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Any time Pavel Bure and the Vancouver Canucks were in town, the game was a must-watch event for local hockey fans. In such days when not all matches were broadcast on air, opportunities to watch the sport’s most splendid goal scorer were nowhere near as common as they would be today. Fans were glued to their television sets whenever an opportunity was presented to witness his nightly jaw-dropping routine. In the blink of an eye, he could slice through an entire defence and sear an unforgettable, one-of-a-kind memory into the minds of those lucky enough to watch him play. Such players who combine grace and intelligence with speed, agility, explosiveness, power and finesse are exceptionally rare. He had every skill that every aspiring player could only ever fantasize about. In another article I wrote for Pass It To Bulis, I examined Bure’s style of play, particularly focusing on his rookie season with the Canucks. Over the course of the following two seasons, Canucks fans witnessed the evolution of its most spectacular superstar. He kept improving, not only by adding new tactics to his arsenal, but by finally developing his famously superior sense of power. He developed a mean streak. His tenacity and grit were another several notches greater now that he could fight through heavy obstruction without losing his momentum or footing. He had truly become the opponent’s worst nightmare. Pavel Bure could wire the puck past the goaltender from the neutral zone, relentlessly drive it to the net, bury a snappy one-timer or crash the crease. Not even the clutch-and-grab shenanigans of the era could hold him back. In today’s presentation, we look at Bure’s performance against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on April 9, 1994, one of the final games of the 1993-94 regular season. He did not score any goals in this match, but offered more of his usual brilliance. Fans were treated to a spectacle. A few moments from this game were featured in my 85-minute, feature-length presentation, Pavel Bure: A Rocket Through Time. Today, we have an opportunity to observe this game in greater detail. Read the full article at Nucks Misconduct: *additional soundtrack credit to Pony Canyon Inc.
