News from March 1992

At the risk of sounding like a tub-thumping homer, it's time to get the truth in this rookie-of-the-year race.

Everyone says Tony Amonte of the Rangers will win it. He's a superb hockey player, as is Detroit's Niklas Lidstrom, who has faded somewhat down the stretch as the 80-game schedule has worn on. But the best rookie in the NHL this year is Pavel Bure and he should win the Calder Trophy.

Let's examine the pros and cons. Amonte is an American, a bit of good fortune which could win him some votes with a couple of flag-waving writers. He has 34 goals and he's playing on a team that will finish first overall. Further, he;s playing in the media town and he's fit well into an outstanding group of players assembled by g.m. Neil Smith and Roger Neilson.

"People are going to hear a lot about this guy, he's not a flash, he's got a lot of talent," says Mark Messier of his linemate. "He can really play."

This is not a smear-Amonte piece. We're not talking Brit Selby here. He's an outstanding rookie.

But! Amonte plays with the likely MVP this season in Messier as his centre and one of the most underrated players in the game today, Adam Graves. You can trot out the infamous argument a fire hydrant could get 30 goals with these two, and you wouldn't have the slightest defensive concern. Messier and Graves are beauties.

"Playing with these two guys is heaven," Amonte says. "Mess is so good, it's unbelievable."

Now the case for Bure. He is a man who lifts people out of their seats every time he touches the puck. His entertainment value alone is something Amonte will only dream of his whole career. When Bure goes to the bench after a shift, nobody gets cheated.

Forget the 15-game late start, that he didn't have a training camp, that it took him time to adjust to American life, that he was two months away from any kind of serious practice with teammates. None of that can be held against Amonte. That wasn't his fault. Besides, take a short schedule into account and you'll find yourself making a case for Gilbert Dionne.

But how much room would Bure have were we playing with Messier? It would be Mess and Gretz show all over again. When Bure got to Vancouver, g.m. Pat Quinn slowed down his stats, bringing him along slowly - putting him with plowhorses and making him wait his turn to get on the specialty teams. That's as it should have been. But how many goals would Bure have now had he strolled immediately on to the power play or killed penalties immediately, rather than trying to make plays with Gino Odjick.

When Bure arrived, his eventual centre Igor Larionov was a scoreless, tired old man. As the relationship began to blossom, Larionov helped Bure off the ice, and Bure rekindled the talents of the gentleman centre to the point where we now fully remember just how superb a talent he was in his prime. He is once again a glorious sight when he plays.

While Amonte has had the luxury of looking back on the points on the power play and eyeing likely Norris Trophy winner Brian Leech and James Patrick, Bure has at times had the nightmare vision of Randy Gregg. So he went back and did the job himself.

Bure has "goons" Larionov and Greg Adams to look after him on the ice. Who do you like in a tag-team match featuring Messier and Graves against Iggy and Gus?

Bure plays on a team with a travel problem. The Rangers' idea of a grueling trip is a one-hour flight to Pittsburgh.

Mew York writer-broadcaster Stan Dischler said on Wednesday that Amonte will win because nobody has heard of Bure in the East. He's likely right. But ignorance among the writers is no excuse for making the wrong choice.

Put it this way. Would the Canucks trade Bure for Amonte? Would anybody? Would the Rangers?

Sorry, this one isn't even close. Amonte is a fine player, but Bure is rookie of the year.

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The ice came early to Moscow and stayed for months, and the small boys who rushed home from school to play hockey in the frozen streets plodded gingerly around their makeshift rink in three-on-three games until it was too dark to see. And although his son stumbled and slid like the rest, Vladimir Bure says he knew early on his boy Pavel was faster than most.

This is how it began.

"I played lots, but without skates," Pavel Bure says. "And no puck - ball. I played lots after school. When I was young, not many (ice hockey) practices, two or three a week. After, you were free. We go and play hockey in the street. Lots of kids, lots of teams. If you win, you stay on and play another team. If you lose, you wait maybe 40 minutes before your next turn. And it was cold. If you lose, you are very upset."

"I watched when Pavel began playing on the street near home," father Vladimir says. "He had very good coordination He was a very fast boy; not possible for him to sit still, even for a minute. He runs around - zoom, zoom, zoom. Every time it's 'Where is Pavel? Where is Pavel?' Pavel is very fast boy."

He is even faster now. Like a Russian Rocket.

In one memorable winter as a Vancouver Canuck, Bure has become one of the most exciting players in the National Hockey League and a rookie-of-the-year candidate.

