntyre -- The Vancouver Sun

DALLAS -- One day after declining to comment on the biggest trade in Vancouver Canuck history, team captain Mark Messier on Monday endorsed general manager Brian Burke's trade of Pavel Bure.

Messier, who has rarely shirked his responsibility as the Canucks' leader, explained Monday that defenceman Bret Hedican, dispatched with Bure to the Florida Panthers, was one of his closest friends on the Canucks, and that he hadn't had time Sunday to digest the trade.

"Pavel is one of the best players in the league and you never get anyone back who plays like him," Messier said after celebrating his 38th birthday with a goal in the Canucks' 5-3 victory here. "Burkie did the best he could. He did the only logical thing and got some help now and some kids who could turn out to be great players."

Messier's silence Sunday clearly caused some discomfort for Burke.

"My guess is Mess isn't ecstatic about the deal," Burke said late Sunday when asked for his interpretation of Messier's silence. "I'm mindful the clock is ticking on Mess. But I told Mess when I came that he was out of the player personnel side. I just want him to play."

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Not much market value

by Jim Jamieson -- The Province

They had the most exciting athlete in the history of Vancouver sports for seven seasons, but the Canucks made little marketing hay from his presence.

The largest financial benefit the Canucks gained from having Pavel Bure in their lineup was his ability to put enough pucks in the net to get the club into the playoffs.

Incompetent managing or unco-operative superstar -- it was likely a little bit of both.

"Pavel Bure's effect on the company in terms of tickets or marketing was never significant," said Glen Ringdal, the Canucks' marketing guru when Bure joined the club in 1991. "The value of Pavel Bure was his ability to skate and shoot."

In fact, attendance figures show a continual decline in the years after Bure was signed, but there were big ticket-price increases in those years, including a 50-per-cent hike after the '94 Stanley Cup run. Club ticket revenue figures show most increases over Bure's years in Vancouver (see box).

Reuters / Pavel Bure, celebrating a goal with Canucks,
was worth a lot more to the team on the ice than as a p.r. tool.

In Bure's first contract the club didn't own his marketing rights -- he and his dad Vlad made some less-than-successful attempts at sponsorship deals -- but the Canucks got marketing rights in his current five-year deal that Florida is expected to rip up. Still, nothing of note was accomplished in terms of marketing the NHL's flashiest player.

"My impression is that the Bure camp never fully understood what it entailed when you have a major marketing agreement with a company," said Orca Bay vice-president Kevin Gass. "It's not only the use of name and image, but you have to do stuff, too. Last year Mark Messier shot a Frito Lay commercial at GM Place and it took two exhausting days of work to do a 30- and 60-second commercial. It seemed to us the Bure camp didn't appreciate the commitment. It was a lack of enthusiasm more than anything else."

But Gass said the club takes its share of blame for what amounted to a surprising lack of marketability for Bure.

"I understand the club talked to some major sponsors -- McDonalds, Coca Cola, General Motors -- but were told he didn't have the track record doing public work on his own. We probably should have pushed Pavel in that direction, but we never did. Also, the club said it wanted him focussed on hockey and we acceded to that."

Ringdal said it will be a challenge to the Panthers marketing department to translate Bure's on-ice brilliance to off-ice dollars. "If a club is planning to make some hay out of his marketability, he has to have changed his approach to that aspect."

TICKET REVENUE

1992-93* $22.3 million

1993-94 $23.1 million

1994-95** $18 million

1995-96 $33 million

1996-97 $31.5 million

1997-98 $32.6 million

(Not including revenue from luxury boxes)

*Bure's first full season in Vancouver

**Lockout shortened season (48 games)

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Quinn recalls good times

by Ed Willes -- The Province

Pat Quinn would prefer to remember the good times -- the times when Pavel Bure would pick up the puck and the Pacific Coliseum would come alive -- than remember how things ended.

"He was such a bright light," said Quinn, who brought Bure to Vancouver, and started the tortured love affair between the city and the Russian Rocket. "But he decided he wanted to go. It's like any break-up. There's no point dwelling on it. It will only make you sour. So you move on."

And they've moved on. On Sunday, Bure moved on to Miami. Before that, Quinn moved on to Toronto where he's produced the best coaching job of this NHL season.

But there was a time when it seemed they'd always be together and they'd build something great on the West Coast. And you can't he lp but detect a note of wistfulness in Quinn's voice as he talks about his distant star, what happened and what might have been.

"I've been fortunate to coach some great players," Quinn said from Carolina, where the Leafs met the Hurricanes on Monday night. "And he was exciting. He excited me. When you see a guy get the puck and everyone stand up -- well, that's not something you see too often. He was special."

He might be again. It just won't be in Vancouver.

In the wake of Sunday's trade with the Florida Panthers, the city and its NHL franchise are still struggling with the messy divorce from Bure. The explanation thus far -- something about fish bowls and wavering support from management -- is unsatisfactory.

It's also insulting given the unconditional affection that was heaped on Bure by this town.

Quinn, who had a front-row seat for the drama, doesn't lend any further insight into the Rocket's disenchantment. He says simply that Bure first approached him with a trade request two years ago and reiterated his desire at the start of last season. Quinn was fired from his general manager's post before he could move his star. It's consistent with Bure's depiction of events. It also will have to do until Bure, as promised, provides further details.

"I asked him why but he'd made up his mind," Quinn said. "He was more than firm about it. He was obstinate. I told him take the summer off (prior to the '96-97 season) and see if he felt the same way. He came back and things were all right for a while. Then he got hurt again (suffering a neck injury early in '96-97) and that was it."

And he wouldn't be persuaded otherwise. The Canucks had hoped that the acquisition of Alex Mogilny would change Bure's mind. But, as Quinn said: "They never really clicked."

Reuters / Pavel Bure and Pat Quinn in happier times,
as Canucks made their Stanley Cup run in 1994.

Following the '96-97 season, Bure restated his desire for a trade. Quinn told him "get back to being Pavel so there'll be a market for you."

He never had a chance to make the trade.

"He told me the same things he's said publicly," Quinn said. "I have no reason to believe he's lying. I'm not going to get into my personal opinion of what happened. We have a business where people move. I didn't take it personally and I don't think Vancouver should take it personally.

"There was just so much turmoil in the last couple of years. He basically missed two full seasons. Then things went sour."

And he was gone. Just like that.

"I know a lot of people think he was more concerned with his points than the team points," Quinn said. "But knowing the kid, I don't buy that. Whatever the motivation was, and I think it was individual, he wanted to play well every night. He wasn't a floater.

"He really had a tremendous year (last season). You can't point to him and say that's the reason Quinn got fired. Things just happen in this business."

So, as Quinn says, you move on. But you can't forget, even if you tried.

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Nothing quite like 'Pavel-Files' Tuesday, January 19, 1999 by Tony Gallagher -- The Province

Reuters / Always loyal to his hockey roots, Pavel Bure celebrates a goal at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan on Feb. 12. Les Bazso, The Province / Former Canucks GM Pat Quinn introduces Pavel Bure to the Vancouver media on Nov. 1, 1991. Reuters / The odd time Pavel Bure was caught in the public eye, his long-time buddy Gino Odjick was usually at his side. Reuters / X-Files star David DuchovnyКwas rumoured to have a verbal spat with Bure. Reuters / The normally subdued Pavel Bure smiles for the Moscow media Monday after Sunday's multi-player trade that sent the Russian Rocket to Florida Panthers. It's ironic that one of the most surreal urban legends to come out of Pavel Bure's seven-year stay in Vancouver is an alleged dustup with X-Files star David Duchovny. Bure, so the story goes, got into a verbal confrontation with Duchovny at a Vancouver restaurant. The issue was Duchovny's previous relationship with Bure's then-girlfriend and dinner companion that evening, Dahn Bryan. While Bure and Bryan denied the incident ever happened, it's an apt metaphor for the legacy of the most exciting athlete to grace a Vancouver sports team, a legacy that was as mysterious as it was marvelous, one whose truths were sometimes out there. Was he really hanging out with Russian mafiosi? Did he actually threaten to boycott the playoffs in 1994 if he did not get a new contract? What were his real reasons for wanting out? From the beginning, there was an air of the mysterious about Bure, the slick Russian with whom the Canucks shocked the league by taking him in a draft when he was supposedly ineligible. Bure arrived out of the blue in North America from Moscow in September of 1991, with his father Vladimir and brother Valeri. Not only did the first of many Bure soap operas ensue -- as he and the Canucks commenced six weeks of hazy contract negotiations, but Bure announced that he had already married an American woman named Jamie. There is no evidence that Bure ever lived with the woman -- although details were shrouded in the usual secrecy surrounding him -- and he made another announcement at training camp the following September that a divorce had occurred and that he was now single again. From the moment he arrived Bure was never comfortable with the media or the fans, although he did improve somewhat over the years. Part of the improvement was facilitated by time Bure spent with a public-relations consultant during the 1995-96 season, when he was rehabilitating a knee injury. Bure was chronicled a number of times by the media playing fast and loose with the truth -- the most memorable being last season's unkept promise to come clean when the year was over with his reasons for wanting out of Vancouver. Early in his tenure in Vancouver, one reporter spoke to him on a Thursday about the house he was building in Los Angeles, at which point the Rocket began describing the number of rooms, the location and the layout. The following day when a small story appeared about the house, he then was told (by management) it was untoward to be seen building a house in another NHL city. The next day, Bure was a guest between periods on a Hockey Night In Canada broadcast and he was asked about his house in L.A. He responded: "What house? I'm not building a house in L.A. I don't know how these stories get started." He subsequently dropped the project. The Canucks organization shielded Bure and gave him special status from the beginning, which only set him up for p.r. shortcomings later on. "It got so employees were intimidated to ask him to do things," said one former member of the organization. Bure was always a highly private person, very guarded about his personal life. This sometimes translated into a lukewarm attitude toward his fans. When the Canucks played at the Pacific Coliseum, it was common for Bure to park his car inside the building during practice so he wouldn't have to face the autograph seekers in the parking lot like the rest of the players. But Bure faced public adulation like few NHL players. He was a sports god in Vancouver and had a similar following in other NHL cities, where the walk from the team hotel to the rink and back for the morning skate often meant wading through hordes of rabid autograph hounds. In more intimate situations, Bure could be a gem. "Pavel had a special talent for one-on-ones down in the dressing room with special-needs kids or children who were ill," recalled former Canucks media relations manager Devin Smith. "I remember in Anaheim a couple of years ago and they brought a kid down who was terminally ill and Pavel spent about an hour with him." Perhaps the most persistent rumour dogging Bure in his last five years in Vancouver was alleged associations with Russian mobsters. Bure was one of several prominent Russian NHL players named in a story in December of 1993 who were supposedly targets of extortion by the mob. Bure denied it. There were more allegations in November 1996, when a report by ESPN said Bure's Moscow business partner in a watch-making venture, Anzor Kikalichvilli, was a major player in organized crime in Russia. Bure said Kikalichvilli was nothing more than a business partner and denied knowledge of mob connections. It was often mentioned that he had made payments to the Russian mafia. But if he did, those payments were apparently small and not terribly often because according to his agent, Mike Gillis, almost every cent Bure has earned in his time in Vancouver has been accounted for by his local accountants. Toward the end of his time in Vancouver he became increasingly a loner, spending most of his time away from his Marine Drive house, in his downtown apartment, rarely going out. Bure would occasionally appear at Yanni's in Kerrisdale with Gino Odjick when he was actually living in his house, but those appearances became fewer and further between. After Odjick was traded, Bure was a virtual prisoner of his apartment, venturing out only for the occasional private meal, practice and games. Now both Duchovny and Bure have taken their acts to sunnier climes. Duchovny can be replaced, but it may be a long, long time before Vancouver hockey fans see the likes of Bure again.

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Some points of order

by Tony Gallagher -- The Province

NEW YORK -- In a city smarting from not having one last chance to get Pavel Bure before Brian Burke seemingly gave him away to Florida, a number of unanswered questions remain.

Why didn't the Canucks general manager give New York Rangers GM Neil Smith that one last courtesy call? Smith said Burke had no obligation to do so. But didn't Burke have an obligation to his team to get the best possible deal?

Judging by Smith's reaction Sunday, having just learned of the deal, there seems little doubt he may have flinched at the prospect of Bure coming into his building Thursday and upped his offer. As it is, we'll never know. But there are some around the league and around the Canucks team who feel Burke didn't want Bure to select his own destination.

Or it could be Mr. Tough Guy had the wood put to him by Bryan Murray and Wayne Huizenga. Or it could be the Panthers said the deal is off if he takes it back to the Rangers, who had beaten them out for Mike Richter in the summer and Petr Nedved earlier this season.

There are some other small points of order as well.

Just before Christmas, Burke said on one of his endless radio appearances he would reveal the offers he had received up to that point. Doubtless we can expect to see a press release detailing those teams and names.

What happens now with an obviously disappointed Mark Messier? Clearly he was disheartened by this long-term approach taken by the team, although by the time you read this he may well slide back into his "captainspeak" and begin to say all those right things he's been half-heartedly intoning all season.

Will he be the next man in Burke's office seeking a ticket out of the "asylum," as the GM himself referred to this place in his first press conference?

Doubtless the Canucks would have to dine on some of his contract, but at least it would be the honourable thing to do for a player who has accomplished so much. It is abundantly clear by the direction taken in this deal the team is not planning to win immediately.

Perhaps the most amusing line of Burke's press conference Sunday was the contention the Canucks asked for Dave Gagner to be included in the deal. Over whom, Radek Dvorak or Oleg Kvasha? You can just hear the conversation: "Look here, Mr. Murray, unless you give us that 34-year-old small centre making $2.3 million US this year and next with just four goals to show for this season, the whole deal is off."

Such a contention the Canucks asked for a player who lately has been a healthy scratch in some games is either insulting the intelligence of the Vancouver hockey fan or showing a stunning lack of ability to judge talent.

As we could see Monday night, Gagner is going to be better in Vancouver under Keenan playing on one of the club's top two lines. But to suggest a team trying to watch its payroll requested an expensive, small, aging player who may be nearing the end is too hilarious for words. Florida wouldn't give up one of their younger centres and it's quite likely they insisted Vancouver take Gagner to help them pay for Bure.

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Canucks sour on Bure deal

by DAVE FULLER -- Toronto Sun

Pavel Bure is happy. So are the Florida Panthers.

But not everyone else is.

Several Vancouver Canucks players, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed displeasure with Sunday's seven-player swap -- figuring the return wouldn't be enough to get them into the playoffs.

Captain Mark Messier refused comment on the deal when cornered by reporters in Dallas where the Canucks played last night.

Vancouver shipped holdout Bure, defencemen Bret Hedican and Brad Ference and a third-round pick to Florida for defenceman Ed Jovanovski, centre Dave Gagner, Detroit Vipers goalie Kevin Weekes, Kamloops forward Mike Brown and a first-round pick in 1999 or 2000.

New York Rangers general manager Neil Smith was disappointed, too, that his Canucks counterpart, Brian Burke, hadn't called him before consummating the deal as he had promised.

The Rangers offer for Bure included winger Niklas Sundstrom, goalie Dan Cloutier and an early draft pick. But the Canucks insisted that 1998 first-round pick Manny Malhotra be added to the mix.

The Panthers, Rangers and Montreal Canadiens were tied for ninth place in the NHL's Eastern Conference entering last night's action.

"I didn't want to throw away all the months of work -- and pain, too -- that we've gone through to get the quality young players we have in our organization now ... just because somebody came along with their blue ribbon player," Smith told the Daily News.

Bure, who is expected to sign a five- or six-year deal with Florida worth as much as $10 million US a season, will join the Panthers in New York later today.

"I'm really happy it's over," the Russian Rocket said before leaving Moscow. "It was really frustrating for me. I was missing hockey a lot and was missing the fans."

Florida centre Rob Niedermayer called Bure's acquisition "a dream come true," for the team.

Bure will make his Florida debut either tomorrow against the Islanders or Thursday versus the Rangers.

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Analyst Simpson slams Bure

by Jim Cressman -- Free Press Sports Reporter

Craig Simpson wonders what makes Pavel Bure tick.

He can see a player holding out for more money, but when a guy has a contract that puts him among the highest paid in the NHL, he has no right to refuse to play for his team, Simpson said.

"A guy like (Edmonton Oilers general manager) Glen Sather would sue him, if he'd pulled that with him," Simpson, a former 50-goal scorer and London native said yesterday.

In this case, you've got a guy making more money in one year than the Edmonton Oilers' entire payroll in 1988 when they won their fourth Stanley Cup in five years (with Simpson a member of the team). Bure, with his $8 million, could have bought the four-time Stanley Cup champions.

"He said he didn't like playing in Vancouver because he doesn't like living in a fishbowl. He's a franchise player and any team is going to say, 'I need you to be an impact player in the community.' What makes him tick? He won't give us an answer."

Simpson thinks the Panthers are nuts for dealing for Bure, who doesn't have a contract past this season.

"Florida should be asking, 'What's my insurance he won't hate me and then won't play for me?' " Simpson wondered aloud. "He could pull the same act in Florida. I'm shocked they would trade in that scenario and not have anything done. And we have a team (the Panthers) giving up on another young defenceman (Ed Jovanovski)."

