Canucks in no hurry to bring young Soviet star to NHL
by Mike Beamish - - Vancouver Sun
June 16, 1990
It took almost a year for the Canucks to confirm that Pavel Bure finally was theirs - and they're in no hurry to rush the Soviet Junior hockey star to Vancouver.
"Certainly, the process has begun," said Arthur Griffiths, the Canucks' assistant to the chairman, commenting on league president John Ziegler's reversal of an earlier decision that allows the Canucks to retain Bure's playing rights.
Bure was picked by the Canucks in the sixth round of the 1989 NHL draft but only because of questions about his availability. Many scouts considered him the best eligible a year ago.
"We expect him to play in Vancouver sometime in the next few years, but we're not going to rush the process," Griffiths said. "Unless the Soviets have changed their approach, he won't be coming out soon. If there is a change, of course we'd have to pursue it."
The Canucks expect Bure, an explosive, 19-year old left winger who was a second team all-star at this year's world championships, to be available to play in the NHL following the 1994 Olympics.
Yet the changes in the Soviet Union over the past few months are so profound that the situation could change dramatically.
"There is a rule in my country that a hockey player does not have the right to go abroad and play until he is 28 years old," Bure told the Toronto Star through an interpreter. "But everything is changing at home very quickly these days, so who knows what the future brings?"
Bure plays with the Central Red Army and the national team, both coached by Viktor Tikhonov, the Soviet Union Mount Rushmore. But even Tikhonov, who is loved by his players about as much as Zsa Zsa likes traffic cops, is starting to crumble in the era of new freedoms.
After the Soviets won the gold medal at this year's world championships, with a lineup that included many returnees from the NHL, Tikhonov said that the Soviets might release younger players for the right price.
"To be in the NHL is not any large goal of mine but a man wants to know other countries and to play hockey in a new place would be a way to find out," Bure said.
It is fitting that the Canucks' center Igor Larionov played a major role in helping the Canucks secure Bure's rights. Larionov went to Moscow and obtained information from the Soviet Ice Hockey Federation that confirmed Bure's eligibility to be picked by Vancouver.
Last April, Bure, Alexander Mogilny and Sergei Fedorov were being groomed to replace the fabled but aging KLM line of Larionov, Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Makharov, who were being sold to the NHL for hard currency.
Bure, a Moscow native, has been enrolled in the Central Red Army sports club since he was six. He is used to strict discipline. Emulating Mogilny would be unthinkable to him.
"I could never do what Alexander did, no matter what happens," Bure said. "I could never leave my family and friends that way."
So the Canucks will have to find another way.
Arthur, get your cheque book.
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Bure reinstated as Canucks pick by NHL president
by Mike Beamish - - Vancouver Sun
June 20, 1990
Igor Larionov was a valuable ally in helping the Vancouver Canucks reverse a decision by NHL president John Ziegler that allows the Canucks to retain the playing rights to Soviet junior star Pavel Bure.
"We got Igor to do some research right after the decision and he was able to visit with the appropriate people and come up with a more refined set of statistics," said Canuck GM Pat Quinn. "He was able to go back and explain in his own language what we neede."
Ziegler said Thursday that new information obtained by the Canucks and certified by the Soviet Ice Hockey Federation backed Vancouver's claim of Bure, a left winger, in the sixth round of the 1989 entry draft.
"Pavel Bure is reinstated on the Vancouver Canucks reserve list as an unsigned draft choice," Ziegler said in a press release Thursday.
"Mr. Ziegler did as he said he would," Quinn said. "He was able to verify our new statistics and acted accordingly."
On may 21, Ziegler, following an 11 month investigation, ruled against the Canucks and voided their pick of Bure. Ziegler said information obtained by the league showed that Bure didn't play a required number of games in an elite European league during the 1987-88 season that would have allowed him to be picked beyond the third round.
Ziegler earlier ruling meant that the 19-year-old Bure, a second team all-star at this year's world championships, would be placed back in the 1990 draft, scheduled Saturday morning at B.C. Place Stadium.
Bure was considered by many to be the best player eligible in the 1989 draft. It's inlikely, however he'll be released to play in the NHL before the 1994 Olympics.
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