He is already a giant celebrity in a town not easily stirred, a strong, silent, heroic figure who makes young girls scream and many older ones gape. He is adored everywhere he goes.

Fans line up for hours to speak with him for 20 seconds at autograph sessions, strangers rush to him when he strays outside his downtown apartment, airline attendants and customs clerks have him sign scraps of paper and advertisers and charities flood him with offers and requests. People gossip about his mysterious wife.

When Bure plays, everyone - teammates, reporters, coaches, fans - waits for something to happen, something outrageous.

"If you're watching the game on TV, you wait to go to the bathroom when he's on the ice because you don't want to miss anything," Vancouver broadcaster Tom Larscheid says. "It could be the shift where he goes end-to-end."

Pavelmania has gone wild.

Bure, angelic features and killer eyes, doesn't understand what the fuss is about.

Unhappy with his treatment from Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov, Bure, who turns 21 on Tuesday, left the Soviet Union last summer with his parents and younger brother Valery because he wanted to play in the NHL. He didn't count on any of this idol stuff.

It's too late now to escape it.

The Bure family showed up on the Los Angeles doorstep of agent Ron Selcer. After a lengthy three-way contract dispute involving the Canucks, the Soviet authorities paid Bure (the Canucks bought out the final year of his Russian contract then signed him to a four-year, $2.7-million NHL deal), the right-winger made his debut in Vancouver on Nov.5 against the Winnipeg Jets.

Bure signed with Vancouver on a Thursday and was in the lineup the following Tuesday. Several thousand tickets sold in between, and in front of a sellout crowd of 16,123 at the Pacific Coliseum, Bure twice rocketed solo through the Winnipeg defence. He didn't score, but nobody seemed to mind.

Since then, Bure has 30 goals and 24 assists in 59 games, including 18 goals and 8 assists in his last 18 games. He is likely to be a finalist for the Calder Trophy as top rookie, but will have a tough time beating Ranger forward Tony Amonte, whose chances for the award have been bolstered considerably by linemate Mark Messier and the New York media monster.

"He's different than anybody I've ever had, and I've had some great athletes," Canuck coach and general manager Pat Quinn says.

"He's electrifying, and I've never coached a player that has electrified fans before. Even the great Marcel Dionne was not flashy. This guy has the ability to pick fans out of their seats. I'm in new territory, too," Quinn said.

"I've only done a couple of Canuck games this season, but I've seen half his goals because he's usually the opening on the highlight films," CBC hockey analyst and former coach Harry Neale says. "Everyone you talk to says he's worth the price of admission. He would win the rookie-of-the-year award sairly simply if he had played the whole season."

Even Bure's teammates fall under his spell when he picks up speed in the neutral zone.

During a January game in Winnipeg, Bure was leading checkers Troy Murray and Mario Marois on an absurd chase around the Jets' end when he made what has become his trademark move. Bure hesitated and pulled the puck into his skates, then in a flash kicked it back up to his stick and accelerated to warp speed. Murray and Marois didn't have a chance.

The next day at practice, all the Canucks were trying to copy the move.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm flying, but not all the time," Bure says, speaking now through interpreter Serge Levin, a close family friend and adviser who put the Bures in touch with Salcer. "When I feel that - like I can fly like a butterfly - it feels very good, And when I feel like this, I play very well."

"For him, every game, every day it's like a joy to play hockey," says Russian veteran Igor Larionov, a linemate of Bure's since December. "He's got lots of talent and ability to score so many goals. Maybe similar to Sergei Markov when he was younger. It was different hockey 10 years ago: I think it's not polite to compare each other , but maybe Pavel takes something from Makarov and adds his own skill."

Bure's awesome skills have made smooth his transition to the NHL game. And his success on the ice has helped his transition to an affluent North American lifestyle. The steadying influence of his parents hasn't hurt either, Larionov says.

Vladimir and Tanya Bure have settled into a Vancouver apartment of their own. When he's not studying English at the University of B.C. or visiting younger son Valery, 17 - he plays for the Spokane Chiefs - Vladimir keeps a constant eye on Pavel.

"This is new for Pavel," the father says of his son's fame. "Now a little bit big head. But I think he is a good boy, and many times I talk to him. I say: 'The NHL has many great players.' I joke: 'Now, you are not a great player.' Pavel has this many goals. Brett Hull has this many."

Canada is different - everything from hockey to life," Pavel says, speaking again in his improving English. It;s difficult for me that I can't talk with everyone. In Russia, I have lots of friends because I grow up there. In the street where I lived, I have lots of friends. Here I have lots of friends, but hockey friends. Outside hockey, no friends.