Craig Simpson is good at his job.

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Caught on tape

-- The Pro Hockey Euroreport

Question: How far away are you from being 100 percent?

Bure: Far enough.

Q: What does that say for you that you can score two goals and be far enough away, as you say, from being 100 percent?

Bure: You know, sometimes you can play really well and don't score at all. Today I just had good passes from the guys and it just happened. But to talk about myself personally, I'm still not there.

Q: You look like you were holding your wrist after your second goal. Did you hurt your wrist?

Bure: No, I just had cramps.

Q: What about the equipment you were using tonight. Was that your equipment or someone else's?

Bure: No, it's brand new. It'll take a few days for me to get used to it because brand new hockey gear is really hard.

Q: What are your initial impressions of your new team?

Bure: Really great impression. When we were leading 2-1 in the beginning of the third period and the Islanders were all over us, nobody panicked. We just crossed the red line and put [the puck] in deep. And finally we got our chances and we won the game. So it's a great impression.

Q: Talk about your first goal on the breakaway.

Bure: Well I got a great pass down low [from Robert Svehla] and I just had to go for the breakaway.

Q: Are you looking forward to living in South Florida?

Bure: Yeah, I think it's going to be great. It's always sunny and warm.

Q: You're playing the Rangers tomorrow night. Did you ever think you would be playing for them?

Bure: Well, you can think all you want but today I'm a part of the Florida Panthers organization.

Q: Do you hold any hard feelings towards [Vancouver GM] Brian Burke for waiting so long to trade you?

Bure: I don't want to talk about that. I just want to put that all behind me and move on.

Q: Did you know Burke came to see you tonight?

Bure: [Silence]

Q: You didn't play a lot in the first but you slowly picked up more ice time in the second and then the third. Was that the game plan, to slowly build you up as the game went along?

Bure: Well, [Florida coach Terry Murray] is a really smart coach and he knows I can play right away well so he just put me in.

Q: Is it important for you to make your debut here in New York, playing the Rangers tomorrow, to do well?

Bure: I think it's important to just play hockey right now. It doesn't really matter where. When you don't play for five months, you just want to play hockey.

Q: How important is it for you to be part of a Florida team that needs a superstar, what with a new building and attempts to create a new fan base?

Bure: For me, it's more important just to be part of a team, that today we're playing all together. One guy never can win a Cup or lots of games. We just have to work together.

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Bure: I'm thrilled

-- Canadian Press

MOSCOW (CP-AP) -- The Russian Rocket says he's thrilled to be landing in Florida with the Panthers following Sunday's seven-player trade from the Vancouver Canucks.

"I was really happy when my agent called me and said I was going to the Florida Panthers," Bure said today at a news conference. "I know it's a young team. I hope we can do something good for the franchise."

Bure, who has spent the season at his home in Moscow after telling the Canucks he would never play for them again, is expected to join the Panthers in New York for games Wednesday against the Islanders and Thursday against the Rangers.

Asked if the wait was worth it, Bure said: "Oh, yeah. It was an important thing in my life. You put a goal in front of yourself and you always try to reach that goal. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices."

Bure disputed Canucks GM Brian Burke's contention that he had wearied of a fish-bowl environment in Vancouver.

"That's so funny. I never said that," Bure said. "People were really nice to me there. I have a lot of friends there."

Bure is in the last season of a five-year deal worth a reported $8 million US. Talks on an extension have already begun, the Panthers say, and should be completed before the end of the season.

To pry Bure from the Canucks, Florida parted with top defenceman Ed Jovanovski, centres Dave Gagner and Mike Brown and holdout goaltender Kevin Weekes.

The Panthers also received defencemen Bret Hedican and Brad Ference, and will swap a first-round draft pick in 1999 or 2000 for Vancouver's third-rounder.

Bure, 27, is a four-time all-star who gives Florida its most explosive scorer in the franchise's six-year history. No Panther has scored more than 32 goals in a season.

Bure won the 1992 Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, scoring 34 goals in 60 games. He followed that with consecutive 60-goal seasons, leading the Canucks to the 1994 Stanley Cup final with 16 post-season goals in 24 games.

The Russian star scored 51 goals last season, one off the league lead, but demanded a trade over the summer.
 

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Bure rarin' to go for Panthers

by FRED WEIR -- Canadian Press

MOSCOW -- Pavel Bure is under new management and he couldn't be happier.

The reason I sat out these months is because I wanted to get traded and I got what I wanted," Bure said at a news conference in Moscow's swank Peking Hotel on Monday.

Those people (Canucks management) gave me a lot of promises that never happened, so I decided to take things into my own hands and do it my way."

The Russian Rocket walked out on the Canucks last summer and demanded a trade. It came on Sunday, about five months and some $4 million US in lost salary later. To pry Bure from the Canucks, Florida parted with top defenceman Ed Jovanovski, centres Dave Gagner and Mike Brown and holdout goaltender Kevin Weekes.

The Panthers also received defencemen Bret Hedican and Brad Ference, and will swap a first-round draft pick in 1999 or 2000 for Vancouver's third-rounder.

"Sometimes there comes a time when you have to move on," Bure said. "I know the fans still love me, even after I made it clear I was leaving Vancouver.

"Obviously I had a problem with the management, I don't want to talk about that now. But I've never had any problem with the fans."

Bure flies to New York today, then on to Florida. He said he's only talked briefly with Panthers general manager Bryan Murray but expects to be playing again by the end of the week.

"I only talked with the manager for 10 minutes, but I feel we already have a great relationship," Bure said. "It's too soon to say exactly when I'll start playing or who I'll be playing with."

And he said he's not discouraged by Florida's .500 record (entering Monday's action).

"It's a young team but I'm sure it has a great future," Bure said. "I hope we'll be able to make something out of it. The goal, of course, is to win the Stanley Cup. Everyone dreams of doing that."

Bure arrived in Moscow in September, where he was treated to a hero's welcome.

"This has been a complicated time in my life, but I'm not sorry about anything," he said.

Judging by the Russian media, his Moscow sojourn has been an endless whirl of nightclubs, TV talk shows and meetings with high officials.

He started a children's charity, patronized the arts and laboured on a pet long-term project to re-establish the Bure family's pre-revolutionary watchmaking business in Russia.

In December, Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev awarded Bure the Order of the Silver Sabre, one of the country's highest military honours, for his past services to Russian hockey.

And President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Russia's Slavic neighbour, bestowed honourary citizenship of his country on the diminutive hockey player after meeting him in a Moscow arena in November.

"Before this I hadn't lived in Moscow for a long time," Bure said. "But in these five months I've seen a lot, learned a lot. Now I know who my friends are."

Bure said he kept fit by practising every day with one of the two teams that now occupy the Central Red Army Team's arena in downtown Moscow. In the evenings he worked out in a local gym or jogged along the Moscow River.

"Obviously it's going to be hard for me to get back up to speed," said Bure. "I didn't play for four months, but I hope it won't take long to get back my former shape."

Despite a constant buzz of rumours about romance with various Russian women, Bure's private life during his months in Moscow remains a largely closed book. All questions on the subject are answered vaguely.

"I didn't find a wife in Moscow, but a lot of great friends," he said. "I'm not saying goodbye now, just see you later. I'll be back next summer."

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Rocket's reign an affair to remember

by Iain MacIntyre -- The Vancouver Sun

From the moment on Nov. 5, 1991, when a mysterious, angelic 20-year-old from Moscow collected a puck at his own blueline and burst through the Winnipeg Jets' defence like a rocket piercing a cloud, Vancouver fell madly, hopelessly, painfully in love with Pavel Bure.

Neglected and ridiculed by the hockey gods for more than two decades, our city was like the nerdy adolescent resigned to loneliness and rejection. Then came Pavel.

What an affair it turned out to be.

Accompanied by his father and brother, Bure bolted Russia exactly two months before his Canuck debut.

At first, the team treated him as a nuisance, like a house guest who had arrived unannounced. While the Bures stayed at the Los Angeles home of Pavel's agent, Ron Salcer, Canuck management pondered and did nothing.

It took a Vancouver Sun query on Bure for National Hockey League president John Ziegler to become aware of the phenom's presence in North America, leaving general manager Pat Quinn to explain two weeks after the winger's arrival: "We haven't yet approached John, personally. He's been busy on other matters."

At a hearing in Detroit to clarify Bure's contractual status, Moscow's Red Army team asked for a $250,000 transfer fee. When the Canucks balked at paying more than $200,000, Bure made up the difference himself. He then signed the richest rookie contract in Canucks' history: four years at $675,000 per season.

The money bought Bure, and for a while happiness seemed to come with it. Despite a language barrier, Bure, a stranger, was genuinely touched by the outpouring of affection from the city and its long-suffering fans.

He received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd after his first game. A Sun story the next day called him "Rocket" and the name stuck.

"I will remember this day the rest of my life," he said. "It was beautiful, beautiful."

Bure, too, was beautiful. With his blond hair, blue eyes and impossibly red lips, he became one of the most adored athletes the city had ever had.

"It is very strange," Bure said of the attention. "For me in Moscow it was not the same. Many times I go home and talk to my friends on the phone. I tell them the story about how I live.

"I tell them 16,000 people cheer for me. They don't believe me. It is unbelievable."

So were many of his goals, which seemed to become more spectacular with each game.

He won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie in the 1991-92 season, then scored 60 goals in 1992-93 and another 60 in 1993-94, when he helped the Canucks to the Stanley Cup final.

But at the height of his popularity and dominance as a player, his relationship to the Canucks already was beginning to erode.

There were nasty stories about Bure threatening to sit out the '94 playoffs due to the slow progress of contract negotiations. That summer, he signed what amounted to a $24.5-million-US five-year contract extension.

Former owner Arthur Griffiths, who negotiated the deal because Quinn refused any part of it, said: "We will do everything we can to make Pavel happy."

Recently, Griffiths admitted that even then Pavel was displaying signs of being distinctly unhappy.

The following January, angry at a three-month delay in receiving a $1 million US signing bonus and the Canucks' refusal to pay his salary during the NHL lockout, Bure staged a four-day holdout.

"I think if there wasn't more too it, he'd be here," goalie Kay Whitmore said ominously.

Upon his overdue return, Bure said: "We had some problems and hopefully it will be worked out. I heard the fans were upset and that's why I'm here. I want to make the fans happy."

He had a strange way of showing it.

Wary of the constant attention, Bure often was uncommunicative in media interviews.

"People want to know things I can't answer," he complained. "I know I can't play well every game. People expect me to score two or three goals a game because I have a big contract."

It was then his problems on the ice began.

Bure struggled through the shortened 1995 campaign, dismissing the bastardized season, then suffered a torn anterior cruciate knee ligament near the start of the 1995-96 season.

He played poorly the next year, managing only 23 goals and finally taking himself out of the lineup due to recurring back and neck pain.

Still unhappy about the salary he'd lost in 1995, and tired of the notoriety and travel that playing in Vancouver entailed, Bure went to Quinn in August 1997 and asked for a trade.

Publicly, Bure still claimed to be enjoying Vancouver, saying: "Vancouver feels like home to me now. The people love hockey and I enjoy being here. I'm very lucky."

In truth, he seldom spent his summer months in Vancouver, making laughable more recent claims that he may choose to live here eventually.

On Quinn's promise that he would try to trade Bure, The Rocket had an outstanding 1997-98 season, playing his best hockey in four years and finishing with 51 goals.

But away from the rink, he split from his long-time friend and agent Ron Salcer, whom he fired by fax, and distanced himself from his father, Vladimir. After Quinn was first prevented by owner John McCaw from trading Bure, then was fired, Bure repeated his trade request to coach Mike Keenan last March.

In the summer, he vowed never again to play for the Canucks, while still pleading that he actually loved Vancouver and its fans. At the same time, he insulted them by not saying why, despite all the money and love that had been showered upon him, he found the idea of staying reprehensible.

On Sunday, Bure was granted his wish and traded to the Florida Panthers.

Like most intense relationships, Bure's affair with Vancouver burned brilliant and brief, until it barely flickered at all. The divorce took years - long enough for the fans' confusion to become bitterness, and fond memories to fade, replaced by pain from the breakup.

We had Pavel Bure and he was the best we ever saw. Now he is gone, and who are we but the woman scorned?

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Most fans expected more for Bure in Panther trade

by Gary Mason -- The Vancouver Sun

In the end, the final deal was bound to disappoint. After all, it was Pavel Bure the Canucks were losing. The greatest player the team ever had. One of the most exciting players the NHL has ever seen.

Few players did what Bure did. Lift fans from their seat when glory called and it was time to take the game over. All by himself. We could only smile when he took flight. His golden locks flying beneath his helmet. Smile and shake our heads, because we had never seen anything like him before.

That's how good he was. How good he is.

And you don't trade players like that and get something just as exciting in return. You just don't.

Which is why the reaction today to Sunday's trade of Bure to the Florida Panthers will be: "That's it?"

That's what the people I talked to on Sunday were saying. From minor league hockey coaches to diehard Canuck fans. People in the stands of a local hockey rink.

"I thought we'd get more," one person said.

"Dave Gagner? You've got to be kidding."

To a person, they all expected more. Something flashier. Maybe, something a little less practical.

I indicated in Saturday's column this trade was shaping up to be more about tomorrow's team than today's. And it is. Although it can be argued there was a minor upgrade in this year's club that might help it scratch and claw to a playoff spot.

So, what do we have here?

We know what we've lost in Bure. One of the premier forwards in the game. A player, when he's at his magical best, who can dazzle even the players he's playing against. He's that good. A player you could count on to score 50 goals a season.

Bret Hedican is also gone now. When everything was clicking, he, too, could wind up, take the puck, and find the other end of the ice faster than most. Which was always the most enticing part of Hedican's game - his amazing wheels.

But there was a problem. Sure, he could often get the puck across the other team's blueline, but that's where he usually ended up coughing it up to the other team. That was Hedican. Great wheels, no hands. All the tools. No tool box.

The Canucks, like the St. Louis Blues before them, were forever waiting for Hedican to become the next Paul Coffey. It never happened. But the potential that existed in his glorious stride was always enough to make you wait.

The Canucks also gave up on Brad Ference in this trade, a tough defenceman, their 10th over-all pick in the 1997 draft. There was never a consensus about Ference. Some thought he'd develop into a solid NHL defenceman. Others, many others, had their doubts. He was tough. He loved to fight. But many of the penalties he took were stupid ones. He lacked discipline. That was the common knock against Ference.

Ference made this year's silver medal Canadian junior team. But he didn't see much action. The concern? The team couldn't afford the untimely penalties Ference was prone to.

So, obviously Bure is a huge loss. Major. Hedican was never a favourite with coach Mike Keenan and is being replaced by a better defenceman in this trade. And Ference, well, many people feel he was a bad pick to begin with.

What the Canucks got in return is a little harder to evaluate. Other than Ed Jovanovski and Dave Gagner, we don't know much about the players Vancouver is getting back.

Jovanovski, of course, is a former No. 1 pick. Big, mobile, with a mean streak, Jovanovski entered the NHL with a bang. I remember him knocking Eric Lindros on his can a few times during the playoffs three years ago. That was when the Panthers were making their unlikely drive to the Stanley Cup finals. Then only 18, Jovanovski played great. He appeared to have future Norris trophy winner written all over him.

But Jovanovski's play never moved to the next level since that first year. But few doubt that it will. He's only 22. This is his fourth NHL season. He still has lots of time to bloom, time to become the impact player he was predicted to be.

Gagner is a 34-year-old journeyman centre with a $3 million (US) a year contract. He has scored 40 goals in the NHL before. But that was many years ago. So far this year he has four. Which is why most people will find him the most puzzling and disappointing piece of this trade.

While Gagner's ice time has been limited in Florida, he won't believe the ice time he'll get in Vancouver playing as the second line centre behind Mark Messier. This could help ignite the offensive skills some people still believe he possesses. Gagner is not the player he once was. Not even close. But he may be good enough to help the Canucks for a season or two.

Give Keenan, the man with the desperate hockey team, help up the middle. Keenan would take just about anybody right now.

Kevin Weekes, the goalie in this deal, is having a great year in the IHL. His name is mentioned in the same breath as other young, up-and-coming goalies like Dan Cloutier and Roberto Luongo. Canucks GM Brian Burke is hoping Weekes is the answer to his team's future goaltending needs.

"We had to have a goalie in this deal," said Burke.

Mike Brown, who was Florida's first choice (20th over-all) in the '97 draft, is big and tough, with speed. He's playing for Kamloops in the WHL. He could be a solid third liner with the Canucks some day, maybe a second-liner if he exceeds expectations.

Burke also extracted a first-round draft choice out of the Panthers, either this year or next year. It's Florida's option. In exchange, the Canucks give Florida their third-round pick the same year they get Florida's first-round.

That, to me, helps make this deal more palatable. Burke needed this to solidify and rationalize the theme of this trade: planning for tomorrow.

Which is why this trade is hard to evaluate right now.

If Jovanovski doesn't continue to develop, Weekes becomes better known as Leaks, if Mike Brown spends more time in the penalty box than in front of the other team's net, and the first- round pick from Florida flops, then this deal goes down in Canucks history as a bust. A gigantic one.

