News from October 1998

NEW YORK (October 30, 1998) - The following is the complete list of players included on the 1999 NHL All-Star Ballot.

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Bure a good fit in New York ?

Pavel Bure is somewhere in Moscow these days cooling his rocket-like heels, but the agent for the Vancouver Canucks' star holdout has made it clear where his client would like to be. Agent Mike Gillis told CTV Sportcentral anchor Suneel Joshi yesterday that the New York Rangers would be a "terrific fit" for his client.

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Sue Bure?

Silence is golden. Unfortunately so is the price some pay for withholding services. Pavel Bure, however, is an authority on both silence and gold. And patience.

Throughout much of last season I talked frequently with his agent Mike Gillis. On several occasions I asked if they were contending the Canucks had breached Bure's contract. 'Yes' or 'no' were possible answers I was expecting. For whatever reason Gillis declined and continues to decline to respond either way.

Alright. What about the other party to the multi-million dollar contract. Would the Canucks consider suing the player for breaching the deal?

For the answer I went to the man responsible for doing the homework which enabled the Canucks to outwit the rest of the league when they drafted him. The man who literally picked him up at the airport in Seattle that October night in 1991 and drove him directly to the Pacific Coliseum. The man who still considers him a friend. Now Canucks president and general manager Brian Burke.

"We have not ruled out any possibility in dealing with this player," he says. "I've yet to talk to our lawyers about it, but it's not out of the question."

While no one can think of a precedent for such action I do know there has at least been a threat to do so as recently as last season. The player in question was back with his team after missing just one game.

Think back to the genesis of Bure's current deal. Then-agent Ron Salcer might well have contended his client could put fans in the seats. Arthur Griffiths has said he felt it was a prudent business decision. While not a mandate from the bank, it would be wise moving to a new building to ensure the team's valuable asset was under contract.

Fast forward -- could the team now not argue the loss of fans and therefore revenue is Bure's fault? At 3,000 tickets averaging say $30 per game fewer than when he was in the lineup, that's a conservative $90,000 per game. Five games monthly means $450,000 or hovering around $3 million for the season.

I don't care what you make, that's quite a dent in anyone's budget!

Mind you, having the Russian Rocket back as a malcontent, never mind spending a million a month on him, isn't ideal either. So maybe the legal action occurs after he's dealt.

Guess what. Unlike the days when the owners had it all their way, the pendulum now is at the other side. So while it might be food for thought, or indigestion, it just won't happen.

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The real Bure story

It came up again on Tuesday. Pavel Bure wouldn't talk about it. His agent, Mike Gillis, wouldn't talk about it. Vancouver Canucks general manager Brian Burke wouldn't talk about it.

No one is willing to answer the question which most vexes Vancouver and its hockey fans: Why does Bure want out of Vancouver? We must have done something awful to drive poor Pavel from our midst. But what was it?

"I won't say anything about it until after he's traded," Burke said, shortly after Bure and Gillis appeared on television and dodged the issue again. "It's not a shocking revelation and I don't think the city or the fans will understand it. I just told them I wouldn't comment on it until after he's gone."

So what could it be? The water? The lack of public transit? The traffic on the Port Mann bridge? Maybe Pavel doesn't like all the scenery around here and our absurdly high standard of living. Don't know. But, in the absence of any compelling reasons, we can only speculate on why he wants out and what would make him happy. Here are some popular theories and our take on them.

- Pavel, supposedly, is tired of being the most recognizable face in Vancouver.

We understand that. How much pubic adulation can one man take? He therefore wants to be traded to a place where a 27-year-old who makes $8 million US a season and looks like James Dean can live in peace and quiet. Aldergrove is apparently not an option but Bure has suggested he would play in New York or Los Angeles. Now there are two cities which have never been conscious of celebrities. Short of expansion to Western Samoa or even Nashville -- hey, there's a good one -- L.A. and New York might pose problems.

What? There is a team in Nashville? Well, there you go. Unless he puts on a cowboy hat and starts singing like someone with an adenoid problem, Bure could play in Nashville and luxuriate in privacy. That would make him happy, wouldn't it?

- Bure wants to play for a winner because, clearly, all of those Canucks' losses last season weren't his fault.

Sadly, this might work against the Nashville option but that leaves Й oops that leaves the Kings and the Rangers again, two teams that couldn't beat Italy in war. I think to accommodate Pavel's wishes, which is clearly the reason we're all on this planet, he should be traded to a winning organization like Buffalo or Edmonton. Ottawa is also on the rise.

- Then there's the travel issue.

Bure hates to travel, so it's a good thing he picked a job like professional hockey player. The Canucks were reportedly working on a system in which Pavel could be molecularly tele-transported, Star Trek-style, at his convenience but that method was hard on his stomach. Again, Los Angeles would appear to be out if you believe travel is a problem. It's just that, somehow, we don't think he'd be whining about travel if he was traded to L.A. He'd find something else he didn't like.

- He's incensed that his good buddy Gino Odjick was traded to the Islanders.

The Canucks were considering handing him the player/GM job. But Mark Messier already holds down that position. Come to think of it, the Islanders might be a good fit all the way around. They've been winners, not in our lifetime, but they have been winners. Travel wouldn't be a problem. There are certainly no fans to bother him.

True, the Islanders are also on the verge of bankruptcy but we know money isn't an issue with Bure. He's always played for the love of the game.

Well, hasn't he?