"Sometimes I go to movies. Sometimes I go to mountains, just for walking. When I come to Los Angeles, everyone come to me and say Vancouver is nice city. Nobody says Vancouver is bad city. Everyone says nice city. It is true."

In the oddest friendship since Oscar and Felix shared a pad in New York, Bure has become best pals with Canuck enforcer Gino Odjick, an Algonquin native. On the road they are inseparable, seeing movies, playing cards and video games or looking for a burger.

"Gino and Pavel are 16 hours a day together," Larionov says. "They sleep for eight hours; the rest of the time together."

"We're the same age," Odjick says. "I think he blends in pretty well with the boys. Everybody likes him. He's funny and he's really, really honest. I help him a lot with English. What's hard for him sometimes is the slang."

Bure says: "For me, it's easy to speak with Gino. He understands everything."

Perhaps it's Odjick's own experience of trying to fit into another culture that allows him to relate to Bure.

In any case, the Russian seems well adjusted. Despite his sudden wealth and a frenzied following once reserved for movie stars and rock singers, Bure appears steadfastly focused on hockey.

"We're concerned about distractions for any athlete, and Pavel is younger and gets more attention than most," Quinn said. "There is charisma there with the fans. He's so willing to please. That's the great part about him."

"The only questions might be can this guy handle stardom that's come his way, and the money that will be coming his way and the attention from other players this kind of player gets," Neale says. "His attitude could be the only thing that holds him back - and only he knows what his attitude is - from being a spectacular NHL player. That's what separates the great ones from the good one."

As a marketable commodity, Bure is already one of the great ones. He has done ads for a Vancouver auto dealership, the reward being free use of a Stealth sports car, and recently did a fashion photo shoot for a magazine.

Bruce Courtnall, the brother of hockey players Russ and Geoff and owner of a fledgling Vancouver-based sports management company, says Bure is the most sought-after Canucks for card store autograph sessions and charitable promotions.

"It's a teen idol sort of thing," Courtnall says. "He's taken the city by storm."

Indeed, Bure has become a poster boy for the Teen-Tiger Beat crowd.<; Bure's marriage to an American fashion model last summer, shortly after his arrival in California, is discussed, it seems, by everyone except the insiders.

Although the bride - Bure says only her name is Jimmy and she is working in Spain - hasn't been to Vancouver, Levin rebukes suggestions the marriage was an immigration life vest in case the Russian failed to sign with the Canucks.

Vladimir Bure says: "I coach Pavel only in hockey, not in love."

Pavel says he met Jimmy at a house party during the Seattle Goodwill Games two years ago.

"An American guy friend introduce me to her," he says. "After a couple of months, she comes to Moscow for a visit. Lots of talk on the phone. Sure, I miss her. But the job, hockey, comes first. We'll be together after the season. We will look for a home."

He isn't sure where the welcome mat will be.

Bure says he wants to return to Moscow and see his friends, but the couple might live in California. Vladimir says the rest of the fsmily will likely stay in Vancouver.

"It is very strange," Pavel says of the past year. "For me in Moscow it was not the same. Maybe people get my (autograph) after game, but never in the street. 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.

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In the macho environment of pro sport, ice hockey is still considered "family entertainment." Despite the game's frequent violence, the National Hockey League continues to encourage an old-fashioned, meat-and-potatoes image consistent with traditional values and orthodox masculinity.

Given this prevailing wisdom, it's interesting to observe the snowballing media profile of Pavel Bure, the Vancouver Canucks' "Russian Rocket" rookie sensation.

Bure, who celebrates his 21st birthday on Tuesday, has inspired more excitement in five months than any player in the Canucks' history. Symbolic of the team's most successful season. the "Russian Rhapsody on ice" has been photographed more often, in more situations, than any other Vancouver athlete in so short a period.

Whether signing autographs, relaxing at home, serving pasta at a Canucks benefit - where his apron sold for more than $500 - or posing for fashion photo in Western Living magazine, Bure has been on film at every available opportunity.

In the process, the rookie has become an instant media sex symbol.

Obviously, much of the initial hype was related to Bure's commendable talent as an athlete, his impressive statistics and the mystique of his arrival in North America amid legal entanglements and contract negotiations. The press would be ill-advised to ignore a player who -as Canucks media relations director Steve Tambellini puts it - "does moves in a National Hockey League game that some players would be afraid to try in a summer hockey league."