But if Jovanovski becomes the dominant defenceman many feel he can be, and Weekes becomes a top echelon goalie and Brown finds a home on this team and the first-round pick gives them future depth ... well, then, the trade may compensate for the offence it lost in Bure.

Still, if the Canucks fail to make the playoffs this year, for a third consecutive year, Burke will feel the heat for not doing more with this trade to help now. And no one is more worried about now than Keenan.

Burke said Sunday that Keenan embraced the trade. Even considered it excellent. Maybe.

But I still think Keenan was hoping to get a little more to help his chances of taking this team into the post-season. Because right now, those chances are vanishing quickly.

Was the Pavel Bure trade a good one? It depends if you're talking about this year's team or the one three years from now. Only then will we know for sure.

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Pavel miffed at management

by Terry Bell -- The Province

Pavel Bure felt previous Canucks management didn't stand behind their man and that's why he wanted out of Vancouver.

That's the explanation new team boss Brian Burke offered Sunday.

Media reports had Bure ready to walk out on the Canucks during their 1994 Stanley Cup final and Bure felt the team never came to his defence.

"I met with Pavel and he said that when questions were asked by the media he was not backed up by the club," said Burke.

"It wasn't denied rigorously enough. He didn't like the fishbowl here," added Burke, referring to Bure's desire for more privacy.

"I told him he'd have stalkers anywhere he played."

Asked if Bure was just a whiny, little millionaire, Burke said: "No, you'll write that but don't ask me to say it."

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It's a good trade for Canucks

by Don Cherry -- The Province

Well if I was Vancouver, I would hate to see Bret Hedican and Brad Ference and, of course, Pavel Bure go, but Dave Gagner will help them now. Kevin Weekes is a goalie for the future. Mike Brown can fly. I know, I saw him at the Prospects Game. You'll love him.

But the big guy, Ed Jovanovski, is the kicker. He bounced back from a bad year last year and is his old self again. He's big, mean, nasty, tough. (Remember how he and Eric Lindros went at it in the playoffs a couple of years ago?) He will be around a long time and he rarely gets hurt; he does the hurtin'.

So I like the trade for Vancouver -- a guy who can help you now and three great kids for the future. I'm from the school where drafts mean nothing. When they turn out, then I talk about drafts.

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Trade proves emotional rescue

by Tony Gallagher -- The Province

When Pavel Bure put down the telephone and told his mother Tanya he'd finally been traded, her emotions broke.

Truth be told, so did those of the Russian Rocket.

"My mom cried for a half an hour she was so happy," said Bure from his apartment in Moscow after learning he was part of the biggest deal in the history of both the Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers. "She cried and cried because she said she was so happy for me. She said, 'I knew it was the hardest time of your life even though you had been strong through everything. I was so worried about you and I knew you were worried.'

"And it was very tough to be sitting for five months like that. I really missed hockey."

Mother and son headed to the local bar for a quick celebration hoist before Bure returned home for a short night, a result of his trek back to North America. Just when he'll hit the ice is open to question, though, given the jet lag involved with Wayne Huizenga's newest high-priced athlete.

Bure was asked about his reasons for wanting to leave but he again chose the high road, even though it's becoming abundantly clear GM Brian Burke merely scratched the surface when he volunteered his understanding of the Rocket's reasons.

"I want to tell the people of Vancouver that I have nothing against the city or the people I know there. I have many friends and they will always be my friends. My problems were all with management and I will probably tell everyone what they were sometime soon. I don't know when. But I love the city and I want to make sure everyone knows that.

"When I went public telling I wanted to be traded, I was still living in Vancouver remember. And people came up to me and every single person said, 'Good luck wherever you go, we love you.' Nobody was mad at me in person, although some people in the media try to make them mad. I had seven great years there and I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart."

Bure was so elated with the news he forgot he would be joining former teammates Kirk McLean and Sean Burke with the Panthers.

"Oh yeah, he's there," said Bure of McLean. "Who's the other goalie? Oh right, of course. It should be pretty good there. The travel is a big thing for me. It will be a lot easier. They are in the same time zone as almost all of their games, up and down the coast. I'm looking forward to it.

"I missed the game so much. I love to score so much, to play in front of the people and hear the cheers. They give me so much feeling when I play. I have been practising, but playing in the games is the fun for me. I am happy to be playing again."

Bure was asked if the offer he received to play in Belarus from the country's president, Alexander Lukuchenko, was just a negotiating ploy to try to hurry matters along or whether it was a realistic option had an NHL deal not been made this year.

"It was for real. It was for sure because he made the offer twice. Once he made it when I was at a state dinner in Belarus and we talked. He asked me how much money I made and how much I would need to play in his country. I said to him then, 'If you are serious about this, let me know.' Then a couple of weeks later he came to my apartment. As far as I know it was the first time a head of state ever came to somebody's house in Moscow. Then he made the offer again. I told him then, 'Thank you, but I prefer to play where the best players in the world are.' And he understood. But it was nice to have an offer waiting in case."

Bure was so excited he didn't much seem to care about the fact he will almost certainly soon be signing a long-term contract which will pay him close to $50 million US over the five years following this one. With bonuses, that could like go much higher. It's expected he will be paid "just" $3 million U.S. this shortened season. He was trying to get his mother a ticket to Calgary to stay with brother Valeri for a few days before she visits Miami.

"I guess after Calgary, maybe she'll be ready for some warm weather."

With those words, the greatest player ever to have played for the Canucks, took his leave.

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RANGERS SPURNED AS BURE GOES TO PANTHERS

By LARRY BROOKS

Pavel Bure was traded to Florida yesterday without Brian Burke giving Neil Smith so much as a courtesy call to find out whether the Rangers would trump what amounted to a surprisingly weak Panther package.

Though Smith would not say so, what it came down was that Burke, who for months had promised the Ranger GM such a call, broke his word.

"I didn't hear from Brian," Smith told The Post by phone last night, approximately an hour before the announcement that the Russian Rocket had been sent to the Panthers with Bret Hedican and Brad Ference for Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Kevin Weekes and Mike Brown. "He never called me back after the time we spoke during the middle of the week.

"But in saying that, I want to add that he certainly didn't have an obligation to check with me," the politically correct GM continued. "How he goes about doing his business is up to him. If there are any questions, and I'm not suggesting there should be, Brian should be the one to answer them, not me."

In finally dealing Bure for so slim a return after saying for weeks that he would need the equivalent of five first-rounders for the winger; in not checking with Smith; and, by dealing him to a Ranger conference rival, it appears abundantly clear that Burke was in some measure acting out of spite.

It was no secret that Bure, who will be at the Garden Thursday when the Panthers come in to face the Rangers, wanted to come to New York. It was no secret that league personnel wanted Bure on Broadway. It was no secret that Smith would have done whatever he rationally could to get that done.

Burke's final demand of the Rangers was not only outrageous, but one he never bargained off - Dan Cloutier, Manny Malhotra, Niklas Sundstrom, a first-round draft choice and approximately $1.5 million. Talking with Florida, Burke bargained; that's how he wound up with 34-year-old journeyman center Gagner (who has scored four goals this year) instead of his original demand, 24-year-old power pivot Rob Niedermayer.

It is believed the Rangers had offered Cloutier and Sundstrom for Bure (and would have been willing to add more to the mix had negotiations taken place), who now joins a Florida team that's tied with the Rangers for ninth-place with 41 points while holding two games in hand on the Blueshirts.

"It's obvious [Burke] never wanted Bure in New York," one interested and informed party related. "Maybe he was afraid Bure would get too much of the spotlight as a Ranger. Or maybe it was just a final shot at Bure, refusing to trade him to his first choice."

Bure can become a Group II free agent this summer, but agent Mike Gillis spoke by phone yesterday afternoon with Panthers owner Wayne Huizenga, and is believed to have established the framework for a long-term deal that may exceed $9 million per. Gillis and the Panthers have agreed on a contract for Bure for the remainder of the season.

What this means for the Rangers, who have had one eye trained all season on Bure, is problematic. Though they've scored a total of one goal in their last two games and have scored two goals or less in 24 of their 43 matches, it's unlikely that they'll now try to overwhelm Calgary in order to get Theo Fleury, or Montreal in order to get Mark Recchi. Each is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

"This doesn't really change anything as far as our direction or intentions," Smith said. "It's not as if we lost a player off our roster."

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Jovo, Gagner going; Bure, 2 defensemen heading south

by MICHAEL RUSSO -- Sun-Sentinel South Florida

SUNRISE -- It took 135 days, but Pavel Bure's holdout is over.

It took 1,929 days, but the Panthers' days without an electrifying superstar are over, too.

In maybe the biggest blockbuster since Eric Lindros went to the Flyers in 1992, the Panthers gained instant credibility on Sunday night when it acquired the Russian Rocket in a seven-player swap with the Vancouver Canucks.

Coming to the Panthers along with the 50- and 60-goal scorer is solid two-way defenseman Bret Hedican and tough junior defenseman Brad Ference.

Heading west is defenseman Ed Jovanovski, the first player taken in 1994's draft, veteran center Dave Gagner, minor league goalie Kevin Weekes and junior winger Mike Brown.

"This is a tremendous acquisition for our franchise," General Manager Bryan Murray said. "It gives us a little shot in the arm. It kind of wakes up our francise. It's a statement of the commitment of the ownership of the franchise."

On paper, it looks like Murray committed highway robbery.

Jovanovski, who has been much improved lately, doesn't look like he'll ever develop into the star the Panthers thought he would be because of questionable decision-making and inconsistent play.

Gagner had been in a deep slump, never lived up to expectations upon arrival two summers ago and had been in coach Terry Murray's doghouse even before the season started.

Weekes was in a contract dispute with no hope of it getting resolved, and losing Brown was no big deal because the Panthers get Ference. Therefore it was a swap of 1997 first-round draft picks.

"Definitely there's a little tears and sadness," Jovanovski said. "After growing up with all these guys and starting my career with them, it's tough."

Added Gagner: "I'm not stunned. The writing's been on the wall for a long time, and I'm just very disappointed it didn't work out here."

Bure, 27, is one of the NHL's purest scorers and most exciting players because of his speed and tremendous shot. He rifles his shot without breaking stride, so goalies rarely know when or where he's going to shoot.

"He'll bring instant enthusiasm and excitement into the building," Murray said. "This is the type of player that's going to make fans jump out of their seats."

"It's going to be great to be playing with Pavel again," Hedican said. "He's an exciting player, and the kind of player we need back in the NHL."

The list of highlight goals is long, but one of Bure's most memorable was his double-overtime breakaway that won Game 7 of the Western Conference quarterfinals against Calgary in 1994. He led the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals that year with 16 goals and 31 points in 24 games.

He was third in the NHL in scoring last season with 51 goals and 90 points.

After winning the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) in 1991-92, he scored 60 goals and eclipsed 100 points in each of the next two seasons.

Bure, who has been working out in Moscow, was unavailable for comment Sunday night but had earlier told CKNW Radio in Vancouver, "I'm really excited to go there. It's a young team, and hopefully me and all the guys there can make some history. . . . I know the people there really love hockey."

Bure will join the team Tuesday in New York and is expected to make his Panther debut at the Islanders on Wednesday. Because of an upcoming road trip and the All-Star Game, Bure won't make his home debut until Jan. 27 against Montreal, one of the teams the Panthers outbid for him.

Coach Terry Murray said he would start Bure out with center Viktor Kozlov and will double-shift him, meaning he will play with Rob Niedermayer as well. Murray said he also contemplates a Russian line of Bure-Kozlov-Oleg Kvasha.

"When you have a player come in that's a goal-scorer, he now becomes a mentor for everyone on the hockey club," Terry Murray said. "He'll have immediate results on the hockey club from an offensive part of game. This guy has the ability to generate and be a threat every shift he's on the ice."

Hedican, who will probably make his Panthers debut tonight against Buffalo, is one of the best skaters in the league. He's not a big point-getter, but he should help the power play just by his ability to move the puck.

Murray had been negotiating with Vancouver GM Brian Burke for a month, but talks began to heat up the past week. Murray said Burke gave him two groups of names but stipulated Jovanovski had to be in the deal. Once Murray agreed on Jovanovski, he declined giving up Niedermayer.

Murray, owner H. Wayne Huizenga, President Bill Torrey, Assistant GM Chuck Fletcher and Terry Murray gathered at the Panthers' offices at 9 a.m. Sunday. The final deal-maker was when the teams agreed on draft picks.

From there, Bryan Murray immediately contacted Bure's agent, Mike Gillis, and canceled the remaining year on Bure's contract. They'll work to get a five- or six-year deal done.

"Based on what we spoke about today, we created a framework to move ahead," Gillis said. "We'll work at it over the next period of time to get something accomplished."

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Panthers land The Rocket

by DAVID J. NEAL -- The Miami Herald

The Panthers could have changed the balance of power in the Southeast Division and Eastern Conference, and the way you do such things in these post-Cold War times is pull off a blockbuster deal to acquire a Russian Rocket.

Superstar goal-scorer Pavel Bure, ''The Russian Rocket,'' who refused to report to Vancouver this season, was traded to the Panthers on Sunday with defenseman Bret Hedican and 1997 first-round pick Brad Ference for defenseman Ed Jovanovski, center Dave Gagner, 1997 first-round pick Mike Brown and top goalie prospect Kevin Weekes. There's also an exchange of draft picks.

''I'm really excited to go there,'' Bure, a four-time All-Star, told Vancouver radio station CKNW. ''It's a young team. Hopefully, me and all the guys there can make some history. [The team] is good management and a great bunch of guys, and I know the people there really like hockey.''

It's the biggest trade involving an NHL superstar since Philadelphia sent five proven NHL players, one can't-miss prospect (perennial All-Star Peter Forsberg) and two No. 1 picks to Quebec for the rights to Eric Lindros in 1992.

In seven NHL seasons, Bure, 27, has two 60-goal seasons and had 51 goals for Vancouver last season in a spectacular comeback from a whiplash injury suffered in March 1997. The 1996-97 season was a comeback from torn knee ligaments that limited his 1995-96 season to 15 games.

''We wanted an instant injection of enthusiasm and excitement into the building,'' said Panthers general manager Bryan Murray, often accused of not being able to make the big trade. ''The statement this trade makes is that ownership will allow us to do the necessary things to be more than just credible, but to be one of the good teams in the future.''

The Panthers reworked Bure's contract for the rest of this season, but financial terms were not released. Bure still will be a restricted free agent after this season.

Murray said he expects to sign Bure to a long-term deal, at least four years, before the end of the season. One league source estimated Bure could command a $10 million salary next season.

Bure's agent, Mike Gillis, said Sunday night he was seeking a five- or six-year deal for Bure, and they didn't receive any retroactive pay in the reworked contract.

''That's the cost of doing business to get out of Vancouver,'' Gillis said.

The deal went down at night-time in Moscow, where Bure, a fitness nut, has been working out during his holdout. He will join the Panthers in New York on Tuesday and play his first game either Wednesday against the Islanders or Thursday against the Rangers. His first home game will be Jan. 27 against Montreal.

''I think he'll be ready to go as soon as he gets to North America,'' Panthers coach Terry Murray said. ''He's going to be a threat. He'll pull fans out of their seats and force teams to match up on us.''

The deal helps the Panthers' team speed. With Bure and Radek Dvorak, the Panthers probably have two of the five fastest skaters in the Eastern Conference. Hedican is among the two or three fastest defenseman in the conference.

Terry Murray also looked forward to putting Bure with countryman Viktor Kozlov in hopes that Kozlov will learn to pass the puck better. But Murray said Bure would undoubtedly double shift and play 25 to 27 minutes a game.

Last week, Bryan Murray talked about what having a player such as Bure will do for the Panthers in practice, and Terry agreed Sunday.

''Your best players are your best practice players,'' Terry Murray said. ''They're the guys who do everything at a high tempo and do it the right way.''

The Panthers entered Sunday four points behind Carolina for the Southeast Division lead and an automatic top-three playoff seed. They were four points behind Boston for the final at-large playoff spot.

''We've had 11 ties to date,'' Terry Murray said. ''If half of those are wins, we're in better shape in the conference and division.''

The last hurdle in Sunday's deal was draft picks. The Panthers will give Vancouver a first-round pick in either 1999 or 2000 (Florida's choice), and Vancouver will give the Panthers a third-round pick that same season.

Bryan Murray said he was moved to seriously talk to Vancouver GM Brian Burke about trading for Bure in December.

''I went to the World Juniors and watched a young draft choice of Anaheim's [Vitali Visnevsky] that was playing for Russia,'' Murray said. ''He skated like Bure. At times, I was cheering for him.''

Murray and Burke had talked on the way to the World Juniors about Bure, who had various dissatisfactions with Vancouver management as well as with the way it was impossible for him to be invisible in Vancouver.

Burke made two lists of players: a list of the Panthers' young prospects and a list of their better players. To Burke, Jovanovski, 22, was the must-have in the deal.

Montreal was also involved. The Rangers went out last week when Vancouver wanted rookie center Manny Malhotra.

