While the owner of Minnesota was nervous about the return of Kirill Kaprizov to the United States, and the general manager of Philadelphia fought off questions about Ivan Fedotov, Vancouver gathered a Russian trio. The young striker Vasily Podkolzin was first joined by Ilya Mikheev this off-season, and then Andrey Kuzmenko.

In the Canadian club, love for Russian players has been experienced for a long time. At different times, they managed to play here: Igor Larionov, Alexander Mogilny, Nikolai Goldobin and others. However, among the fans of the team, the Russian hockey player in the killer whale jersey is associated first with Pavel Bure, and only then with everyone else.

Surprisingly, the Russian Rocket might not end up in Vancouver, but become the history of another club. To get one of the most talented hockey players on the planet, Canadians had to sue for a year and even ask for money from Bure.

“New Kharlamov”

Bure made his debut in adult hockey at the age of 16 as part of the capital’s CSKA. And it was not an army club in the mid-90s, when it was much easier to get a place at the heart of a bloodless team. The young forward played alongside Vyacheslav Fetisov, Sergei Fedorov, Sergei Zubov and others.

Although the Russian player market at that time was not as well studied by North American scouts, the young talent was already on the radars of all NHL clubs. Teams from the strongest league began to show real interest in the Storm after the triumphant for the USSR youth world championship in Alaska, which took place in 1989.

Therefore, it is not surprising that before the upcoming draft, everyone was talking only about the Russian Rocket.

– Pavel Bure is the best of this generation of Soviet players, an outstanding striker with crazy speed. He can be compared with Vladimir Krutov and Valery Kharlamov, – journalist William Houston

Historical draft

An early debut in adult hockey and a bright game at the youth world championship made Bure one of the main favorites in the draft. The forward was only 18 years old and he fell under the strict rules of the NHL – at that age, a hockey player can only be drafted in the first three rounds.

Many clubs rightly believed that waiting for the chosen player from the USSR was a task on the verge of fantasy. Therefore, general managers preferred to draft players who can join the team tomorrow.

However, there was one exception to the rules – you can spend a pick on an 18-year-old player in the remaining rounds if he played at least two seasons in the main league of his country and spent 11 matches in them. Managers of all clubs knew that Bure had only one full season, and in his debut he had only nine games.

However, Vancouver scouts found two missing matches from the Russian Rocket for the draft. And when the killer whales announced their choice in the sixth round, the managers of all clubs made a real scandal. Their anger is understandable as one of the most promising players in the world has just been taken away from them. Besides, they did it against the rules. However, Vancouver managers provided the NHL scouting bureau with the original minutes of those same two games.

Pavel Bure in the match between the teams of CSKA and Krylya Sovetov (Moscow), 1991 / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Sergey Guneev

The papers did not save the killer whales and Bure from proceedings that lasted about a year. Moreover, most of the clubs that also claimed the Russian Rocket constantly wrote complaints to the league.

Even Larionov, who had been playing in Vancouver for a year, was a witness in this case.

“Igor even wrote a paper, confirming as a witness that I really played for the CSKA team of masters in some matches,” Bure said in an interview with NHL.com.ru

Bure paid CSKA to play in the NHL

Still, the league confirmed the legality of Vancouver’s draft pick, but Bure still could not join the Canadian club. And if earlier the frustrated managers of other teams interfered with the transition of the Russian rocket, now it’s the turn of CSKA. The Army Club insisted on an impressive compensation of $400,000 for their talented pupil, but the Killer Whales did not have that kind of money.

As a result of lengthy negotiations and proceedings in court, the parties agreed on an amount much lower – 250 thousand. However, Vancouver took pity on the young forward as well. The killer whales paid only 200 thousand, and Bure paid the rest personally.

As a result, Russian Rocket was drafted in 1989, and made his debut in the NHL only in the 1991/92 season.

Pavel Bure in the match between the Vancouver Canucks and the New Jersey Devils, 1993 / Photo: © Focus On Sport / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

The joint history of Bure and Vancouver lasted seven years and ended in no less scandal. The Killer Whales traded their main star to Florida as part of the exchange. At the same time, Russian Rocket himself wanted to change the club for many reasons. Vancouver didn’t treat him like a star, didn’t deny rumors that Bure refused to play in the playoffs because he didn’t get paid during the lockout. In addition, he always believed that he could have made his debut in the league much earlier, and the Canadian club did not make every effort for this.

Regardless, Bure is a legend among Orca fans and one of the best players they’ve ever seen. The immortalized game number in the Vancouver arena and the love of the fans confirm this.