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Keenan in hurry to deal Bure

Vancouver coach Mike Keenan is weary of waiting for his general manager, Brian Burke, to trade pouting superstar Pavel Bure.

"We have nothing beyond the first line until we make a Pavel Bure move," Keenan told reporters covering the Canucks. "We have no depth."

But Burke, whose team lost 5-4 in Nashville last night, said ,"The time isn't right."

The line of Mark Messier, Todd Bertuzzi and Alexander Mogilny has accounted for most of the Canucks offence and Keenan warned that "they can't do it every night on their own."

Despite a lack of skill up front, Keenan benched ex-Maple Leafs centre Brandon Convery for the third time in eight games.

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Money isn't everything

Bure staying in shape by working out with Central Army

Pavel Bure might be the $8.5-million man in Canada, but in Russia he's just another unpaid hockey player on a homeless club that can't even pay its wages or rent.

Yesterday he stood and watched the ice melting in a hockey arena outside Moscow. His Central Army teammates, who have already gone without salaries for four months, were evicted from the rink because of the club's failure to pay its bills. The electricity was turned off, and the team was homeless again.

Bure shrugged and went outside to go jogging. Unlike the other players, he chatted on a cellular phone as he waited to be driven to the jogging track by a chauffeur in a sleek new off-road Chevrolet.

It's now been almost three months since the hockey superstar announced he would never play again for the Vancouver Canucks, where he was due to receive a salary of about $8.5-million this year. He has returned to practice with his old Central Army club in Moscow to try to keep in shape. But he arrived in Russia to find the country mired in the worst economic crisis in years, and now he is paying the price.

"It's frustrating for me," Bure said in an interview. "It's kind of sad. The whole situation with the team and the crisis is frustrating."

It's his teammates that he really feels sorry for. "They haven't had a salary for four months. They're still here because they love hockey. They've got families to feed, but there's a big crisis everywhere here. I think they've been patient enough. They just need money to feed their kids."

In a country where the currency has collapsed and unemployment is soaring, many ordinary Russians find it bizarre that a hockey player could reject a salary of $8.5-million.

"Yeah, I'm losing lots of money . . . huge money," Bure, 27, said. "But I'm fine. It's a sacrifice that I'm ready to take. Money is important in our lives, but it's not everything to me. I have my principles. Hockey is number one for me. Money is two, three or four -- I haven't decided which."

After seven years with the Canucks, the Russian Rocket announced in August he will refuse to play another game in the National Hockey League unless he is traded to a different team.

The winger still won't reveal exactly why he wants out of Vancouver. Some reports say he wants to play in a bigger city, where he would face less scrutiny. His mother says he wants to play for a Stanley Cup winner. As for Bure, his only comments are philosophical. "Sometimes there's a point in your life when you have to go to a different place and try to do something new."

Regardless of the reason, Bure vows to stick firmly to his demands, even if he has to remain in Moscow for the entire year. "I'll wait as long as it takes. I made up my mind that I'm going to be traded. I have to do what I have to do. I knew it was going to take some time. If it's going to take a year, I'm ready."

There is a brief hint of emotional distress when he talks about his decision to return to Russia, instead of finding a practice rink somewhere in North America. "When you're having a hard time, most people go to the people who support them," he said. "It's really important to feel comfortable and supported. I have lots of friends here and my family. This is my home."

When he left Vancouver and flew back to Moscow, he chose to practice with his former team, Central Army, where, from the age of six, he once toiled in the youth school. Its coach today is his former childhood coach, Boris Mikhailov. "I grew up with lots of these guys. I've been with them since I was six years old. These guys are really close friends of mine. It's like old times."

Many things at Central Army have taken a strange twist in recent years. The hockey club is now split into two feuding squads. One faction, a privatized team coached by the famous Viktor Tikhonov, has a 49-year lease on the army's sports palace in central Moscow. The second faction, coached by Mikhailov and controlled by the Russian defence ministry, has tried to seize control of the sports palace. But it lost a series of court decisions, and now it is homeless.

Two months ago, the team began practicing at Novogorsk, a former Olympic sports complex where Russia's national hockey and soccer teams often train. Yesterday they were evicted for failing to pay a single ruble in rent for the rink, rooms, meals or medical treatment. They departed with an unpaid debt of about $30,000.

"They've betrayed me," grumbled Vladimir Osipovich, director of the Novogorsk sports complex, who said he allowed the team to practice at his rink because of his friendship with Mikhailov.

"It's not the team's fault, it's the fault of the managers," he said. "They wrote a letter promising to pay, but they haven't paid anything. The defence ministry does have money -- it will be indecent if they refuse to pay."

An assistant coach, Igor Tuzik, agrees the defence ministry is to blame. "Our managers are incompetent," he said. "We feel like fools. Psychologically it affects us. It hurts our spirit."

Even with his wealth and fame, Bure could not persuade the sports complex to provide ice time to his teammates yesterday. He held a meeting with Osipovich, but it failed to solve the deadlock.

A few minutes later, the Central Army players straggled out of the front gate in their uniforms. They had just returned from a four-game road trip to the wilds of Siberia, and they were exhausted. Now their future is uncertain.

As for Bure, he said he is working hard, sometimes practicing twice a day (although he also admits that he sometimes goes partying at Moscow's nightclubs until the early hours of the morning). Occasionally he sees the score of a Canucks game. "If I watch the news, I know how they're doing. If not, not. I think they're doing not bad. They won their last game 5-0 and I think that's great. I've got nothing against Vancouver or the team personally. It's a great bunch of guys. I wish them well."