Once Jovanovski was chosen by Vancouver, Murray made center Rob Niedermayer off limits. To some observers, keeping Niedermayer was the key to the Panthers being a better team, instead of the same level of team with a superstar goal-scorer.

''I think this is a trade that will have to be assessed by the calendar than by the clock,'' Burke said. ''If some of the younger players perform like we think they can, it has a chance to be an outstanding trade for us.''

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Instant upgrade: Bure boosts mediocre Panthers

By Wesley Goldstein -- SportsLine Staff Writer

SUNRISE, Fla. -- If anyone had been paying attention, the hint was there before the season started. The Florida Panthers failed to put Ed Jovanovski, supposedly a cornerstone of their future, among the five star players on the cover of their media guide.

Jovanovski probably didn't get the message. Florida GM Bryan Murray certainly went to great lengths to describe his disappointment at having to relinquish the 1994 first-round draft choice's potential for Vancouver Canucks superstar Pavel Bure.

But the ear-to-ear grin that Murray's brother, Terry, struggled to conceal during the same news conference, spoke volumes. Terry Murray, the coach of the Panthers, knows this deal instantly improves his chances of not only making the playoffs in his first season behind the Florida bench, but perhaps even winning the division. Bure can make that much of an impact.

Of course, Bryan Murray understands that same dynamic. But from his point of view, there were other factors involved in him taking on one of hockey's mega-contracts while giving up on someone that came to be associated with his ability to judge talent.

LIKE THE NEED TO KEEP BURE from going elsewhere. Murray knew if he didn't acquire the "Russian Rocket," someone else (read: the New York Rangers) would. He couldn't have that, especially after the Broadway Blueshirts beat him in re-signing goaltender Mike Richter and trading for Petr Nedved.

But Bryan Murray faced other pressures as well, notably the difficulty sports executives find in marketing patience to their fans. The Panthers raised expectations dramatically among fickle South Florida sports fans when they reached the Stanley Cup finals in just their third season in 1996.

Despite lackluster play, the Panthers have drawn large crowds this year by moving into a brand new arena. But there is no denying they have failed to fulfill the promise of 1996, much in the same way Jovanovski has failed to achieve his potential.

Bryan Murray may have been willing to wait for his young talent to develop, but it's kind of hard to look at the long term picture when your boss is H. Wayne Huizenga, who dismantled the Florida Marlins following their 1997 World Series title.

So the GM had to act. And to his credit -- or great luck -- he did extremely well. He insists that attendance and the hints that Huizenga has dropped about selling the team --doesn't having Bure and a sold-out new arena make that more attractive to a buyer? -- weren't really part of his thinking. Murray argued that anyone who has a chance to acquire a great talent like Bure, has to pull the trigger. So what if it costs you $7 or $8 million a year? So what, indeed.

The Panthers are definitely a better team now, and their future seems much brighter.

TOO BAD YOU CAN'T SAY THAT ABOUT Vancouver and their general manager, Brian Burke.

Not only did he give up Bure, he threw in a solid defenseman in Bret Hedican and highly-touted prospect Brad Ference. In return, he got the unrealized potential of Jovanovski; Dave Gagner, a forward who would have to crank his neck back to see his best days; goaltender Kevin Weekes, who has yet to make the NHL on a regular basis and forward Mike Brown, another former No. 1 pick who has not reached expectations.

Burke had been shopping Bure for months, trying to play off several clubs against each other. As recently as last week, he said unless he was offered a suitable return, he would suspend talks until teams became desperate at the March trade deadline.

But fans, media and players in Vancouver had become restless as well, watching the Canucks' season and any playoff hopes slip away.

So Burke didn't have to wait for the trade deadline for someone to become desperate. He got there all by himself.

And Bryan Murray just happened to have his phone handy.

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Panthers Acquire Bure From Canucks

The Florida Panthers have acquired winger Pavel Bure, defenseman Bret Hedican and junior defenseman Brad Ference from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for defenseman Ed Jovanovski, center Dave Gagner, goaltender Kevin Weekes and junior winger Mike Brown, it was announced today by Panthers Vice President and General Manager Bryan Murray. The Panthers will also send a first-round draft choice to the Canucks in either 1999 or 2000, with the option being Florida's. The Panthers will receive a third-round draft choice from the Canucks in the year the first-rounder is exchanged.

Pavel is one of the premier goal-scorers in the National Hockey League," said Murray. "He can lift people out of their seats with his speed and flash. We're also confident he'll lift the play of some of our younger players."

Bure, 27, a four-time All-Star, is one of hockey's most electrifying superstars. Nicknamed "The Russian Rocket," the 5-9, 189-pound winger won the NHL's Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year) in '91-92 after recording 34 goals and 60 points in just 60 games. He followed that up with back-to-back 60-goal seasons, and led the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994 when he posted 16 goals and 15 assists in 24 postseason contests.

In '97-98, Bure scored 51 goals in 82 games, one off the league lead shared by Anaheim's Teemu Selanne and Philadelphia's John LeClair. With 90 points, he tied Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers for third in the NHL behind Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr (102) and Colorado's Peter Forsberg (91). Bure led the league in shots (329), tied San Jose's Jeff Friesen for the top spot in shorthanded goals (6) and tied for seventh in power-play markers (13). Now in his eighth NHL season, he has 254 goals and 224 assists in 428 career games. He has 34 goals and 32 assists in 60 playoff contests.

Bure also led Russia to the silver medal at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. He scored nine goals in six games, tops among Olympic participants. Bure won the

Canucks' MVP award last season for the third time and captured the Molson Cup (most game star selections) for the fourth. He was also named Vancouver's most exciting player for the fifth time in the past seven seasons.

Hedican, 28, is currently in his eighth NHL season. He began his NHL career with the St. Louis Blues in 1992 after playing for Team USA in the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France. Traded to Vancouver on Mar. 21, 1994, the 6-2, 205-pound native of St. Paul, Minnesota finished third in scoring among Canucks defensemen last season with three goals and 24 assists in 71 games. An excellent skater and penalty-killer, Hedican led the NHL in shorthanded assists (7) and tied for third in shorthanded points (7).

Hedican has two goals (both shorthanded) and 11 assists in 42 games this season. At the time of the deal, he was leading the Canucks with a plus-7 rating. In 417 career games, Hedican has 18 goals and 104 assists.

"Bret is a smooth skater who's very quick out of his own end," said Murray. "He passes the puck well. We classify him as a skilled defenseman who can get the puck to our forwards and make things happen."

Ference, 19, was the Canucks' first-round pick (10th overall) in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. A native of Calgary, the 6-3, 196-pound defenseman is in his fourth season with the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League where he has two goals, 20 assists and 109 penalty minutes in 28 games. Ference was named to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team last May. He played for Canada in the recently completed World Junior Championships in Winnipeg.

"Brad is a very good skater and a tough kid," said Murray. "He's a character player who'll stick his nose into scrums and fight for his teammates. He's a guy whom we project as a future Florida Panther."

Jovanovski, 22, was the Panthers' first choice (and first player taken overall) in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. He has three goals and 13 assists in 41 games this season. Gagner, 34, was signed as a free agent on July 4, 1997. He has four goals and 10 assists in 36 games this season.

Weekes, 23, has been playing for the Detroit Vipers of the International Hockey League after failing to agree to a contract with the Panthers. In 25 IHL appearances, he's 14-3-6, with three shutouts and a 2.09 GAA. Brown, 19, has 21 goals, 12 assists and 178 penalty minutes in 49 games with the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL. He was drafted 20th overall in 1997, 10 spots after the Canucks chose Ference.

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That's all, folks

Bure traded to Florida

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- The Vancouver Canucks finally unloaded holdout Pavel Bure tonight, trading the All-Star winger to the Florida Panthers in a seven-player swap.

Canucks general manager Brian Burke granted Bure's wish to leave Vancouver, shipping him to Florida with defensemen Bret Hedican and Brad Ference, the 10th overall pick in the 1997 draft. In return, the Canucks received defenseman Ed Jovanovski, veteran center Dave Gagner, disgruntled goaltender Kevin Weekes and left wing Mike Brown, the 20th overall selection in the 1997 draft.

The deal also includes a swap of draft picks. Vancouver will receive the Panthers' first-round selection in 1999 or 2000 in return for the Canucks' third-round choice.

Bure has been practicing in Moscow with his old Red Army team after declaring in August he would never again play for the Canucks. In a recent interview, he said he reached his decision after the team reneged on earlier promises to trade him.

The Canucks have floundered without Bure, but Burke -- in his first season as GM in Vancouver -- stubbornly refused to deal him until he received what he considered the right offer.

The 27-year-old Bure is among hockey's most exciting players. At a time when offense is at a premium, he was third in the NHL in scoring last season with 90 points and tied for third with 51 goals. He also shared the league lead with six shorthanded tallies and topped the NHL with 329 shots.

One of the league's fastest skaters, Bure has scored a host of highlight-film goals. He broke into the NHL with Vancouver in 1991 and won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year after collecting 34 goals and 26 assists in 65 games.

In 1992-93, he became the first 50-goal and 100-point scorer in Canucks history, finishing with 60 goals and 50 assists.

Bure also had 60 goals in the 1993-94 season, helping Vancouver reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time. He led all scorers with 16 playoff goals, including the double-overtime tally that won Game Seven of the Western Conference quarterfinals against Calgary.

Bure made $5.5 million last season and has one year remaining on a contract that contains an escalator clause ensuring he will be among the three highest-paid forwards in the NHL.

Money was an issue during trade talks but Panthers owner Wayne Huizenga has deep pockets. Florida unsuccessfully courted free agent goaltenders Curtis Joseph and Mike Richter during the offseason.

The Panthers also will receive the Hedican, 28, a stay-at-home defenseman who has two goals and 11 assists in 42 games this season. A member of the 1992 United States Olympic Team, the 6-2, 205-pounder spent parts of the last six seasons with the Canucks after they acquired him from St. Louis.

Two weeks ago, Hedican became engaged to Kristi Yamaguchi, the 1992 Olympic figure skating gold medalist.

The 19-year-old Ference is a 6-3, 190-pound defenseman. He has two goals and 20 assists with 109 penalty minutes in 28 games in his fourth season with Spokane of the Western Hockey League. The key to the deal for the Canucks is the 6-2, 210-pound Jovanovski, who has failed to live up to his potential after winning All-Rookie honors following the 1995-96 season. Canucks coach Mike Keenan has wanted to build his team around a big defenseman and Jovanovski plays a hysical style.

The 22-year-old had 10 goals, 11 assists and 137 penalty minutes as a rookie in 1995-96, helping the Panthers to an unlikely berth in the Stanley Cup Finals. But he has struggled since, posting a combined minus-17 over the past three seasons as Florida has slid in the standings.

The 34-year-old Gagner joins his fifth team in the last four seasons. A two-time 40-goal scorer and a four-time 30-goal scorer, he has only four goals and 10 assists in 35 games this season.

Ironically, Jovanovski and Gagner assisted on the lone goal in Florida's 1-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday. They are both expected to be in the lineup Monday, when the Canucks play at Dallas.

Like Bure, Weekes had demanded a trade. The 23-year-old goaltender was trapped behind veterans Sean Burke and Kirk McLean on the Panthers' depth chart after going 0-5-1 with a 3.96 goals-against average as a rookie last season. He has spent the entire season with Detroit of the International Hockey League, going 14-3-6 with a 2.09 GAA.

Brown is a 20-year-old left wing who has 21 goals and 12 assists in 49 games for Kamloops of the WHL.

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Canucks reportedly deal Bure to Panthers in seven-player swap

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- The Vancouver Canucks will hold a news conference at 7:30 p.m. EST amid broadcast reports they have finally traded holdout All-Star winger Pavel Bure to the Florida Panthers in a seven-player swap.

Canucks general manager Brian Burke will attend the news conference and a team spokeswoman confirmed the subject is Bure. The Panthers will hold a simultaneous news conference to announce a "major deal."

CKWX Radio and CKNW Radio in Vancouver are reporting tonight that Bure will go to Florida with defensemen Bret Hedican and Brad Ference, the 10th overall pick in the 1997 draft. In return, the Canucks will receive defenseman Ed Jovanovski, veteran center Dave Gagner, disgruntled goaltender Kevin Weekes and left wing Mike Brown, the 20th overall selection in the 1997 draft.

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Bure trade better now

by SCOTT MORRISON -- Toronto Sun

So now it's Monday or it's March.

That appears to be the revised timetable for a Pavel Bure trade. It either happens tomorrow, or Vancouver Canucks general manager Brian Burke waits until the March 23 trade deadline, when the pressure points supposedly really develop. Or not.

It's hard to believe that a team in the hunt for a playoff spot will be inclined to dig any deeper in two months' time to get Bure, who by then just might decide he won't play anywhere this season and instead become a restricted free agent, when the return for Vancouver would be five first-round draft picks.

It would seem that teams in the need now might still have trouble coming up with a package for Bure that would leave them with enough players to fill the roster and pursue a playoff spot, while making Burke happy.

As of yesterday, it appeared the field had again narrowed to two serious bidders, the Rangers and the Panthers.

There was talk the Red Wings were interested, but backed out when Burke asked for a No. 2 defenceman, a first-round draft choice and the top prospect in the Detroit organization.

Next call. Florida is still keen. The Canadiens also have called, but it's hard to believe they have the players or the cash to make it work, which leaves the Rangers, who are interested, but not if it means trading forwards Niklas Sundstrom and Manny Malhotra, goaltender Dan Cloutier, a first-round pick and cash. General manager Neil Smith didn't just fall out of an equipment truck, after all.

There is a suspicion that San Jose may be interested, while Washington GM George McPhee has said he won't deal for Bure. The same goes for Flyers GM Bob Clarke, although cynics suggest that means he is trying to swing a trade.

And as of yesterday afternoon, no team had talked with Bure's agent, Mike Gillis, about negotiating a deal.

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Russian ruse must end for fan's sake

by Tony Gallagher -- The Province

The people who pay to watch the Canucks are beginning to genuinely suffer from the absentee ownership in Vancouver.

While John (Howard Hughes) McCaw makes it up for the games occasionally, he is not here every game watching the fans suffer through what is a pretty poor show on most nights. He doesn't hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth which the sports talk shows have become. He doesn't have to face people in the street who would ask, "What's wrong with your hockey team?" or some who would say, "What's wrong with your basketball team?"

He need not face the subtle jokes and whispers behind his back about the ineptitude of his teams which would happen if he conducted his businesses here.

To the people in Seattle, this is just a business like any other in the empire. This is why they have hired a businessman in Stephen Bellringer to be CEO here and not someone whose background in sports might have been more prominent.

There is nobody in ownership who might sit down with Canucks general manager Brian Burke and actually verbalize the concerns somebody who is living here might have with the way things have gone on the ice this season, or for the past three seasons for that matter .

Virtually everybody in this town realizes Burke is trying to get the best possible deal for Pavel Bure. This is a laudable goal and one we would all expect. But there is nobody here in ownership willing to represent the fan and say: "Brian, we understand you need to get the best deal, but at some point we have an obligation to these people who are paying to see our best possible product on the ice. We understand you must make a deal under difficult circumstances. But make it." The longer this fiasco goes on, the longer this obligation to the customer is flouted.

"The Bure trade is not a financial issue," insisted Bellringer earlier this week when asked if lowering the payroll was a higher priority than improving the team. But at what point must this be demonstrated, not just spoken?

At least half the 9,000 season ticket holders and possibly some advertisers and sponsors renewed their financial commitment in the belief Bure would still be playing this season. When the Russian Rocket and his agent Mike Gillis advised the team he would not be returning early in the summer, the club said nothing, letting the renewing subscriber continue to believe the game's most entertaining player would be back.

It was only some five or six weeks later when the player himself went public did fans find out he was not going to play here.

Is this the way local ownership would have conducted business in this town?

Now these fans have paid for half a season with the club functioning without full use of its assets. And let's be optimistic and assume Burke gets a slightly better deal by all this waiting. Even if he does, at what point is the wait for that wee bit extra worth what has been inflicted on the paying customer?

How can anyone but the most naive fan be convinced this is not just a cynical move to keep costs down by leaving Bure or returning players unpaid?

If you ever saw Howard Hughes at your local Starbucks you could ask him. But that doesn't happen here.

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An interview with hockey analyst Bob McKenzie

Bob, what's your take? Deals like this are so hard to accomplish, aren't they?

BOB: "They're hard to do. People in Vancouver, there seems to be a sentiment at this point that the Vancouver Canucks didn't get enough for Pavel Bure. Be that as it may, you can't have it both ways. You can't be on Brian Burke's case 'Trade him, Trade him, Trade him. The deals got to be one. Why are you waiting so long?' And then turn around and when he makes a deal that involves a significant amount of quantity and some degree of quality and the quality part is what we'll have to measure over the course of the long haul to decide whether this one is a good deal or a bad deal."

Of course the big part of whether it is a good deal or a bad deal is how long the Florida Panthers are able to lock up Pavel Bure in the long-term. We spoke to Mike Gillis a little earlier tonight (he's the player agent for Pavel Bure), he told us they worked out a contract through the end of this season, but nothing long-term yet. They have had three days to get the negotiations under way. Are you surprised they made this deal without getting anything long-term locked up?