In fact, Tambellini wouldn't be exaggerating to compare Bure to a classical dancer or a world-class figure skater, pirouetting around opposing defencemen with a Victor Potrenko-like flourish.

Bur talent is not the only reason the Russian Rocket is getting so much attention. Bure, for those that don't read newspapers, watch television or go to Canucks games, also happens to be drop-dead-gorgeous.

Bear with me on this: I realize that good-looking athletes aren't exactly news. The Canucks, for their part, have a;ways been generous in their promotion of captain Trevor Linden - his wholesome, boyish charm has been exposed on the team yearbook, in bus shelter posters and in advertising all around the city.

But Pavel Bure's androgynous, fawn-like features are unique in the macho, rough-and-tumble world of NHL hockey. Indeed, from his first game last Nov.5, much of the media's coverage of Bure has focused on his smouldering sex appeal and exotic European image.

Bure's debut, against the Winnipeg Jets, is a case in point. When the rookie first stepped on the ice, the commentator Tom Larscheid's gushing appraisal of his physical attributes was so lengthy the folks at radio CKNW virtually had to call for a commercial.

A few days later, Province reporter Tom Hawthorn's introduction to the Russian Rocket ("soft-spoken and polite... Bure ...has the chrubic good looks of a teen heartthrob") could have been reprinted in Tiger Beat magazine.

Hawthorn's article begins by describing a Canucks practice in which the exuberant youth "squirted a stream of icy water on to the steaming neck of teammate Trevor Linden." Later he informs us that "Pascha" - Bure's Russian nickname - "is moving into a West End apartment, although his new wife... a U.S. citizen, will not join him here."

In the test of a radio spot for Marine Plymouth Chrysler, Bure's recital of routine ad copy - in his smooth, silky Russian accent - is followed by a suave announcer who comments on the hockey player's progress in the English language: "Hey, you catch on fast, Pascha..."

In the January issue of Western Living, Bure is featured on the fashion page in a world-weary, James Dean-like slouch. Peering invitingly at the camera, he displays what writer Shelley Youngblut considers the same "Little Boy Lost good looks" as the original rebel-without-a-cause.

What are these writers and broadcasters responding to? Don't other hockey players have lips like rose petals, bedroom eyes and fashionably coiffed hair? It doesn't appear so. Pavel Bure, unlike most of his NHL comrades, would not look out of place in one of those athlete/actor/model Calvin Klein ads.

Is this merely an accident? Or have the media contributed to the Russian Rocket's new career in fashion? Judging from Shelley Youngblut's response, Bure's a natural.

"He would make a great model, because of the way he was trained as an athlete," she told me recently. "In the Soviet Union, when the coach says, 'go to bed now, get up now, eat now, drink now' ... they do it - they don't think. So when our photographer, Jane Weitzel, says, 'raise you eyebrow this high,' he did it perfectly."

Like most "superstar" athletes, Bure also has impeccable timing.

"We chose him serendipitously," added Youngblut. "We needed somebody who looked like James Dean and he was making all the headlines because he's been signed and there was a certain whimsy in using Pavel Bure the Russian to mimic the most American of sex symbols."

What's interesting about Youngblut's comment is that it reveals a possible paradigm shift in media perception of the male jock - particularly the hockey player: not only is Bure presented as appealingly un-macho, but he's willing to be objectified for that very purpose.

"It was a cute fashion shoot," Youngblut continues, "because our stylist, Brad Gough, was trying to get Pavel Bure to loosen up. He kept saying, 'You're sexy - be sexy!' and Pavel would go, 'Okay,' and he'd say 'Be a superstar!' and Pavel would go, 'Okay.' Those were the words he responded to - 'sexy' and 'superstar.'"

Does any of this bother Pavel Bure? Not at all, if a recent chat following practice is an indication. "It's not hard for me," said the amiable young Russian, in that soft, silky accent. "Some people need my photograph, so it's not hard for me."

Nor is it hard for the Canucks, who have done little to discourage their young star's androgynous hunk image. The more celebrity players the better, says the team's media rep.

"Pavel's Flash and Trevor's The Rock," smiles Tambellini, referring to captain Linden's solid image as team leader.

"There's a flair about Pavel that's special. It's that flash, the way he does things that's exciting to watch... There's so much about him because of what he does on the ice, plus the fact that he's a young guy, a good looking guy. [Also] he's not a cocky person, so he's kind of freshing."

In the Canucks' brave new world of winning hockey, Bure's "flair" and "flash" are clearly an ideal marketing combination.

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