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Bure Makes His Stand and Waits for a Trade

Twice a day a limousine pulls up in front of Luzhniki Arena in Central Moscow dropping off Pavel Bure, kit bag and all. That he arrives in such fashion is not so much an expression of prosperity brought on in seven seasons in the National Hockey League, but more for security reasons. In an economy near collapse, people may take desperate measures against such a wealthy local.

Inside, under the direction of Boris Mikhailov, the national coach, Bure practices with the Red Army team to maintain the high standard of fitness that has helped him score 60 goals twice in seven National Hockey League seasons. At 27, Bure should be well on his way to another successful year, but he was a no-show at the Vancouver Canucks training camp last month.

Any day, the call could come announcing that the Canucks have granted his wish for a trade. If not, Bure is prepared to sit out the last year of his contract, giving up $8.5 million in salary.

Rumors of a trade have circulated ever since the season began. But Canucks President and General Manager Brian Burke deny them all.

"All this talk of a trade being imminent is just nonsense," said Burke, who was hired in June. "We are not close to anything."

If Burke is standing firm, then so is Bure.

"I was taught that when you make up your mind, you stick with it and go all the way," Bure said during a telephone call from his Moscow apartment last Tuesday. "A lot of people ask if it's about money. But it's not. Not at all. I am losing huge money. But I have my principles. Obviously I have already lost huge money, but I am ready to make sacrifices."

Bure says the Canucks reneged on a promise to trade him last year, but he played through the season, scoring 50 goals. Perhaps more indicative of his ability was his performance in leading the Russian Olympic team to a silver medal in Nagano, Japan.

"I never had a problem in Vancouver with the people; they were always good to me," Bure says, addressing criticism that he is aloof toward fans. "If you are doing something in public, like you are out somewhere and people come over for an autograph or to talk to you, well, that comes with the territory, not just in Vancouver but in Calgary or anywhere. I don't have a problem with the people."

At this point the feeling isn't exactly mutual. According to Dan Russell, host of "Sports Talk," a popular radio show on CKNW in Vancouver, 60 to 70 percent of callers disagree with Bure and say he should honor his contract.

Speculation has been wild in the Vancouver news media. Some say he didn't want to play for Mike Keenan, which Bure firmly denies. He said he learned a lot about hockey and life from the Canucks' coach, who joined the team last November. One news report even quoted his mother as saying the real reason was that he wanted to go a Stanley Cup contender. He laughs when told of this.

"I haven't read that," he says. "Obviously every hockey player wants to win the Stanley Cup. That's why we play. It is my dream. But it's hard to predict who will be in the finals. Florida went to the finals one year, so there can always be somebody new in the finals.

"I have always said Vancouver is a great city. I loved it there. I still have lots of friends and I still have a house there. It's where I started my career. But it's time to go."

His absence may already be having an effect on ticket sales. The one bright spark in team struggling to regain a semblance of competitiveness, the absent Bure is beginning to worry the finance department. This week Canuck fans received offers of up to 40 percent off lower-priced tickets.

He has been called spoiled, greedy and many things far worse, but those who know him say Bure is misunderstood. Gino Odjick, the Islanders' left wing, was Bure's closest friend on the Canucks for seven years. They found they had a lot in common.

"I came from an isolated place -- an Indian reserve -- to a big city, and it was a big culture shock," Odjick says. "It was the same for him. He found it really very difficult at the start. He has come down to the reserve to visit my family a few times. He was here in the summer for my baby's christening."

Odjick and his wife named their infant son Bure Odjick. "When times are tough he is there for you," Odjick says quietly. "I miss him."

The night before he left Vancouver to return to Moscow, Bure and his girlfriend entertained a friend. Somehow the conversation turned to death, and the friend mentioned that his mother kept his father's ashes in an urn, unable to afford a proper burial. Bure gave him a $2,000 check for the burial.

Before leaving Vancouver he also gave away bundles of clothing, tapes and compact disks to recent Russian immigrants. According to a close friend, he made it a practice to send clothing to Russia, where his mother would distribute it among the needy.

These days Bure stays in touch with hockey through his agent, Mike Gillis, who advised him not to go to training camp if he was serious about forcing a trade. It is clear he misses hockey. He has played the game since he was 6.

Yet the man who holds the cards at the moment offers a strong testimonial.

"I think very highly of Pavel; you have to look pretty hard to find someone of his caliber," Burke says. "But I don't agree with a player under contract refusing to play. But that's as far as I'll go in my criticism of him. Other than that, he's not been a problem for us.

"He's a good kid. And I wouldn't say it's bad advice. The kid wants out."

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Bure showroom filling with interested buyers

While the ultimate destination of Pavel Bure will always seem to be New York until a deal takes him elsewhere, there have been two, maybe three more customers in the showroom kicking tires.

Both are almost certain to be lookie-loos but both have intriguing situations. They are the slumping Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils, the latter a team that simply cannot get over the hump because they score about as often as a 14-year-old in a Clearasil commercial.

The third is Washington, with Sergei Gonchar the object of Canucks affections.

Going for Bure for any of these teams would be a stretch and that's why it always comes back to the Rangers, especially considering Madison Square Garden CEO Dave Checketts said Tuesday money won't hold them back. But these other teams have exactly what the Canucks need if in fact Garth Snow can surprise and play like a No. 1 goaltender long term.