BOB: "Only mildly. They only started real negotiations with Mike Gillis this afternoon around 12 noon. It's a situation where he's got a contract for this year, but it's a little unusual because the exact dollar amount wasn't specified because it depended on averages and obviously, the Panthers and Gillis and Bure had to agree on what that amount was going to be. I'm sure that they are well on their way to getting something done. And even if they're not, they still are protected because Bure at the end of this season is a Group 2 Free Agent, which means he is Restricted. Which means if anyone was to sign him to an offer sheet, there would be 5 first round picks so there's some insurance there for the Florida Panthers and they thought it was well worth the risk. I'm sure that Bure, all things being equal, wants to get on with his career. Instead of being the 'tempermental bad boy' of Vancouver, he wants to go into Florida and take over the marketplace and be the Franchise player."

A quick look at the Canucks situation. Right away it does upgrade their defence but long-term implication is what Brian Burke is looking at for this deal.

BOB: "I look at this and start breaking it out and I look at Kevin Weekes, as good a goaltender as he might be in the international league right now he still hasn't proven that he can play in the National Hockey League as the number one goaltender. So that's promise... that's potential. We can't measure that tonight. Mike Brown and Brad Ference, basically two guys who play junior hockey. There's no guarantee at this point they'll be front line NHL players. So what it boils down to for the Canucks is Ed Jovanovski and Dave Gagner. Gagner is a short-term, stop-gap proposition at centre. He'll help in the short-term, which is going to be great. They didn't have Bure in the lineup anyway and now they've got Gagner. He's a proven NHL-er, even though he's on in years. As for Jovanovski, he's obviously the centerpiece of this. And what strikes me the most about this more than anything else is that the Vancouver Canucks defence is very, very deep. You've got Jovanovski, you've got Adrian Aucoin, you've got Bryan McCabe, you've got Mattias Ohlund, you've got Bryan Allen coming. To me, what this sets up, not necessarily now, but within a year, is another trade for the Vancouver Canucks, where they trade one of these defencemen, maybe Bryan McCabe and get back somebody up front."

You get the impression there's alot of bitterness going on between Pavel Bure and Brian Burke and the Vancouver Canucks team in general. I think what it comes down to is the fact in essence the team did not stand behind him... if anything, they went against him saying, 'You know what, he wasn't as hurt as badly as he was making out, did not want to come back and play in the play-offs.' It seems that that was the thing that really pushed Pavel Bure out of Vancouver.

BOB: "I have no idea. And you know what, I frankly get tired of thinking what it is. Pavel Bure can come on back from Russia now. He's got a deal to play this season. And he can answer for the fans in Vancouver and elsewhere as to why he didn't want to play for the Vancouver Canucks. The important thing for him and for the Florida Panthers is the Florida Panthers suddenly have some personality on this team now, a team that went to the Stanley Cup final on the basis of John Vanbiesbrouck and a bunch of guys that work hard now have one of the most dynamic players in the National Hockey League. It's going to be very interesting. They should be able to weather the loss of Jovanovski on the blue line. They'll look to other guys: Svehla, and Warrener and some other guys to step it up, what they've got now in a market that really needs a boost is the dynamics of Pavel Bure. So it's a good deal, a great deal for the Florida Panthers. They lose Jovanovski. Dave Gagner they can live without as well. But they get Bure. It's a decent deal, a good short-term deal for the Vancouver Canucks. They didn't have Bure in the lineup anyway and now they've got Gagner to help out by the front and Jovanovski on the blue line."

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An interview with Pavel Bure

Q. How about the Olympics? Are you already thinking about Nagano?

PAVEL BURE: Yeah, I do. I'm really looking forward to go there.

PAVEL BURE: Well, definitely. I think it's really important for the team. They have to have people on the team who really wants to go there.

PAVEL BURE: Sure. It's going to be hard to do with so many great teams over there, U.S.A., Sweden, Finland. I think everybody got a really good shot.

PAVEL BURE: Well, it's a pretty good experience, really good experience.

PAVEL BURE: I played with those guys when I was 16 years old. It was always a pleasure to play with them. You always thinking when you have another chance to play with them. Every year something would come up, All-Star, World Cup. We getting another chance.

PAVEL BURE: I really like the old one, when it was East against West.

PAVEL BURE: Because, you know, I've been in NHL. I know most of the players, almost everybody from NHL. New one, I don't know, we have to see.

PAVEL BURE: I think it will be a really good show for the fans.

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The Bure Deal

Well, it finally happened, and both the Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers get a fresh start today. Florida's will prove to be the freshest, at least in the short run, because they are getting one of the best players in the NHL, and giving up very little from their current roster.

Vancouver got a pile of futures with Jovanovski being the key player. Any resemblance between the Canucks now and the team they had a year and a half ago is a coincidence. It is a new Vancouver Canucks team, except for the record.

Why did Bure want out of Vancouver? Brian Burke said Bure felt that the Stanley Cup urban legend stories were not rigourously denied enough by the team, and the team did not support him strongly enough when the media doubted his injuries. More than anything it was the fishbowl effect. Mike Gillis -- Bure's agent -- echoed what Burke said.

"Many fans will not understand," said Gillis, "But it was a business decision that was driven by a number of factors. It began with the 1994 story -- absolutely untrue -- about the Bure holdout in the Stanley Cup playoffs and deteriorated from there. There were other incidents involving injuries."

Gillis tried to explain how much the legend hurt Bure's pride, but then kind of trailed off into how perhaps they were on the way to resolving the issues, but then Quinn was fired, and well, he did not expect many fans to understand.

I do not think the reasons are hard to understand. Of course he is going to be in a fishbowl because he is a dazzling player. I don't doubt -- and neither does Bure -- there will be a fishbowl in Florida. But maybe it will be a different fish in the Florida fishbowl. For Pavel's sake, I hope so.

As a player he is dazzling in every respect. A great attitude. It is not a coincidence that the Vancouver Canucks started serious winning when Bure arrived, and abruptly crashed when Pavel was hurt for two consecutive seasons. I'll bet Pavel Bure was the only player in Vancouver history to play on a team that was over .500. By that I mean when he was in the lineup the Vancouver Canucks won more often than they lost. I think he is the best player in the NHL.

That is not the Pavel Bure fish we saw in our Vancouver fishbowl. Somehow in the Vancouver fishbowl the greatest Vancouver fish of all time was painted as a fish who, well, off the top of my head, these are the kinds of stories run by the Vancouver media ever since he arrived in town...

"Does the groin pull hurt that much? A defensive liability... The Stanley Cup holdout... Hot dog.... A bad attitude... Lockout money... Doesn't spend summers in Vancouver... Doesn't get along with Linden... Floats at centre... Never backchecks... Why can't he be back from his knee injury for the playoffs? He'll never be good again... Time to trade him... How bad is that neck injury anyway? Why can't he play? Really time to trade him... He's always hated Vancouver... The gay blade... Not a team guy... Injuries and attitude have held him back for two years... Russian mob ties... Sucker punch. Messier will straighten him out... Brilliant season but the team still sucks, so what good is he? Not a winner... Did you see him celebrate that 50th goal? Always did like scoring better than winning..."

None of these things were true or fair and have been repeated constantly in the Vancouver media form the day he arrived. Is it hard to understand why he wanted out?

I don't think so.

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Enough! The time is ripe to deal Bure

by Iain MacIntyre -- The Vancouver Sun

Enough already. If Pavel Bure isn't traded in the next few days, the Vancouver Canucks should offer Brian Burke to the Florida Panthers for a Cuban sandwich on Miami Beach and a general manager to be named later.

True to his word, Burke, the Canucks' general manager, has refused to rush a Pavel Bure trade. Prudently, he has cultivated the market, even applying an occasional top-dressing of manure while patiently waiting for this trade to ripen.

It is as ripe now as it's going to get. If Burke waits any longer, the fruit could turn rotten and leave nothing to harvest by the National Hockey League's trading deadline in March.

This has been a slow sale. Dennis Rodman could have sold his wardrobe to Newt Gingrich in the time it has taken Burke to sell his counterparts on Bure.

But Burke's patience appeared to pay off this week when Panthers' general manager Bryan Murray said of his discussions with Burke: "I indicated that we would be interested in doing something along the lines he asked me about."

This statement is akin to walking on to a used car lot and saying to a salesman who looks like Herb Tarlek:

"Damn, I gotta have that Impala. Is a blank cheque okay?"

Murray essentially is telling Burke to name his price, which has not been cheap so far.

If there is a deal with the Panthers, count on the price being either Ed Jovanovski or Rob Niedermayer, or both players and minor league goalie Kevin Weekes. Murray would rather unload Kirk Muller or Dave Gagner ahead of Niedermayer, but does want Bure.

If three players come this way, Burke likely will have to send another player - probably a defenceman from what would be a crowded blueline - to Miami along with Bure.

Now, it's possible Murray was lying, something that only happens in the NHL when someone's lips are moving.

Murray lied last week when he said he'd had no meaningful talks recently with Burke, and may now simply be trying to put more public pressure on the Canuck boss to deal.

But there is a concrete offer there from Murray, and presumably the package is better than Ranger general manager Neil Smith's well-publicized, long-standing pitch of Nicklas Sundstrom, Dan Cloutier and a first-round pick.

Since Burke took over the Canucks last June and began the hard sell on Bure with a trade mission to the east in November, he said he needed to get teams bidding against one another.

That bidding seems to be peaking now.

Burke has threatened to pull Bure off the market and wait until the trading deadline if he hasn't completed a deal by Monday. This would be a mistake.

As shown by the mostly modest trades that have marked the last two springs, the March deadline is no longer the dealing pressure point it once was.

There are simply too many contract ramifications to make general managers jump every time a talented player is available.

And the free agent market this summer will be the richest yet.

Among those eligible for unrestricted free agency, thus costing GMs only money, are Calgary Flame Theoren Fleury and Montreal Canadien Mark Recchi.

These are two of the steadiest right wingers in the game. It is quite possible that a team interested in Bure now may by March decide to wait out the end of the regular season in hopes of picking up Fleury or Recchi at a lower salary than Bure's and without having to surrender top players from its roster.

There is also no guarantee that by waiting - even until next year - that Burke will get better offers than he has already received.

The Penguins let Petr Nedved sit out for more than a season and ended up with only the enigmatic Alexei Kovalev in return.

And three years ago, the Los Angeles Kings negotiated for months to move Wayne Gretzky, only to settle near the trade deadline for a package of players and picks who could nicely fill the third line of a minor-league team.

There is one more good reason to deal Bure now.

With both Todd Bertuzzi and Alex Mogilny back in the Canuck lineup after serious injuries, there is a genuine sense of excitement within the dressing room that the team is at a turning point, that after two months of barely hanging on, it is ready to move forward.

The addition of Niedermayer and Jovanovski would further heighten that sense of confidence and purpose.

It could be the springboard that launches the team back into the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

It is an opportunity that may not come again.

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Bure watch rolls toward weekend

by Elliott Pap -- The Vancouver Sun

The Pavel Bure watch reeled through another day with the Florida Panthers remaining the front-runner and a deal not expected until the weekend at the earliest.

Canuck general manager Brian Burke was still waiting Thursday night to hear from at least three teams, two of them believed to be the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. The third is possibly the Los Angeles Kings.

The Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks have apparently pulled out, although they were never considered among the most serious of suitors.

Contrary to recent speculation, the Panthers have yet to offer centre Rob Niedermayer. But one source said Florida captain Scott Mellanby could be part of a package. Goalie Kevin Weekes, a 23-year unsigned Group Two free agent currently playing for Detroit of the International League, is another likely candidate as the Canucks desperately need to shore up their netminding depth.

In Montreal, speculation has the Habs offering centre Saku Koivu and defenceman Vladimir Malakhov.

Meanwhile, Canuck captain Mark Messier said Thursday that the possibility of a deal has not been a distraction to the players in the dressing room.

"I think it's more of an interest now to see what's going to happen," Messier commented. "But I wouldn't say it's been a distraction or burden on us. I think we have a responsibility to each other to play as hard as we could every game regardless of who is in the lineup, who is hurt, or what happens with Pavel.

"Part of being a winner and a champion is to be tough mentally and be able to deflect all the outside things going on. You have to be able to deal with these things and have to able to concentrate on the task at hand."

Messier said he actually admires Bure for taking a stand and walking out rather than being a sour apple and bringing negative energy into the dressing room.

"I think it's better doing what he did than being here and not being happy," he said. "I think it was important that the players who were in the dressing room were really happy and really wanted to be here. I like Pavel and I enjoyed playing with him last year. I just hope it works out for him and he gets to go where he wants and he gets back playing because he's a marquee guy for the league."

Canuck defenceman Bret Hedican said everyone is getting fed up with the trade talk.

"We really don't want to hear about it until it's done," Hedican said. "It's become old for the media, the fans and the players. I think we'll all be relieved when it happens so we can move on and we don't have to talk about it anymore."

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This dance marathon is one for the books

by Ed Willes -- The Province

Way back a lifetime ago, when Pavel Bure first started fuelling more news copy than the Y2K bug, Brian Burke was asked about the process involved in trading an $8-million US property.

"It's not easy," the Canucks GM said. "It's a long and complicated dance."

Subsequent events -- make that a long series of subsequent events -- would seem to substantiate Burke's characterization. The Bure trade became more complicated than a love tango between Rita McNeil and Pee Wee Herman. Suitors came. Suitors went. Days turned into weeks. Weeks into months. Not even Mike Keenan's periodic outbursts could ease the tedium. Then, sometime last weekend, the Florida Panthers stepped forward and admitted they had designs on the fair Pavel. And Vancouver fans rejoiced because resolution finally seemed at hand.

That was five days ago. On Thursday, Panthers GM Bryan Murray emerged from his bunker long enough to say, "No comment. I said too much yesterday." That night, Burke was waiting on three phone calls which could have changed the Bure landscape dramatically. Or not at all. You think it's tough reading this stuff. You should try writing it.

Day CCXXVI -- Vancouver hockey fans held hostage -- came and went and nothing was changed. Bure was still in Moscow, which is the only enjoyment we're getting out of this thing. The Canucks line-up continued to bear a vague resemblance to an NHL team. And there was no trade. As if you needed to ask.

That leaves us, well, it leaves where we started in October -- only with better rumours. And because it's our sworn duty to keep you up to date on the latest half-truths, we feel compelled to share our meagre findings with you. Why, after all, should we suffer alone.

- The Niedermayer factor: According to NHL sources, the Panthers have not put Cranbrook product Rob Niedermayer on the table. He's one of about three zillion names emanating from south Florida along with Ed Jovanovski, Rhett Warrener, Oleg Kvasha, Dave Gagner, David Nemirovsky, Kevin Weekes, Madonna and Jackie Gleason. But he's the one player who could make this deal for the Canucks.

Burke, we know, has already turned down Niklas Sundstrom, Dan Cloutier and a first-rounder from the Rangers, hoping to extort Manny Malholtra out of the Gothamite as well. If he's got that deal in his hip pocket -- and the Rangers were still hanging around as of Thursday night -- it's a cinch he's holding out for a player of Niedermayer's calibre. At 24, the former Medicine Hat junior is close to the stardom long predicted for him. He comes cheap. And he's a B.C. boy. He's exactly what the Canucks need and want. And if Burke is going to keep us waiting for six months, the least he can do is deliver him.

- The rest of the deal: It isn't any more straight forward but it's not without its own intrigue. As Tony Gallagher notes elsewhere in our acreage, this deal has the potential to grow. There's some comforting news. One theory has the Canucks throwing Bret Hedican into the mix in an effort to extract Scott Mellanby from the Panthers. Why not. Mellanby is the only Panther that hasn't been mentioned so far. Another has the Panthers demanding Gagner and his big ticket be included in the deal, which might be the cost of securing Niedermayer. But, what the hey. If you don't like any of these rumors, you can make up one of your own. That's the beauty of all this.

- Who's left: Better we should ask who's still awake. According to Burke, they're still lining up to make offers on Bure. Clearly, that's what must be holding things up. But the Panthers, Rangers and Habs were all still alive as of Thursday night which means only one thing.

Bure will end up in San Jose.

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It's Monday or March

by Terry Bell -- The Province

Canucks president and general manager Brian Burke said Thursday that NHL teams now have until Monday night to make an offer for the AWOL right winger or wait until the trading deadline on March 23.

"There's nothing to report," said Burke during the Canucks-Oilers game. "I'm telling teams to step and do it now or you're going to wait."

Burke wouldn't name any of the teams he's been dealing with but said some teams have dropped out. How many? "A good number," he said.

And how many are still in? "An interesting number," he said.

Burke said he's prepared to wait until March because he thinks that then, somehow, teams will become desperate and improve their offers.

"That's when teams become desperate," he said. "If it's not done by Monday, I don't think the quality of (offered) players is going to improve until the deadline."

Asked if the Canucks might not be even more desperate than their rivals by then, he said: "The backdrop to this trade is the five first-round draft picks. If an offer doesn't approximate five first-round picks I'm not going to take it."

In the summer, any team can sign him for five first-rounders.

Burke said he'd go to a Plan B next week. That means swinging a minor deal to improve his team.

