Long Live The Russian Rocket

The Canucks will honor their hockey god Pavel Bure this season by retiring the Russian Rocket’s number 10. As a little kid I watched this guy just wheel and deal around entire teams in ways the sport had never before seen. Bure was one of those players your dad would always talk about, and you would emulate. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve attempted (and failed) some of his moves in the driveway, gashing millions of holes in the garage door.

Bure not only had some of the sexiest hands in league history, but could wheel for days too, often remembered for his blazing speed. There’s pages of YouTube videos of him literally out-skating entire teams. Most players simply couldn’t catch up to the Rocket. His speed and skill was unmatched at the time. Bure paved the way for future big time speed scorers like Ovi, Stamkos, Datsyuk, and many others we watch today. You name me a dangler in the NHL that hasn’t taken a trick out of the Rocket’s deke book and I’ll show you a liar.

The Rocket was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last November, and will be just the fourth player in franchise history to have his number retired, along with Stan Smyl, Trevor Linden and Markus Naslund.

While with the Canucks, Bure recorded 254 goals and 224 assists for 478 points in 428 games played. Pavel Bure career stats

Franchise records held by Bure:

Most points by a rookie with 60 in 65 games played in 1991-92
Most career short-handed goals (24).
Top-5 in franchise history in game-winning goals (32), goals (254) and hat-tricks (9).
Shares the franchise lead in playoff goals (34), and Bure’s 16 playoff goals set a franchise record for most post-season goals in a playoff year in 1994.