The Avs are struggling. Even though Joe Sakic is playing well and was exceptional in Los Angeles Sunday when the Canucks' Steve Tambellini was watching, Colorado could be looking to go in a different direction. While unlikely, they might be looking to move Sakic to Vancouver if the Canucks will take some salary back. They could then bring in some of their younger, cheaper talent in the middle to pick up the slack from a departed Sakic, who would love to play here.

The money situation is easily resolved. While Sakic was paid $17 million US last season and just $2 million this season and next, the contract could be averaged out to $7 million per year by the Canucks paying Colorado $5 million per season for the next two years.

There are two problems here. The Avs have to decide to want to trade Sakic and the Canucks have to be willing to pick up a salary similar to that of Bure. Both are unlikely but should be considered.

The Devils will almost certainly trade offensive defenceman Scott Niedermayer. He says he wants to be traded and he'll probably get his wish. He wants to play in Vancouver, which, given what an abrasive clown GM Lou Lamoriello can be, means he'll likely end up in Tampa.

But let's say the Devils decided to end their goal-scoring problems and make a huge p.r. splash in New York. What better way to do it than land the exciting Russian by packaging Niedermayer and a couple of good young players?

There are two problems. One is the Devils don't like to spend money. The second is even more difficult. With Scott Stevens making just over $4 million US for the next three seasons and Martin Brodeur having undersold himself for just under $4 million US long term, Lamoriello has a built-in salary cap. Every player must line-up on the team pay scale behind Stevens and Brodeur.

To make a trade for Bure, he would have to shelve the human salary cap and then try to mollify his two stars. But if such a move was made, Devils fans would finally have something to see.

The Caps have always coveted a star. But there is no pressure having reached the final last year and the deal would have to be widened to include Bryan McCabe and Peter Bondra. Don't hold your breath.

In the meantime, it always comes back to the Rangers.

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Four-letter word haunts team

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- To be sure, Arturs Irbe has had tougher nights than the one his ex-mates threw at him Tuesday night.

Heck, the little goalie probably had a more challenging morning in the Carolina Hurricanes pregame skate than he did against the Vancouver Canucks in an easy 3-1 win. He thinks he knows why.

"In four letters, it's B-U-R-E," said Irbe, referring to the suspended Pavel Bure, the Canucks' 51-goal scorer who's sitting in Moscow waiting for a trade demand to be met. "They miss him so much."

Canucks head coach Mike Keenan isn't buying any up-the-creek-without-a-Pavel theories, though, and he has a message for anyone on his team who might be leaning on that crutch.

"It might be in their conscious or subconscious and there's a level of ineptness that's sitting in the Pavel Bure or (unsigned defenceman) Bryan McCabe notion," said Keenan.

"If they are, it should be noted that they might ride it for some time and if so they're in for a lot of long nights."

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Why I think Pavel will not report to Vancouver...

Pavel Bure's mother says the reason that Pavel's not reporting to Vancouver is that her Pasha wants to win the Stanley Cup and he doesn't fell he can do that with the Canucks.

I will give you why I think he will not report to Vancouver, but let me say first of all it's not money. He could stay in Vancouver and collect $8.5 million US.

I believe Pavel's refusal to go back to his team stems from about three or four reasons.

Here are my thoughts.

I believe he wants to go somewhere where he can get lost in the shuffle. The kid has had pressure on him since he arrived in Vancouver; he has to carry the team year after year. He wants to go somewhere where somebody else can share the spotlight and he can relax a bit. He would love to walk along the streets or go to a show or play and enjoy himself and have nobody recognize him.

Another reason -- and yes, his mom was right that he would like a shot at the Cup -- is U.S. tax laws would let him save some money. He could defer money, etc. (I'll never ever forget Rod Langway telling me when he was with the Canadiens, "Grapes, I just have to get out of here between the federal government and the Quebec government and the cost of living here, and the tax laws. I go home with $14.92 at the end of the season."

I also believe there are a few guys on the Canucks who, shall we say, Pasha's not too crazy about. But the reason he wants to leave boils down to one thing: He's not enjoying himself in Vancouver and at 27, the years are slipping away.

The way he plays, hell-bent for leather like Bobby Orr, his career could be over in one check. He does not play careful, he takes chances like Bobby and that's a dangerous way to live.

Brian Burke knows he's got a valuable asset there and he will sit till the right deal comes along.

There's not a doubt in my mind he will not panic, even when the Canucks only got 13 shots at home. He will bite the bullet until, like he says, some team gets in a four-game winless slump.

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You're asking me to pick one team Bure will go to. I say the New York Rangers.

They've got the dough, they are struggling, Pavel can get lost in the crowd and Gretzky will take the pressure.

The Big Apple was made for Pasha, right mom?

But mom, forget the Cup for awhile. But then again, you can't have everything.

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Bure trade looks like a bigger and bigger deal

They stare at each other from across a crowded room, reluctant lovers who've been thrown together by fate and circumstance.

The Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers still are not certain they're doing the right thing. But they also have little choice in the matter. All the other suitors will fade away or prove unworthy. And it now seems inevitable that the two teams will make a trade that will determine each other's future.