Meanwhile, responding to captain Mark Messier's defence of Bure's stance, Burke said: "No I'm not surprised. The players tend to stick together on something like this."

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Burke's driving, not Pavel

by Kent Gilchrist -- The Province

There are those who won't be satisfied with whatever package Canucks general manager Brian Burke gets for recalcitrant winger Pavel Bure. Many will think Burke got hosed.

They'll all be wrong. Burke has had to work with one hand tied behind his back. He fell heir to a malcontent superstar making upwards of $8 million US in the final year of his contract and one who was withholding his services. How much farther behind the 8-ball could Burke be?

You could criticize him only for optimistically discussing the state of the negotiations with mostly-undisclosed GMs since the beginning of the season. But, with a losing team, with injuries to key personnel and sniping from the head coach, he refused to blink. He stayed the course and is in the driver's seat.

He likely could have made a deal months ago that would have placated not only Mike Keenan but Bure and his agent, Mike Gillis, but left the club's future with only diminishing assets. That would have been easy and the way Keenan would go were he sitting in the GM's chair.

As all of Keenan's deals last season have shown, however, the team is little, if any, better. It is bigger and slower and less entertaining. And, not surprisingly for a bad team, the Canucks lead in penalties.

So how much have they missed Bure? How much did he contribute last year? They were 11-24-6 with him and they are 14-22-5 without him. Based on that, his 51 goals don't seem to have been missed at all.

Bure might have put some more bums in the seats but, after all this time, fans probably would appreciate a winning team rather than a Russian Rocket making all that money and playing hard only when the spirit moves him. It's fair to say the number of extra tickets he might sell wouldn't cover his salary.

Bure has been a wonderfully exciting player but he seldom has been happy or satisfied in Vancouver. He had problems dating back to the Stanley Cup final year when he threatened to withhold his services if his contract wasn't renegotiated. It was, and he signed a multi-year deal.

He has been demanding to be traded practically since that day. He has dumped an agent, cut his ties with his father and maybe has been more trouble than he's been worth.

Amid all of that unnecessary baggage and the knowledge by all other teams that Bure has had Burke over a barrel, Burke has at least two teams bidding against each other for the right to try to sign him. If it isn't exactly the way it is written in the GM's handbook because it has taken five months, it's about as good as can be expected.

And likely will be a lot better than any deal that might have been made in October, November or December.

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Messier: Bure doing the right thing

-- ESPN.com news services

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Vancouver Canucks will either trade holdout star Pavel Bure by early next week or wait until the March 23 trading deadline to make a deal, general manager Brian Burke said Thursday night.

"I don't think the quality of the offers will improve," Burke said. "If I'm close on something Monday night, it'll carry over one day. Otherwise we'll put it on hold until the deadline."

Asked why he would postpone trade talks until the deadline, Burke said: "We've waited this long. If the quality of the offers doesn't improve to the point where the trade makes sense, they're not going to before the deadline.

I told teams to step up and do it now or you're going to wait."

Burke believes it will be easier to make a trade in March when playoff contenders will be more desperate to deal.

Bure, who has scored 50 or more goals three times in his career, has missed the entire season after announcing he would never play again for the Canucks. Bure, suspended without pay, is in the final year of a five-year deal with Vancouver.

The Florida Panthers have emerged as one of the front-runners to land Bure.

Florida GM Bryan Murray told the Miami Herald that he has had serious negotiations with Burke. Florida will likely have to come up with a package that includes any combination of Rob Niedermayer, Oleg Kvasha, Ed Jovanovski, Rhett Warrener, Dave Gagner and Kevin Weekes.

The New York Rangers and their fat checkbook always are in the mix, as are the Montreal Canadiens after GM Rejean Houle refused to comment on Bure in an interview with a Montreal reporter.

The Rangers may be scared away by an asking price that could include Manny Malhotra, Niklas Sundstrom, Dan Cloutier and a first-round draft pick. Other clubs rumored to be talking to Vancouver include Detroit, San Jose and Washington.

Bure has been waiting for a trade out of Vancouver, but has yet to go public as to his points of contention.

Canucks captain Mark Messier spoke out in support of the Russian Rocket. Messier said if Bure was that unhappy, it was best for him to stay in Moscow.

"I think it's better he does that than be here and unhappy," he said. "With the years the team has had, not making the playoffs, it was important that players in the dressing room are happy and wanted to be here. "I have to admire Pavel for taking this stance because he did make it clear for the last few years that he would like to be traded," Messier said. "I think he wasn't happy here, so instead of bringing that kind of energy into the locker room, he chose to sit out and do what he felt he had to do to force a trade."

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Bure trade won't be all it's cracked up to be

by Gary Mason -- The Vancouver Sun

Before we talk about The Trade, let's talk about The Game. Because The Game truly was an awful one, especially for the home team, and you wonder whether The Trade, unless it includes Eric Lindros, John LeClair and Keith Jones coming this way, will do anything to help this bewildering Canuck hockey club.

First, let me say, that if I had paid to watch the Canucks go down in defeat against the Edmonton Oilers Thursday night, I'd be pounding on the windows of GM Place demanding my money back. The game was sloppy, devoid of drama, included fewer than three good bodychecks all night. Okay, you could say that about many home games this season.

The slim entertainment there was came in watching the Oiler team skate. That, they did. Especially around Canuck defenders.

The Canucks on the other hand, stunk. Most of the players looked like they'd rather be at The Roxy than at the rink. They were completely outworked by a team that, on paper, isn't as talented. The Canucks often looked disorganized, especially on the power play. And slow. Boy, they looked slow.

Perhaps most distressing was how poorly they played given how important the game was. First, they're in a desperate fight to stay in playoff contention. They have a division rival in town. One they've lost to in three previous games. I mean, how much more does there have to be on the line? And the Canucks were coming off three days rest, not three straight games.

If there was a bright spot, it was the play of captain Mark Messier, who, I must confess, I am feeling increasingly sorry for. Messier has been the heart of this hockey club this season. He has been at least partially responsible for the breakthrough season Markus Naslund is enjoying. When he's not injured, Messier can still skate with the best of them. However, he must be thoroughly depressed by his teammates' lack of desire and commitment.

Messier might understand the high cost of winning better than anyone else in the game. The uncommon dedication it takes. There must be many nights, like Thursday, when he returns home after the game wondering how he got into this mess.

There is no Canuck whose play has been more disappointing than Alexander Mogilny's. For someone getting paid $4.2 million US this season, his performance many nights - Thursday against Edmonton was no exception - has been disgraceful.

There's no passion. No bounce in the glorious stride he possesses. He is paid to score goals. And yet, when he had glorious opportunities on at least two occasions against the Oilers, he chose to pass. And each time, the scoring opportunity was lost.

Mogilny has four goals in 23 games. Over a full season that's 14, 15 goals maximum. Given the effort he seems prepared to put in most nights, he is virtually useless to this team.

With Todd Bertuzzi back, the Canuck lineup against Edmonton is about as strong as it gets. That is truly depressing.

THE TRADE

It's fair to say expectations are running high around the Pavel Bure trade. Many people see one superstar heading out of town and another heading in. And if not a superstar heading this way, then at least a couple of headliners.

Don't get your hopes up.

Trading Bure has not been as easy as many people thought. While supremely talented and a player any GM would want, Bure's reputation as a malcontent precedes him. With an $8 million US annual salary and serious injury problems in the past, he has been deemed "high risk" by many teams. In otherwords, they're not prepared to mortgage the future for him.

The Canucks biggest need in return for Bure is a top line centre, which is another hurdle in the way of this deal.

First, any team with a superstar centre is not going to trade him for a winger, unless it's someone like Paul Kariya. Every team wants a star No. 1 centre. And if you have one, or you're grooming one, you are reluctant to give him up given how hard they are to come by.

Which is why Canucks GM Brian Burke is having a difficult time extracting a top centre in this trade. The Florida Panthers, the team believed to be the current frontrunners in the Bure sweepstakes, have already said no to trading their No. 1 centre Rob Niedermayer.

So, assuming Florida is close to a deal with the Canucks, who would it include? The name you hear most frequently is defenceman Ed Jovanovski. You hear it so much, there has to be some truth to it. After him? Well, you'd have to think the Canucks would still need a centre out of the deal, if not the Panthers' No. 1 guy. So perhaps you're talking about a second or third liner.

It's no secret the Canucks are also looking for a goalie of the future. The name you hear most here in association with a Florida deal is Panther product Kevin Weekes, currently playing for Detroit of the International League. He is supposed to be a top goaltending prospect who could be mentioned in the same company as the Rangers' Dan Cloutier.

However, it would be hard to imagine Burke trying to sell Jovanovski, a second or third line centre and Weekes for Bure. So there could be more. Burke said a few weeks ago the deal could well include other Canuck players as part of a larger trade package.

Who knows where that takes this deal? If Jovanovski is coming here, however, it would create a glut on the Canucks' back end. That would likely mean a Vancouver defender heading the other way or being flipped to another team in a subsequent trade. The Canuck defender most often linked to trade talk is smooth skating Bret Hedican, whose offensive upside is coveted by many NHL teams.

It has also been reported that Burke is looking for a top prospect and/or a first-round draft choice. It's hard to imagine this occurring without the Canucks offering up a prospect or draft pick of their own.

My hunch is any team interested in Bure either wants him to sell tickets to a half empty building, or to put them over the Stanley Cup hump. If that is the case, those teams are more likely to give up promising youngsters than a top line player of Bure's vintage, a player important to winning a Cup right now.

That's where I think Burke will go with this trade. Focus on youth and the future, rather than the now. If the trade gives the Canucks a slight upgrade this season, all the better. But I believe this trade will be about building for tomorrow.

Which brings us to other questions.

THE GM AND HIS COACH

I wish you all could have seen the expression on Mike Keenan's face after the Edmonton game when he was told by reporters that Burke indicated he would take Bure off the market until the trade deadline of March 23 unless he has a deal by this Monday.

The expression said: "Is he nuts?"

Keenan went on to tell reporters that his hockey team was already "desperate" to make the playoffs. He said the franchise "couldn't afford" to miss the playoffs a third straight year. And, of course, he was right.

But his words, as they often are, were meant as much for his boss as anyone else. What he was saying was Burke can't afford to wait until March 23 to make a deal. By then, the team could be out of playoff contention.

Keenan wants to win now. He wants to go to the Stanley Cup finals - this year. The team's lack of depth drives him crazy. You can tell he wishes he had his hands on the levers of power. But he doesn't. Therein lies the biggest problem in this organization right now.

Don't believe anyone who says reports of the strained relationship between Burke and Keenan are overblown. If anything, the reports are understated.

This is not, in any way, a relationship built on trust. It is a relationship built on complete paranoia. How long will it last?

Keenan's only hope of staying on as coach is to make the playoffs. Burke said the meter on his coach's performance wouldn't start running until after the Bure deal is finished. However, I still don't think there is going to be much in the Bure deal that will help the Canucks - or Keenan - this year as much as it does in a year or two or three.

If that's the case, Keenan may throw up his hands in complete frustration and surrender.

Out of the playoffs, Keenan will likely be out of a job.

Which is why he might be the most disappointed person around when the trade is finally announced.

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Messier says Bure doing right thing with holdout

by JIM MORRIS -- Canadian Press

With speculation growing that a Pavel Bure deal is near, Vancouver Canucks captain Mark Messier says he admires the Russian Rocket for refusing to play this season to push his trade demand.

"I have to admire Pavel for taking this stance because he did make it clear for the last few years that he would like to be traded," Messier said before his team's NHL game Thursday night against the Edmonton Oilers. "I think he wasn't happy here, so instead of bringing that kind of energy into the locker room, he chose to sit out and do what he felt he had to do to force a trade."

The Florida Panthers have emerged as a serious bidder for Bure, 27, a 51-goal scorer last year. General manager Bryan Murray told the Miami Herald that he spoke with Vancouver counterpart Brian Burke about Bure during a plane trip in December prior to the world junior hockey tournament.

"I've indicated we have great interest in doing something along the lines that he asked me about," Murray said.

To get Bure, the Panthers would probably have to give up Cranbrook, B.C., native Rob Niedermayer or rookie Russian centre Oleg Kvasha. Other names mentioned include defencemen Ed Jovanovski or Rhett Warrener, centre Dave Gagner, and goaltender Kevin Weekes.

Burke said talks are progressing with several teams and he hinted a deal might be done by the weekend.

"I don't expect anything to happen (Thursday)," he said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if it heats up Saturday or Sunday."

Landing a star centre to play behind Messier has always been one of Burke's goals.

Niedermayer, 24, was the fifth pick overall in the 1993 entry draft. After 39 games this year, he had 12 goals and 18 assists. He also has a history of injury problems. Kvasha has seven goals and 13 assists.

The Montreal Canadiens have also popped up as possible suitors for Bure. Canadiens GM Rejean Houle refused comment when quizzed by a Montreal reporter recently.

The New York Rangers have always been considered a contender for Bure. But they may have been scared off by the Canucks' demand for rookie centre Manny Malhotra, right-winger Niklas Sundstrom, goaltender Dan Cloutier, and a first-round draft pick.

Other clubs rumoured to be talking to Vancouver include Detroit, San Jose and Washington.

The Rangers were considered one of the few teams who could afford Bure's $8-million US salary. Murray says the Panthers would be willing to sign Bure, a restricted free agent this summer, for many years. "The ownership of this hockey team is willing to do a lot to make the team better," he said.

Bure has never been specific about why he wants out of Vancouver. In a recent interview in Moscow, he said he refused to report to the Canucks last autumn because he was frustrated the team didn't try to trade him sooner.

Messier said if Bure was that unhappy, it was best for him to stay in Moscow.

"I think it's better he does that than be here and unhappy," he said. "With the years the team has had, not making the playoffs, it was important that players in the dressing room are happy and wanted to be here."

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Panthers close in on Canuck star Bure

Florida needs drawing power of a superstar
but Canuck GM waiting to hear other offers

by DAVID SHOALTS -- Globe & Mail

If Bryan Murray and Bill Torrey can swing it, the Florida Panthers will soon have the first superstar in their brief history.

Murray, the Panthers general manager, and Torrey, the president, are trying to beat New York Rangers to the wire in the Pavel Bure sweepstakes.

And Neil Smith, Ranger president and GM, said he expects the Panthers to meet the asking price of Vancouver Canucks GM Brian Burke, perhaps as early as today.

Murray said he hasn't spoken to Burke in a week, but both he and Torrey said they are trying to land the Russian Rocket. Bure would be the greatest offensive talent seen in this part of Florida. The Panthers have always built their teams around defence.

But with the team needing to stay competitive in the active South Florida professional sports scene, and sell tickets in their new arena, Torrey said it's time to chase a marquee player.

"We've got to fit in the kids we are playing here, but none of them have reached star status," Torrey said last night. "We're in a market with baseball, basketball and football teams. The Dolphins are No. 1 down here, and I've got 19,000-some seats to sell.

"Can I sell them year-in and year-out without any star power whatsoever? We have some good young players but no one is a star. So that's the $64 question."

While Burke has said he expects a deal to be completed by the Canucks' next game -- tonight -- it may take longer if the Panthers are involved.

Burke, when he had finished discussing Bure with several other teams, would get back to the Panthers. "There was no timetable," Murray said.

Smith's statement that the Panthers would win the race may have been designed to shift the pressure from himself to the Florida team.

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Bure plot thickens

by Jim Jamieson -- The Province

GM Brian Murray brought his Florida Panthers out of the shadows Wednesday, admitting his NHL club is a contender for Pavel Bure and a deal for the Russian Rocket could be close.

Canucks general manager Brian Burke stoked the urgency of the next few days, threatening to pull Bure off the market until the March 23 trading deadline if a trade isn't consummated by Monday night.

Murray, who as late as Tuesday had said he hadn't spoken with Burke for a week, changed his story and told reporters he's been talking to the Canucks GM regularly about acquiring the all-star right winger and feels the two sides are getting close to an agreeable player package.

"The way we left it is Brian asked me, 'Would you do certain things?'" said Murray. "I've indicated we have great interest in doing something along those lines that he's asked me about."

Burke, who previously wouldn't confirm other teams' interest specifically, acknowledged Florida's participation in the Bure sweepstakes.

But Burke said the Panthers weren't alone. Although Burke refused to confirm it, the Montreal Canadiens are believed to be in the hunt for Bure, along with long-time suitors, the New York Rangers.

Habs GM Rejean Houle refused comment when asked about interest in Bure by a Montreal reporter Wednesday.

"They (Florida) are very serious, but they're among other teams that are very serious," Burke said Wednesday. "We're at the proposal stage with every team but one. That could come later tonight."

The Vancouver GM said there are more than five teams involved and they face a Monday deadline.

"If it doesn't get done by the weekend I intend to take him off the market," said Burke.

"At that point, if the offers haven't improved to the point where we think the deal is useful then we're going to wait till the deadline where the pressure points will really develop.

"In that case we'll do something smaller next week. We're looking at a number of things."

Murray echoed Burke's suggestion of a pressure point this week, although his impression of the number of teams involved is fewer.

"I understand there were five teams interested, but I've been told it's down to less than that now," said Murray, who's asked for and received permission from Panthers owner Wayne Huizenga to make the financial commitment that comes with acquiring Bure.

"It will be done by Thursday or not for a while."

The Canucks would want stud defenceman Ed Jovanovski and Cranbrook-born centre Rob Niedermayer in any deal with the Panthers.

Bright goaltending prospect Kevin Weekes is also attractive, as is 20-year-old Russian winger Oleg Kvasha.

Any deal with the Habs would seemingly have to be surrounding centre Saku Koivu, as their other two top forwards, Vincent Damphousse and Mark Recchi, will both be unrestricted free agents after this season.

Murray said he hasn't spoken with Bure's agent Mike Gillis yet.

The Panthers GM said serious discussions with the Canucks regarding Bure began on a Dec. 26 flight from Toronto to Winnipeg, where both he and Burke were travelling to take in the world junior championship.

The Panthers are drawing well at their new rink at Sunrise, Fla., but it's believed there is concern about an attendance drop-off if the team doesn't improve.

"Getting a player like that type of player hurries up the development of a team," said Murray.

"We don't think we're one player away but after bringing in (Sergei) Fedorov in Detroit and then (Nicklas) Lidstrom a year later, the skill level went from here to there.

"That's what good players do for you."

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Panthers present offer for Bure

by Elliott Pap -- Vancouver Sun

The Florida Panthers have become the first team to publicly declare serious interest in acquiring suspended Vancouver Canuck star Pavel Bure.

Panther general manager Bryan Murray said Wednesday he is willing to step to the plate with an offer that would satisfy Canuck counterpart Brian Burke.

"Brian said to me 'would you do certain things?' and I indicated that we would be interested in doing something along the lines he asked me about," Murray told reporters in south Florida.

Burke confirmed that his negotiations with Murray were indeed moving along but said Florida was not the only team this heavily involved.

"I agree with Brian's characterization of our talks," Burke said. "They are serious, as are we, but we are also serious with several other teams. I would guess it might happen on the weekend, Saturday or Sunday, or possibly sooner. Or maybe not at all. Every time I tell you guys it might happen, or give you a time frame, you write it's going to happen."

It's believed the Panthers would be willing to part with centre Rob Niedermayer, despite reports of him being an untouchable, as well as a young defenceman, either Ed Jovanovski or Rhett Warrener. Another prospect, perhaps young goalie Kevin Weekes, and a draft pick could be involved.

It's also believed the New York Rangers have slipped from the picture with GM Neil Smith saying "we'd certainly be out" if Burke insists on more than Niklas Sundstrom, Dan Cloutier and a first-round pick. The Canucks apparently covet young centre Manny Malhotra and Smith considers that a deal-breaker.

But if Smith is indeed pulling out, he has not informed the Canucks according to Vancouver assistant GM Dave Nonis.

"Nobody has told us they are out," Nonis said. "There are several teams at the same point as Florida. They are close but none of the deals are acceptable or we would have taken them. "

Niedermayer would obviously be the centre-piece to any deal involving Florida. The 24-year-old from Cranbrook was the fifth over-all pick in the 1993 entry draft and is entering the prime of his career. He has had well documented injury problems, especially concussions, but is the type of player Vancouver desperately needs with Mark Messier turning 38 in four days.

The Panthers' No. 1 centre, Niedermayer's goal and assist against Toronto on Wednesday gives him 30 points in 39 games.

"Right now, I can't be too concerned about the rumours," Niedermayer said recently. "Of course, you don't like hearing about it but it's something you have to live with. I was mentioned going to Toronto [for Felix Potvin] in the summer."

Niedermayer did not seem upset at the prospect of moving to Vancouver if a trade did occur.

"I grew up watching the Canucks play," he said. "It would be nice."

Canuck coach Mike Keenan, naturally, is anxious to see a resolution to the Bure talks.

"Hopefully Brian will have some success with it and put it behind him because I know it's been a big distraction for himself and everyone else," Keenan said.

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Panthers may get Bure

by DAVID J. NEAL -- Miami Herald

Today is the day by which Vancouver general manager Brian Burke said superstar forward Pavel Bure would be traded, and the growing feeling is that the Panthers are the front-runners in the auction.

The Canucks staff has been told to stay in Vancouver in case anything happens. The Rangers, the Panthers' nemesis in the bidding war for goalie Mike Richter last summer and the Petr Nedved trade, seem to be backing out.

Vancouver senior vice president of hockey operations Dave Nonis said the Canucks had an offer, but he wouldn't confirm it was from the Panthers.

``The foundation is there for a deal with some bricks still needed to be put in place,'' Nonis said.

He also said there was more than one team involved. Detroit, San Jose and Washington are rumored to be dicing with Florida.

General manager Bryan Murray has tried to hide the Panthers' interest by downplaying the number and seriousness of his conversations with Burke. But Wednesday, he admitted they first spoke during a Toronto-to-Winnipeg plane ride before December's World Junior Championships. Burke was in the seat behind Murray during the first
half of the flight, then next to him for the second half.

``The way it's been left with me [from Burke is,] `We have a group out in Vancouver right now that's talking, Bryan. Would you do certain things?' '' Murray said Wednesday. ``I've indicated we have great interest in doing something along the lines that he asked me about.''

That would probably be a No. 2 center, which means Rob Niedermayer, a British Columbia native, or rookie Oleg Kvasha, who has more raw talent. The Canucks also want a young defenseman, which would indicate Ed Jovanovski or Rhett Warrener.

Also thrown into the deal could be center Dave Gagner or talented, but defensively-slacking prospect Dave Nemirovsky.

Bure has been back in Russia, officially suspended by the Canucks for refusing to report this year despite this being the last year of his contract. His agent, Mike Gillis, said Bure would be fine playing in Florida and his refusal to report has to do with ``a long history'' in Vancouver.

There isn't a more explosive skater or goal scorer in the NHL than Bure, nicknamed ``The Russian Rocket.'' After winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1991-92, he had back-to-back 60-goal seasons for Vancouver and racked up 51 last season. He also led the 1998 Olympics with nine goals in six games for the silver-medal Russian team.

Bure doesn't flame out in the playoffs. His playoff goal scoring, 34 goals in 60 games (0.57 goals per game), is just a hair off his regular-season goal scoring, 254 goals in 428 games (0.59).

In fact, had Vancouver taken Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals from the Rangers, Bure likely would have won that year's Conn Smythe Award as playoff MVP. He had 16 goals and 15 assists in 24 games, including his signature career highlight, a breakaway double-overtime goal that ended Game 7 of the first-round series with Calgary.

This represents the Panthers' second major attempt at getting a marquee, A-list holdout goal-scorer this year. They had offered cash-poor Pittsburgh right wing Radek Dvorak and $2.5 million cash for Nedved, who was eventually traded to New York.

After that deal went down, Murray said a trade for Bure was improbable because of his prodigious contract. If salary and up-front bonuses are counted, Bure stood to make around $11 million to $12 million this season.

``Wherever he goes,'' Gillis said. ``They're going to want to do a new contract.''

And Murray did say the Panthers would want to sign Bure for several years. Bure is a restricted free agent this summer, but Murray said money isn't a concern.

``The ownership of this hockey team is willing to do a lot to make the team better,'' he said.

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Burke moves closer to a Bure deal

by Elliott Pap -- Vancouver Sun

While Pavel Bure was accusing Vancouver Canuck management of breaking its promise to trade him, general manager Brian Burke spent another day inching closer to the conclusion of this five-month soap opera.

"We're at the point now where every team in it has made a proposal but I don't want to put a time frame on it," Burke said Tuesday."It's not there yet. I'm negotiating with all the teams involved."

Asked if he was happy with the quality of the offers, Burke replied: "If I was happy with them, I would have made the deal."

There is some speculation that if Burke can't move Bure this week, then he will be forced to wait until near the March 23 deadline before the market heats up again.

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Russian Rocket willing to sit `as long as it takes'

Elusive Bure agrees to talk to Star in Moscow but he's as evasive as ever about his future

by Allan Thompson -- Toronto Star

Bure has just finished practising with his old Central Army team and the elusive Russian star has agreed to sit down for a rare interview. It may sound pretty downscale, but there's a constant reminder that the man being questioned is more than just another hockey player - every few minutes, a tune interrupts the interview.

It's coming from Bure's tiny cell phone which plays a song each time it rings. It's the theme music from The Lone Ranger - a fitting song for the star who deserted the Vancouver Canucks and would probably love nothing more than to be playing in New York alongside someone like Wayne Gretzky.

Bure has been a very tough man to reach since leaving British Columbia. He agreed to sit down with a Star reporter, but he was evasive about his future.

Bure said yesterday he left Vancouver because he no longer trusted management to keep a promise to trade him. But he didn't shed much light on rumours about his future, except to say that he would find it more convenient to live on ``the east coast.''

The four-time NHL all-star scored 60 goals in each of his second and third seasons with the team, and scored 51 goals last year.

``But obviously I miss hockey, real hockey. I'm a hockey player and I really want to play, but sometimes you have to sacrifice. If you have a goal in life and you want to do something, you know, I'm ready to sacrifice.''

At the practice, under the watchful eye of legendary coach Victor Tikhonov, Bure took part in all the exercises and scrimmages and chatted with other players on the bench.

At the end, after the other players had left for the dressing room, Bure suddenly burst around the ice five times, with his trademark rocket speed, while Tikhonov kept time.

``It's something I used to do with him. I wanted to see if I could still make five laps in under 1:25, and I did it in 1:19, so I'm still in good shape,'' Bure said.

He said he liked the people of Vancouver and the city, but just decided it was time to move on.

``Management didn't want to work on my behalf so I had to do something,'' he said. ``It's all up to them. I asked for a trade a long time ago, like three years ago and they promised me for like two years, `You'll be traded, you'll be traded,' and now I just give up because I didn't trust them any more.

``I had a big meeting in the summer time and they promised me again, `We'll trade you in the next season,' and you see they didn't do what they promised me to do. So I think I made the right choice because I didn't trust them,'' he said.

``There comes a time when you have to move. A few years ago I wanted to go somewhere else and try to do something else too,'' he said.

Like play with a team that can win a Stanley Cup?

``Of course, every hockey player in the NHL wants to win a Stanley Cup and I'm one of them,'' he said.

Asked if that was the reason he left Vancouver, Bure shot back: ``I didn't say that's the reason I left Vancouver.

``It's for personal reasons. I've said it before,'' he said. ``I spent seven years in Vancouver and it's a long time. Not too many players can play for one team for seven years.

``It's a great city, I think it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. But it's kind of too far from anything else.''

Asked where he wants to play, Bure said: ``I'm not talking to no one, I've got my agent who is talking. As you can see, I'm just practising.''

Pressed for details about current negotiations, Bure said, ``It's supposed to be between me and my agent.''

It's been heard before, but Vancouver officials of late have talked more openly about a deal for Bure. With the NHL season nearing the mid-way point, a deal may not be far off.

Asked if New York is more central than Vancouver, Bure replied: ``Obviously the east coast is more central and it's really hard to travel in Vancouver, there's a five hours flight everywhere. So it's really hard, there's a three-hour time difference.

``When you play on the east coast, you can take a bus or fly 45 minutes so obviously it makes a big difference,'' he said.

Bure said he's willing to wait ``as long as it takes'' to get the deal he wants. ``I have a contract with Vancouver this year so if nothing happens this year, I'm going to use my options.''

In the meantime, he's been able to see more of friends and family.

``It's a great atmosphere for me to be here, it's where I grew up,'' he said. ``Basically I came back to my family, coaches who knew me since 16 years old.''

He spent New Year's, traditionally a quiet family occasion in Russia, with family and friends at home, in Moscow.

On Sunday, was presented with a silver sabre by Russia's defence minister in honour of his captaincy of the Olympic silver medal team last year.

``We decided to give you this award for the silver in Nagano, hoping it will turn to gold at the next Olympics,'' Marshal Igor Sergeyev told Bure.

Bure said he has nothing to say to writers who describe him as arrogant and petulant for leaving Vancouver.

``I can't respond to everything that they're writing about me. They can have their opinion, what can I do?'' he said. ``I want to do what I want to do, if I'm hurting anyone, I think personally, I'm hurting myself, because I'm not playing, I'm not getting paid, I'm losing huge money. And the most important thing, I'm missing hockey so I'm hurting myself more than anybody.

``I'm going to do what I have to do to get what is right,'' he said.

Bure said he keeps in touch by telephone with his best friend, Gino Odjick, a former Canuck teammate since traded to the Islanders.

But he was adamant there is no going back to Vancouver, which he said has changed completely since he arrived.

``It's a completely new team. The management has gone, the ownership has gone, the coach has gone. So it's a totally different team, it's a young team,'' he said.

``I think they're in the process to build a new team and it's going to take a few years to build a new team. And I don't want to be part of that, because we built a new team once, when I got there in 1991.

``Right now, as you can see, they're not playing well. I wouldn't blame the guys because I know they're playing hard and I was in the same situation last year. But it just doesn't work, they just can't win.''

Asked if he wanted to play with a team that is at the top now, Bure, who will turn 28 on March 31, refused to give a clear answer.

``Until age 31 I'm not a free agent, so obviously I can't really choose who I would want to go with. That's why I don't want to talk about this. We can sit here for hours, but it's not up to me,'' he said.

``You just have to be strong mentally, but I think I'm more than fine,'' he said.

``I miss hockey a lot, but it's not like I'm sitting at home and crying. I'm working out, I'm feeling well. I live my own life,'' he said.

``I just have to be patient.''

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Rocket close to liftoff

by Jim Jamieson -- The Province

Brian Burke is hoping to get the Russian Rocket launched this week.

Certainly, there have been false alarms in this five-month soap opera since Pavel Bure announced last August he was through with the Canucks -- and GM Brian Burke makes it clear that nothing could well happen again this week.

But Burke has called off all travel for senior vice-president of hockey operations Dave Nonis, VP of player personnel Steve Tambellini, VP amateur scouting Mike Penny and chief professional scout Shawn Dineen in anticipation of finally getting the Bure deal done.

"I've grounded all of our staff," said Burke on Monday afternoon. "We're all huddled up in the war room. We're going to see if we can get this done before Thursday's game (against Edmonton). I'm not saying it's going to happen, but this is as close as we've got to a deal. It's possible we could be getting close to something."

Burke said specific players are being discussed with interested teams.

"It's crystallized," he said. "We're actually talking proposals and we're trying to refine it, but there's still nothing on the table that I would take."

While Burke won't tip his hand as to who's in the running for Bure, another team's GM said on the weekend that it appeared Florida was the leading contender.

The New York Rangers have been the highest profile pursuers all along.

But word out of the Big Apple has the Blueshirts out of it -- at least for now -- with Burke's latest demand said to be forwards Nicklas Sundstrom and Manny Malhotra, goaltender Dan Cloutier, a first-round pick and $1.5 million US in cash.

Florida seemingly has the young players to give up, but it's questionable what they'd have left after ponying up the necessary talent for Bure.

It's expected a Burke wish list would start with Cranbrook-born centre Rob Niedermayer and defenceman Ed Jovanovski and carry on from there. But Niedermayer, the team's best player and the obvious centre for Bure, is considered to be untouchable and a package of Jovanovski, long-in-the-tooth centre Dave Gagner and a first-rounder has been floated in Florida. That, clearly, wouldn't get a deal done from the Canucks' perspective. Burke still maintains there are more than five teams in the Bure sweepstakes.

"You might be surprised, but then again you might not," said Burke. "I don't know what's going to happen, but there are teams you guys don't know about that are in it.

"You might be surprised, but it might be one of the ones you've been writing about all along."

Bure, suspended since September, has now lost approximately half of the roughly $8 million he was to have made this season on the final year of his contract with the Canucks.

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Bure honored in Russia

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev presented a ceremonial saber Sunday to hockey star Pavel Bure "for his contribution to boosting sports in the army and for professionalism in captaining the Russian hockey team in 1998 in Nagano."

Sergeyev said he hoped Bure and the Russian hockey team would win the gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. The team won the silver medal at Nagano.

"We decided to give you this award for the silver in Nagano, hoping it will turn to gold at the next Olympics," Marshal Igor Sergeyev told the former Soviet army club forward.

Bure spent four years playing for CSKA Moscow before going to the NHL and signing with the Canucks in 1991.

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Panther Pavel?

by Lyndon Little -- Vancouver Sun

It doesn't sound like it according to Florida general manager Bryan Murray. Murray was amused to read this week that his Panthers and the New York Rangers are the front-runners for Canuck holdout Pavel Bure because Murray hadn't heard from Vancouver general manager Brian Burke since Christmas.

"Well, I guess the Rangers will get him then," Murray told Florida reporters. "Early on I did inquire, but I've heard nothing back from Brian. There is no indication as to a time frame.

"I did hear the Rangers offered a package of young players but there was no: 'Will you do this? Will you do that?'"

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Rangers in Bure Mix

by JOHN DELLAPINA -- New York Daily News

Vancouver president Brian Burke said last night the Rangers are one of five teams that have made concrete player/draft pick proposals to him for holdout winger Pavel Bure. He also said it was conceivable a Bure deal could be made within the next week or two.