Do we lie? It's possible. As of Sunday, NHL sources said there were two others teams still kicking the Canucks' tires and asking about Pavel Bure. You have to figure the L.A. Kings are one. Washington might be another. Either way, there are only a few teams in the league that can afford to take on Bure's salary and baggage. The Russian Rocket might be an enticing package. He's also a very scary one.

But there are the Rangers. And the Rangers need something big in a big way. Over the season's first fortnight, they've produced one tie and a remarkable seven goals in five games. That will get you forgotten in a hurry in New York. This summer, Gotham general manager Neil Smith tried to convince his owners the team needed help and the help would cost big-time. They didn't believe him then. They're listening now.

For the Rangers, however, money is the easy part. The tricky part is providing the right package for the Canucks, who are just as sickly as the New Yorkers. Young goalie Dan Cloutier remains the name mentioned most often. But Cloutier doesn't sell this deal in Vancouver. The Canucks would also need Niklas Sundstrom, a vastly under-rated second-liner, or Manny Malhotra, the Rangers' first-rounder this season.

An NHL source close to the situation said the Rangers would never pull a three-for-one for Bure -- "They'd just be gutting their team for one guy." But Canucks general manager Brian Burke also has the Bryan McCabe chip to sweeten the pot.

At the risk of stating the obvious, this could be a very interesting deal by the time it's consummated.

It also will reveal much about Burke, who promised so much but has delivered so little since taking over this leaky vessel. The new GM maintains he will follow a sober, judicious course in the Bure process. "I don't care what our record is for the next two weeks or the next four weeks," he says.

"I'll make that trade when it makes sense. And I don't see that happening soon."

But, in reality, Burke needs this trade as much as Smith does.

While Garth Snow deserves the Order of Canada for his performance in the first homestand, he did nothing to hide the Canucks' very obvious shortcomings. This is a team still dogged by questions -- Can Messier deliver the goods? Is Mogilny a frontline player? Do they have any depth? That Snow stole two wins in three games doesn't make them go away.

Nor does it make the Canucks' grasp on this city any less tenuous.

Following last season's embarrassment, the faithful still are waiting for a sign that things will be different, that the new sheriff will clean up the streets. So far they've been treated to two superb goaltending performances by Snow. But it hasn't been enough to ease those other anxieties.

"There's no question there's hard feelings over what happened here," Burke says. "Pat (Quinn's) dismissal. Trevor (Linden) getting traded. Those are body blows to a franchise.

"But one thing I've tried to stress since Day 1 is just relax. We'll get it back. We don't need a major overhaul to get this back into contention."

But they do need whatever Bure can bring, just as the Rangers need Bure. It's not true love. But it is a marriage of convenience.

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Rangers in hunt for Bure?

With the New York Rangers off to such a rocky start, the reports of a Pavel Bure trade are heating up.

The Vancouver star is hanging around in Europe while he waits for Canucks GM Brian Burke to trade him. But Bure is one of those players who stays in shape year-round, and if the Rangers were able to acquire him, he could offer immediate help.

The talks revolve around four players: Alexei Kovalev, Adam Graves, Dan Cloutier and Niklas Sundstrom. But it's not quite that simple. Rangers GM Neil Smith would reportedly give up Cloutier, who could solve the Canucks' goaltending problems for the foreseeable future, and Graves. But anything else is up for negotiation.

Last June, the Canucks were closing in on a deal with Los Angeles that would have seen Bure go to the Kings for Aki Berg, Olli Jokinen, Glen Murray and a high draft pick. But that was before Burke became GM.

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Bure covets Stanley Cup, mom says

Canucks dispute unhappy player wants out because he feels team will never be winner

Pavel Bure's mother has added her version to the various tales of why the unhappy player wants the Vancouver Canucks to trade him: He believes he'll never win a cherished Stanley Cup with the team.

But it hasn't shed any light on the matter because Canucks general manager Brian Burke said this doesn't jibe with the reasons Bure has given him for wanting out. Burke said he has agreed to keep those reasons confidential.

"With Vancouver, he will never win the Stanley Cup," Bure's mother told Izvestia, a Moscow newspaper. "And it's Pasha's dream to get it.

"Of course, it would be more comfortable for him to stay in Vancouver, to play and get the money. But being a real sportsman, he made the right step. Sportsmen are sportsmen."

Bure has never spelled out his reasons for not honouring his contract, which calls for an estimated salary of $8.5-million this season. He refused to report to training camp and was suspended by the Canucks. Bure is now in Russia, waiting to be traded.

One theory, put forward by Ron Salcer, Bure's former agent, who was replaced by Mike Gillis, is that the player feels he is under too much scrutiny in Vancouver. "He thinks if he went to Los Angeles, New York or Chicago, everything wouldn't centre around him, because there are so many other stars," a spokesman for Salcer said yesterday.

The spokesman said Bure's preferred city is New York because it offers the easiest air connections to Russia. The Rangers, who desperately need scoring help, are believed to be interested in the 27-year-old right winger.

Burke, who said there are a couple of National Hockey League teams showing interest in Bure, added that the player has given him reasons for wanting out of Vancouver that are different from those stated by his mother.

"I agreed to keep those reasons quiet, at least until I trade him," Burke said. "I don't agree with those reasons. I don't understand them.

"It will all come out in the wash some day."

Bure's reasons for walking out on the Canucks have been a mystery since training camp because he has declined to spell them out.

Gillis added to the speculation when he said that publicly airing Bure's grievances would "do nothing but create ill will toward a bunch of different people. I don't think that is advisable, good business or necessary. I don't know why people can't understand that."