But Burke insisted he will continue to be patient in making such a critical move.

Asked if he had a timetable, Burke said: "Nope. If and when the deal is right.

"It's heated up. We're now at a point where we're talking about players. It's conceivable that something could happen this week or by the end of next week."

Reached at his Dallas hotel room, Burke confirmed what has been no secret at all - that the Rangers are heavily involved.

"We're talking to them," Burke told the Daily News. "We've talked about a number of proposals. . . . At this point, five teams have made proposals and I expect two more (today)."

The Rangers' proposal is believed to be two of the following: Niklas Sundstrom, Dan Cloutier and a first-round draft pick. Rangers sources say that Burke has requested all three plus rookie Manny Malhotra.

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Burke weighs solid offers with a Bure deal in sight

by Elliott Pap-- Vancouver Sun

After months of sporadic negotiating, Vancouver Canuck general manager Brian Burke said Wednesday "it's conceivable" that suspended star Pavel Bure could be dealt in the next seven days.

"It's not at a pull-the-trigger stage but it's definitely coming to a boil," Burke said. "I don't think it's unrealistic to think this might happen over the weekend or early next week.

"There are concrete offers on the table for players and draft picks," he continued. "It came to a head at the world junior tournament in Winnipeg where I got the first offer I thought the team had to take a hard look at. This has produced other offers as well. Up until now, everyone has been nibbling."

Burke's credibility has been questioned for similar pronouncements made in November and December that a Bure deal "is heating up" and could happen "in the next 10-14 days." He said Wednesday those were never hard and fast promises and that reporters misunderstood him. The New York Rangers and Florida Panthers are now believed to be among the front-runners, but Burke said the Rangers weren't the leading contenders despite speaking to New York GM Neil Smith four times Wednesday.

"You media guys don't listen," he said, bristling. "I never said it would happen. I said it might happen in the next 10-14 days but it's not going to happen until it's there. That's the same view I have today. I've never put deadlines on it."

Burke's lack of activity in the trade market has not gone unnoticed around the league. In Wednesday's Dallas Morning News, columnist Keith Gave called Burke's efforts to move the Russian Rocket "a three-month charade during which his credibility as a can-do executive has steadfastly eroded."

Gave wrote that Burke has done nothing to help his team, surprising for someone "who in his tenure as the NHL's chief disciplinarian showed the kind of decisiveness that suggested he was the right man to turn this sorry franchise around."

Asked if he was stung by these and other remarks, Burke replied: "I could care less. They can write what they want. To date, I have to confess I've learned very little about hockey in the newspapers."

Burke did say he still liked his team when healthy and that he won't panic with the Canucks still close to a playoff spot.

"Nobody was screaming for a trade when we beat Calgary back-to-back," Burke said. "The fact of the matter is we haven't lost any ground. And if we need to make a move before the Bure trade, we'll do that. We have other assets we can trade.

"My hesitancy on this is that I believe in our team. I do believe in our players and I do think we can be in the playoffs and be competitive - if healthy. If I'm wrong, we'll go back to the drawing board."

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Owners still behind Burke

by JIM MORRIS-- Canadian Press

VANCOUVER -- As speculation grows that a deal for malcontent winger Pavel Bure may be near, the owners of the NHL Vancouver Canucks have expressed support for general manager Brian Burke's handling of the negotiations.

The New York Rangers and Florida Panthers are believed to be the frontrunners among teams interested in the 51-goal scorer last year. Bure, who has demanded a trade, has been suspended all season after refusing to report to the Canucks.

Burke told the Vancouver Province he has three offers on the table and hopes to have two more soon.

"I'm more optimistic in terms of timing," he said.

The Canucks took a six-game losing streak and a pop-gun offence that had managed just five goals during that string into Wednesday night's game against the Dallas Stars.

Many have questioned why Burke has waited until so late in the season without managing to swing a major deal for a team so desperately in need of help.

But Steve Bellringer, president and chief executive officer for Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment, said the Canucks owners are not putting any pressure on Burke to make a trade.

"I think Brian has a good sense of the teams that are interested in Pavel," said Bellringer.

"He's kept myself and the ownership up to date . . . in terms of the nature of the discussions."

Bellringer made it clear Burke has complete authority to make any deal he thinks will help the Canucks, who haven't advanced to the playoffs in the last two seasons.

"Brian has the final yes or no," Bellringer said.

"I would think it would be most unusual for myself or ownership to veto a deal. You hire somebody to do a job. You hire a talent that has better insight into certain things than yourself."

The Rangers, with their deep pockets, have always been considered one of the franchises able to pay Bure's salary, estimated between $6 million and $8 million US.

"We're certainly interested but until the Canucks decide what they're going to deal there's not much more to say," a Rangers official said Wednesday.

"When Brian decides he's going to do something the Rangers are interested."

In the past, winger Niklas Sundstrom, centre Manny Malhotra and goaltender Dan Cloutier have been mentioned as possibilities in a Bure deal.

In the past, Florida general manager Bryan Murray has denied interest in obtaining Bure but sources close to the team say he may be reconsidering.

Among the Panthers who could be traded away are defenceman Ed Javanovski, centre Dave Gagner and unhappy goaltender Kevin Weeks.

A big stumbling block would be Bure's huge paycheque.

Burke was hired as the eighth general manager in Canucks history last June. The NHL's former senior vice-president of hockey operations took over from his close friend Pat Quinn who was fired the previous November.

Since then Burke has made few moves. He signed free-agent defenceman Murray Baron, traded a sixth-round draft choice to Philadelphia for Trent Klatt and claimed Harry York off waivers from Pittsburgh.

Still, Bellringer is happy with Burke's efforts as Vancouver battles to remain in playoff contention in the NHL's Western Conference.

"I'm probably more excited about Brian being GM today than the day I hired him," Bellringer said.

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Offers for Bure are heating up: Burke

by Terry Bell-- The Province

DALLAS -- Maybe, just maybe, the logjam has been broken and Canucks general manager Brian Burke is a step closer to making a Pavel Bure trade.

Burke said Tuesday he has three offers on the table and hopes to have two more in front of him today.

"This thing is still far from done," cautioned Burke, who re-boarded his sinking ship in Dallas Tuesday after watching it take another torpedo in the side with Monday's 4-0 loss in St. Louis.

"I'm more optimistic now in terms of timing, but in terms of what I get (in return), that's never changed. There's no deadline.

"Now a trade might be closer and that's good news. But in terms of what the offers are, this is what I thought (the value would be) all along."

But Burke suggested the deadlock has broken.

"Some teams saw that another team had stepped up," he said. "They were all waiting for signs of panic from us.

"I had one GM tell me (Monday) that he thought now that patience was the key to this deal. He said he had thought that he could get (Bure) on the cheap, but now he doesn't think that way."

Burke wouldn't elaborate on which teams are interested, but said there are more than five involved. He said two more clubs would let him know within days if they were going to put a proposal together.

A deal can't come quick enough for coach Mike Keenan and company. The Canucks have gone 5-15-3 in their last 23 games and have lost six in a row. With Dallas on deck tonight, Vancouver has managed five goals in its last six games and has been shut out in its last three road games.

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Star holdout Bure may well represent Canucks' stock-in-trade

Trade may help keep Vancouver from going down for count as statistics from latest slump show woeful lack of offensive punch

by Grant Kerr-- Globe & Mail

Vancouver -- The numbers just don't add up for the slumping Vancouver Canucks. They're in deeper trouble than even pessimists anticipated.

Vancouver has lost six consecutive games, scoring only five goals in their latest losing streak. And if those discouraging numbers aren't enough, figures also don't compute favourably in the area of player movement.

The Canucks restructured half their roster during the last calendar year, and not all the personnel change produced positive results. Far from it.

Players traded last season by the temporary, three-headed front office of coach Mike Keenan and administrators Mike Penny and Steve Tambellini accounted for 42 goals the rest of the season, compared with 21 by players coming to Vancouver.

Those same traded players in the first half of the current season had scored 31 times before National Hockey League games last night, while the new Vancouver players have combined for 17 goals.

In addition, traded goaltenders Kirk McLean and Sean Burke won 15 times last season, while incoming puck-stoppers Burke and Garth Snow had five victories. This season, McLean and Burke have won 13 times for the Florida Panthers, while Snow has 11 wins with the Canucks.

The Canucks operate under different executive direction this season with the addition of a full-time general manager. Brian Burke elected not to re-sign unrestricted free agent Arturs Irbe, and the little Latvian goaltender has already won 12 times for his new team, the Carolina Hurricanes.

The plight of the Canucks, 13-21-4, seems to worsen each week as the losses mount. Vancouver has not scored a goal in three road games since Christmas.

The changing of the guard in Vancouver began on Jan. 2 last year when former team captain Trevor Linden, fan favourite Martin Gelinas and reliable goaltender McLean were suddenly dispatched to Carolina.

The changes just kept on coming until the March trade deadline, with Keenan pulling most of the strings on deals. He wanted a tougher, hungrier team, one capable of grinding out victories in tight situations.

The Canucks missed the playoffs in 1998, finishing 18 games below .500, and appear headed for the same fate for the third consecutive year.

Keenan seems frustrated and antsy. He recently suggested a coaching change might be in order, but he has been backed by Burke. The new GM wants a healthier lineup and fresh legs from a Pavel Bure trade before evaluating his coach.

Burke has been unable to trade Bure, a celebrated holdout after scoring 51 times last season, and the Canucks have become disheartened by the lack of remaining offensive punch.

A team once loaded with skill now is burdened with mostly blacksmiths instead of players with a soft touch around the net.

"We've been without some of our best assets, and it puts a great deal of emphasis on players playing in positions they're unaccustomed to," Keenan said before the team travelled early in the week. "I've always said an injured team is dangerous on a short-term basis, but when you're talking long term, it takes a lot of work to sustain a level of play and keep improving.

"When you hit the wall, it's very difficult for them to continue to perpetuate their play and increase their level of play. They max out at some point, based on abilities. No one can criticize this team for the way they've worked, the way they've tried to compete.

"We've used a physical aspect, to a certain extent, just to try and offset any talent base that might be coming at us. Eventually, that catches up."

Vancouver has played short-handed more than any team in the league. Top players become weary when asked to kill penalties so often.

Burke has made few moves since assuming control of the team after five years as an NHL vice-president. He signed free-agent defender Murray Baron, who had played for Keenan in St. Louis. Trent Klatt (one goal) came from Philadelphia for a sixth-round draft pick next year, while forward Harry York (four goals) was claimed on waivers from Pittsburgh. York is another Keenan favourite from the coach's days in St. Louis.

The Canucks were competitive before the Christmas break, when Snow played solidly in goal and captain Mark Messier was a force offensively. But Messier suffered a minor concussion on Dec. 22 in Calgary and has been ineffective since.

The Vancouver organization is thin on the farm, leaving hope for improvement based on the ability of Burke to make more than just the long-awaited Bure deal. The team again needs a major remake.

The Canucks had some interesting prospects playing at the world junior championship in Winnipeg: Canadians Brad Ference, Bryan Allen and Harold Druken, American Justin Morrison, Swede David Ytfeldt and Russian Artem Chubarov.

The teenagers are a few years away from possibly making a difference in Vancouver, and the Canucks enter their 30th NHL season in the fall.

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Rocket's Red glare

by MATTHEW FISHER-- Sun Columnist at Large

MOSCOW -- Pavel Bure is contractually obliged to play hockey for the Vancouver Canucks this season. One of the Russian Rocket's flimsy reasons for not doing so is that he craves the kind of anonymity he cannot get in Canada but would have if he played for an NHL team in the United States.

Such shyness must be the reason why Bure has been hiding out in Moscow this winter with some of the capital's most well known and controversial entertainers and "biznezmen."

While many Russians are starving and fretting about whether their homes and schools will be heated, Bure seems to be everywhere enjoying the good life.

The Rocket was in the front row at High Fashion Week. He spent time at a wild birthday bash for photographer-to-the-stars Heidi Hollinger. He then gave a treacly interview to a weekly gossip rag in which he denied he was having a love affair with the Montreal photographer and confided he hates it when women are drunk.

Bure has also recently appeared on a television talk show, was on the front cover of the Russian TV Guide and was photographed in a traditional Russian bath house with a famous masseur.

"People in Russia know Pavel's a big star. When he enters a room here heads turn," said a fashion editor who was surprised to see Bure three times in one week in night clubs, casinos and cafes. "He's not shy at all. He loves being seen."

Bure's little brother, Valeri, who plays for the Calgary Flames, floated a ludicrous trial balloon a couple of days ago. Valeri suggested Pavel was seriously considering an offer to play for big money in Belarus.

The economics of the former Soviet Union are badly scrambled, but there is about as much chance of Pavel suiting up in Belarus as there is of a Russian landing on the moon.

Russia, for all that it is bankrupt and terminally diseased by corrupt "biznezmen," politicians and law officers, is far better off than Belarus, which is headed back to the Stone Age. As it is, Bure earned about as much last season from the Canucks as the combined salaries of the 500 players in Russia's elite division and more than 30 times as much as the men from the Red Army team he occasionally practises with.

Wants more money

What the 27-year-old right winger is after, of course, isn't anonymity, but more money. The figure being floated back in the New World is a long-term deal worth US$80 million or more. Put another way, Bure's objective is to earn about the same money per year as something like 10,000 Russian babushkas.

Bure believes he deserves this loot because he has produced a career average of 1.1 points a game and one losing Stanley Cup final performance five seasons ago.

It seems that Bure's ideal is the equally gifted, handsome and churlish Sergei Fedorov of the Detroit Red Wings. Fedorov, 29, who is better known as the boyfriend of 17-year-old tennis pinup Anna Kournikova, held out for five months last winter and was rewarded with a monster contract from the Wings.

A trivia question few Russian or Canadian hockey fans can answer correctly is which Russian has produced the most points in the NHL over the past five seasons. Almost everyone is sure it must either be the flashy Bure or the supremely gifted Fedorov. For all their glitter, the correct answer is the much less well paid but dependable Alexei Yashin of the Ottawa Senators followed by Valeri Kamensky of the Colorado Avalanche.

One of the under-reported stories in the NHL is how Russian players such as Bure and Fedorov constantly produce erratic results and appear to be sulking and coasting so much of the time. As also happened recently with defencemen Vladimir Malakhov of the Montreal Canadiens and Igor Kravchuk of the Ottawa Senators after they signed new contracts, Fedorov's play has been disappointing this winter.

Fedorov is doing so poorly he is presently on target to earn between US$200,000 and $300,000 from the Red Wings for every point he produces. According to his current form, that means he's set to receive more money for every goal or assist he gets this winter than the entire annual payroll of his old club, Red Army, or the Russian capital's best team this season, Moscow Dynamo.

When they feel like performing, Bure and Fedorov are a treat to watch. But why throw millions of dollars at petulant men who prefer parties and the company of teenage girls to playing hockey?

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Panthers in Pavel hunt

by DAVE FULLER-- Toronto Sun

The Florida Panthers have entered the Pavel Bure fishing derby but general manager Bryan Murray hasn't had much luck hooking the big one.

After failing to land Mike Richter, Felix Potvin or Petr Nedved, Murray is loathe to raise anyone's expectations again.

"I'm just seeing what's going on," said Murray, who had several chats with Vancouver Canucks GM Brian Burke at the world junior tournament in Winnipeg.

But Murray's interest in Bure is said to go well beyond that, with Panthers names such as Ed Jovanovski, Rob Niedermayer and Dave Gagner mentioned as trade bait.

The Rangers and L.A. Kings are the other serious suitors for the Canucks holdout.

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Innuendo still all we get on Bure story

by Greg Douglas-- Vancouver Sun

SCENE & HEARD: With 52 weeks in a fresh deck as we prepare for the new millennium, what better time to gaze into the two-way mirror to reflect on the year 1998 and ponder what might lie ahead in 1999 . . .

Little brother Valeri Bure says Pavel has been offered $4 million from the Belarus Ice Hockey Federation to play in that country next season. The perks: a tax-free paycheque, fewer games than in the NHL and less travel. One day, Pavel will realize he can run but he can't hide from whatever elements of society he fears. By fleeing to Moscow and refusing to say why he has turned his back on Vancouver, Bure has left himself open to some very malicious insinuations that have included everything from his being gay and not wanting to come out of the closet to battling a cocaine habit to playing peekaboo with the Russian mafia. There isn't an NHL executive who hasn't heard the innuendo and there isn't one media rugrat on the Canuck beat who hasn't quietly discussed the rumors with his peers. Canuck GM Brian Burke has said all along that once he trades Bure he will tell all. Burke must be held to that promise.

HERE 'N THERE: While he held positions with the NHL as senior vice-president and league truant officer in charge of discipline, Burke obviously poked his nose into some files and bylaws that he considered all part of his learning process. How else could Burke confidently be predicting he'll have the league's blessing when the Canucks claim that because Bure didn't honor a valid contract, the contract should not be considered over after this season and Bure should not be considered a free agent next summer. Bob Goodenow, president of the NHL Players Association, would declare all-out war if Burke was able to pull it off.

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Pavel Bures's great-great-great-grandfather's company's watch was up for bid recently. A club member purchased it for $455.

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