Gillis could not be reached for comment yesterday on the remarks by Bure's mother.

Burke said he doesn't see a trade on the horizon.

"It's not time yet," he said. "We need some teams to get into a three- or four-game slump before they're ready to trade."

The Canucks have been thought to be a team ready for an immediate trade because of their goaltending and anemic offence.

Garth Snow and Corey Hirsch are the goaltenders, and neither has any NHL experience as the No. 1 man. Snow, signed as a free agent, drew the anger of the dwindling fans who buy tickets at GM Place when he surrendered two soft goals this week in a 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. The Canucks' record is 1-1.

Just as bad was the offence, which managed only 13 shots at the Oilers. The problem is particularly acute at centre, where 37-year-old Mark Messier has done nothing to make the fans forget his poor 1997-98 season. Defensive specialist Peter Zezel became the No. 1 centre by default after scoring two goals, one more than alleged superstar Alexander Mogilny.

If Burke makes a trade soon, the forward problem will be addressed ahead of the goaltending situation.

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Talent high on Gretzky's list

Wayne Gretzky never says much, but inside he's hurting.

Night after night toiling in the uniform of the New York Rangers, he makes one great play after another only to see the puck shot wide or hit the goalie in the crest.

Gone are the days when his plays were finished by the likes of Jari Kurri or Glenn Anderson. Last year he spent much of the season setting up the likes of Bill Berg and Darren Langdon.

Peter Sundstrom has spent the better part of a whole season on his line and his numbers are nothing to take to arbitration. So when the name Pavel Bure is raised, The Great One is not inclined to torture himself with hope.

Getting someone for him to play with to prolong his career has been in order now for over a full season. GM Neil Smith does nothing, raising questions as to whether he's in total control of the way the team is run.

"I'm not going to lie to you, I'd love to play with a (Jaromir) Jagr or a (Pavel) Bure and there's no question it would prolong my career," Gretzky said on Tuesday afternoon. "Those kind of guys make your life easier. But they are difficult to get. They're a rare breed.

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Poor deal for Pavel

UNIONDALE, N.Y.--Trevor Linden has been sufficiently conscious of his image that he hasn't thrown stones at anyone since his unwilling departure from Vancouver last season.

While he is less than enthused about the way he was handled both by Mike Keenan and Mark Messier, he has always passed on any opportunity to express his feelings. He was traded with virtually no time to have recovered properly from an injury and his 'C' disappeared amid strange circumstances as first he remained captain, then gave up the post to Messier when he began perceiving heat from teammates.

Whether the Linden deal was good for the Canucks is yet to be seen. But it was certainly the right move for the Isles, given Todd Bertuzzi and Mike Milbury were getting nowhere with each other.

After getting to know Pavel Bure this summer better than when they were teammates Linden shed some light on some of the reasons the Rocket is adamant about departure. And he hinted at his own feelings as well.

"For one thing, I can tell you the travel bothers him," said Linden, when asked why Bure wants out.

"He's a terrible traveller. It's not that he's nervous or anything like that on a long flight, he just gets tired. It seems to take more out of him mentally and physically.

"There's a whole lot of good reasons why he wants out. I talked to him a few times over the summer and I have a pretty good understanding of where he was coming from."

When asked if Bure had a problem with Messier or Keenan, both of which are strongly suspected despite his denials, Linden just smiled, looked a touch awkward and took the fifth amendment.

Teammate Gino Odjick joined in to indicate his trade was quite likely the final straw that made Bure upgrade his relatively passive trade request to this summer's insistence.

It's common for some simply to dismiss Bure as a pouty, spoiled player, but this is something he's thought about for a long time.

He's so adamant about escaping the "asylum," as Brian Burke so accurately described it, he's willing to put this year's approximately $8-million-US salary at risk. This is not a move taken lightly and neither is his decision not to get into a pissing contest with people he would have to slag if he were to tell all the reasons.

"They wouldn't have this trouble with Pavel as bad if they hadn't traded me," said Odjick, a man who will go to heaven one day on the strength of his honesty alone.

"That was what put him over but they knew that when they made the deal. At least I think they did. I miss him a lot.

"I still miss everyone in Vancouver," continued Odjick, who appears to be in the best condition of his life at 220 pounds, injury free and skating extremely well for a guy who probably never will get much more than 12-15 minutes ice time a game. "I miss it so much it hurts. I even miss the trainers."

Linden clearly pines far less, already having had his name inscribed on the wall alongside the fabled captains of this once great team at Nassau Coliseum.

As soon as the season started, he ended his holdout, signing a one-year deal for the same money he got last season -- that part of his personality very much as it always was.

It didn't even bother him commissioner Gary Bettman was crowing to the general managers about how Linden had caved in.

"What was right for me was to get back playing, get back and established again and it was definitely the right thing for the team to have me back. We're not in a position to be starting without everyone. There's too much at stake here. We miss Zigmund (free agent Palffy) terribly. But the guys here have to carry on."

It was that team-oriented approach that so many Canuck fans loved about Linden. It is why we don't hear, in words at least, what Linden really feels about the way he left.

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Jim Taylor's reply....

The Pavel Bure Fan Club e-mailed Jim Taylor in regards to his article below. We found thia article, and others of his in the recent past to be very anti-Pavel Bure in nature. We pointed out that,

Even on TV in Vancouver (Sportstalk), they have shown Pavel working out the daily grind in a lacklustre ice rink on the outskirts of Moscow with a local Moscow team.

What true sportsman would be " sunning his million-dollar butt on the Russian Riviera," when stakes are in the $10m a year range ?

Jim's reply was...

Don't know when Sportstalk took that footage, but I am in continuous touch with people who are in contact with Pavel on almost a daily basis. Yes, he's working out, and yes, he is holidaying at a Russian resort.

As for my feelings on Pavel: I still think he's a nice kid getting bad advice.
Cheers
jim taylor

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  Pop quiz: What do Pavel Bure and the New York Rangers have in common? Answer: Neither is playing hockey.

 While the league's true wild card sits sunning his million-dollar butt on the Russian Riviera, the Rangers stumble into St. Louis to face the Blues tonight with an 0-2 record and Wayne Gretzky, Adam Graves and Mike Knuble deadlocked atop the team point race. Unfortunately, they're deadlocked at one point each.

 Graves got the goal Saturday against Montreal. Gretzky and Knuble set it up. Two games, and that's it.

 They opened at home losing 1-0 to Philadelphia and got pasted 7-1 by the Canadiens, a game in which they managed one (1) shot in the second period. They can't score, they can't win faceoffs, they've got Graves, a career winger, playing second-line centre because there's no one else, and there's nothing on the farm but old furrows and crop blight. Which is why, on whatever beach towel he's occupying, Pavel Bure becomes a possible factor in Neil Smith's newly-opened drama, It's Murder in Manhattan.

 The Rangers are one of the few teams around that could afford to add Bure's $8-million contract to their payroll. New York, with its multitudinous sports franchises, would seem to fill Bure's requirement, a city where he can disappear when he leaves the rink. Bure can score, and Lord knows the Rangers need at least one of those.

 But it takes two to procreate or make a hockey trade, and the Vancouver Canucks don't see much on the Rangers roster that would interest GM Brian Burke in launching the Russian Rocket from his self-imposed silo.

 Gretzky, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter are untouchable. Burke has already dismissed a rumored swap of Bure for Graves and winger Alexei Kovalev, saying it's a deal he'd never make. Given that Burke will want two or three for one, that doesn't leave much.

 Two games gone is hardly magic number time for the Rangers, but coach John Muckler hasn't been over-awed with what he's seen. Following the loss in Montreal he blistered Kovalev and Esa Tikkanen for what he viewed as lack of effort, and they're the two wingers on Gretzky's line.

 Kovalev is the guy they didn't want to give up, a happy-go-lucky winger who's been viewed as a potential superstar since he came out of Russia in 1992 and has shown only enough little spurts to drive you crazy.

 When Mark Messier came to the Vancouver Canucks last season he tried to get management to pry Kovalev loose from the Rangers. They didn't get it done, and the Burke-Mike Keenan regime will be even less inclined to deal a blue chip like Bure for a package involving a likable loose cannon with the attention span of a hummingbird. Especially when he's already under fire at home.

 Smith and Muckler were counting on rebound year by Leetch and Richter to carry them through the early going until kids like centre Manny Malhotra, their first-round draft pick, adjusted to the NHL pace.

 They've been solid, but what does it say about the Rangers when Malhotra, at 18, has been one of their better players?

 Which inevitably brings us back to the Russian wild card, sitting in the sunshine of his homeland.

 By now it may have occurred to him that if no deal is made and he loses $8 million, no one is going to pay him the $16 million he'd need next year to break even.

 He's played his cards badly, and now they're Burke's to deal. And the team that wants and needs him most may not have the chips to get into the game.

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Bure just what the Rangers need

After one look at the New York Rangers, this much is true: Boy, could this team use Pavel Bure. And who else can afford him? ...

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Bure will test bosses' mettle

Their most important player was last seen in Moscow, which says a lot about the Canucks heading into this season.

Bu the Pavel Bure situation also will reveal much about the working relationship between Brian Burke and Mike Keenan.

As things stand now, Keenan might be a sympathetic character for the first time in his career.

He's got no Bure. Burke says he's at least a month away from delivering a return on the asset. Bryan McCabe is still holding out.

If Keenan can win with what's left, we'll be writing poems about him.

But it would also be out of character for Keenan to accept his fate quietly. He's already bought up the Bure situation a couple of times.

'We have a responsibility as an organization to improve the club,' he said this week, before adding, 'From a coaching point of view, you'd rather (the trade) occurs sooner than later.'

He hasn't exactly sounded off. But you know where he's aiming his comments.

It's unfair to write off his partnership before it begins.

It's not unfair to raise the question. Burke and Keenan have to prove they can play nicely together. And the litmus test will be Bure.

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IT'S ALL TALK

Canucks GM, Brian Burke dismissed unsubstantiated reports out of the east that he was close to trading Pavel Bure in a three-way deal involving Toronto and the New York Islanders. This version had the Canucks ending up with goalie Felix Potvin and centre Bryan Smolinski. "I've talked to the Islanders and Toronto about other (potential) trades, but not about Pavel Bure," said Burke.

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PAVEL IS TRAINING IN MOSCOW

The following is the Russian text we received from our Moscow sources concerning Pavel's present training in Moscow.

The message may be viwed using the 'Cyrillic 1251' encoding of your browser.

Павел Буре тренируется в настоящий момент с хоккейной коммандой ЦСКА под руководством Бориса Михайлова. Но будет ли он выступать за ЦСКА, неизвестно.

Translated:
Pavel Bure is presently training with the Central Red Army Team under the eye of coach Boris Mihailov. Whether he plays games with the team is unknown.

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Bure's skating on thin ice

  Pavel Bure is a nice young man. Nice and confused.

 He is young and rich and famous and single and looks like Ron Howard doing Ritchie Cunningham. Young girls want to snuggle him, older women want to mother him, and in 10 years he has gone from a Moscow kid over the moon because he had his own car to an NHL superstar unhappy with his mansion, his apartment and his millions because they're in Vancouver, where he swears he will never play again for a reason he just won't reveal.

 If he plays his cards right, this season will cost him only $8 million.

 Brian Burke is big and bluff and tough-talking, a man clearly proud of his hardass-Irishman image and blessed with all the subtlety of a steam roller laying asphalt.

 He has approached the job of rebuilding the Vancouver Canucks with sleeves rolled to the elbows, jaw thrust out in hit-me-I-dare-you pugnacity, and an avowed determination that he will sit Bure out till his butt sprouts begonias rather than trade him for anything but a deal that will be of enormous help to the team he is trying to salvage.

 If he plays his cards right, the Canucks will go into the season without Bure and nothing to show for it.

 And there they sit -- two men who like each other personally (Burke calls Bure "Pasha" and keeps saying "He's a good kid"), but will not give the other an inch.

 "My boss's name is John McCaw, not Pavel Bure," Burke says. "And if Pavel sits out, we save over $1 million a month."

 "I have a reason I will not play in Vancouver," Bure says over and over again. "It's a wonderful city and the fans have been great, but my reason is personal."

 On the surface, Burke has the edge. Push comes to shove, he can let Bure rot for a season, then take the five first-round draft picks next season when Bure is a free agent.

 But there's pressure on him, too. While he plays hardball, the paying customers are sorely ticked off. They were told last season that Mark Messier was the answer, and the team didn't make the playoffs. Now they look through the winter months at a season without Bure, which wouldn't be an even swap even if Messier comes back and has a banner year, and they've got the guy at the top saying he'll let him sit if the trade isn't right because he's building for the long haul.

 Bure has mishandled this thing from Day One.

 First he said he wanted to get out of Vancouver because he was in a fishbowl. He couldn't live in his mansion. He had to hide in his apartment. People weren't giving him any privacy. He wanted to go somewhere bigger, a big sports town where he could melt into the crowd.

 Then he said he'd love to play for his old boss, Pat Quinn, in Toronto, where a Leaf can't change underwear without a reporter falling out the fly.

 He has done the near-impossible: In the minds of the paying customers he has gone in one year from the most idolized athlete in Vancouver to a 27-year-old big-headed jerk.

 Pavel Bure is not a jerk. He is a hockey player of enormous talents with a heart-melting grin who had an adoring city at his feet and has chosen to throw it away without explanation.

 He will get his wish. In days or weeks or months he will be traded, because nothing else makes sense. But he should remember the old Chinese warning: "Be careful of your dreams, lest they come true."

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Cat trade out of the bag?

  Either the Maple Leafs management is good at poker or, for once, the truth is being told.

 During the first period last night, a torrid rumour ripped through the Gardens that a three-way deal involving goaltender Felix Potvin either had been completed or was near completion, involving the Leafs, New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks.

 "We can't guarantee anything, but it's not done," Leafs general manager Ken Dryden said.

 ESPN radio reported two different deals, each similar to rumoured deals reported in The Toronto Sun last week.

 One scenario had the Leafs acquiring defenceman Bryan Berard and forward Trevor Linden from the Islanders. The Canucks would get forward Bryan Smolinski from the Islanders and Potvin. The Islanders would receive disgruntled star Pavel Bure from Vancouver and defenceman Mathieu Schneider from Toronto.

 
 INTEREST

 The second reported deal had the Leafs getting Linden, the Canucks acquiring Berard and Potvin, and the Islanders landing Bure.

 "There is no substance to it," Leafs associate general manager Mike Smith said. "You can bet your mortgage nothing will happen (today).

 "I have talked to the Islanders. I know they have interest in a goalie, but I haven't had any serious talks with them. (Canucks general manager Brian) Burke has called, but we haven't had any serious talks.

 "I wish they would call me before they announce trades like this just to let me know I made a trade," Smith said.

 It should be noted that amid reports this summer that the Leafs were trying to sign free-agent goalie Curtis Joseph and were shopping Potvin around, Smith said that Potvin would be his No. 1 goalie this season.

 Potvin said he had not been informed by the Leafs about any trade.

 "No, I don't feel any different or any more optimistic," he said.

 Potvin sold his Mississauga home two weeks ago.

 Following the waiver draft this morning, the trade freeze will be lifted, meaning a Potvin deal could be done as early as tonight.

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The rumours are getting HOT...

The rumour mill out of Toronto has been saying this week that the Maple Leafs will send goalie Felix Potvin to the New York Islanders for unsigned forward Trevor Linden.

Thursday the plot thickened with the rumour that the Isles then would package Potvin and defenceman Bryan Berard to Vancouver for Pavel Bure.

The deal makes some sense. Potvin would be the No. 1 goalie the Canucks have said all along they want and the 21-year-old Berard would be the offensive defenceman they need to quarterback the power play.

Berard had 14 goals and 32 assists last year but was a minus-32.