New Pavel Bure biography tells all it can

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 1999

By Lucas Aykroyd

EuroReport is proud to present an advance review of Pavel Bure: The Riddle of the Russian Rocket, the new unauthorized biography by Vancouver writer Kerry Banks. Banks is an award-winning journalist and sports columnist with Vancouver’s Georgia Straight. He has published five sports trivia books and is also the author of Mats Sundin and Teemu Selanne, two titles in Greystone Books’ Hockey Heroes series. The Bure book, scheduled for release on 13 November, is his first full-length biography.

If you blink, Pavel Bure is gone. That’s always been the rule with the Russian Rocket since he arrived in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks in November 1991. Renowned for his one-step acceleration, dazzling stickhandling, and ability to bring even jaded sportswriters to their feet, Bure has led an equally “fast” existence off the ice. And Kerry Banks is the first author to provide a book-length exploration of the mysteries surrounding the 28-year-old superstar who was finally traded to the Florida Panthers last January after holding out on the Canucks for months.

Pavel Bure: The Riddle of the Russian Rocket begins on an ominous note, as its preface discusses the reluctance of many former teammates, coaches and hockey journalists to discuss Bure’s life with Banks. Whether this reticence stems from a desire to protect Bure’s privacy, mere indifference, or concerns for personal safety is unclear. Recent TV documentaries on PBS and CBC’s The Fifth Estate have alleged ties between Bure and the Russian Mafia, also pointing the finger at New York Rangers forward Valeri Kamensky and New Jersey Devils assistant coach Viacheslav Fetisov.

But while the book questions the wisdom of Bure’s choice in off-ice associates, it does not dwell on this issue at the expense of chronicling his hockey exploits. From Bure’s childhood, when his father wanted him to become an Olympic swimmer, to his adolescent flowering with the Soviet national junior team, the Rocket’s launch toward stardom is thoroughly analyzed. Banks has apparently tracked down every report published on Bure during his career in Vancouver. He brings his reader details of such little-known incidents as Pavel’s first encounter with Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey during a junior tour of Canada, or his purchase of a new Lada after the 1990 world championships.

Banks’s elegantly crafted prose captures the magic of Bure’s first three years in Vancouver, those for which he is most fondly remembered on the West Coast. Highlights include Bure’s Calder Trophy-winning debut alongside Igor Larionov; his back-to-back 60-goal seasons; and his run to the 1994 Stanley Cup finals with the Canucks, where he cashed in on opposing netminders 17 times, just two shy of the playoff record shared by Reggie Leach and Jari Kurri.

Even for the hockey fan who is less enamored of Bure than, say, Trevor Linden or Mark Messier, the book provides a comprehensive survey of the franchise’s history in the 1990s. This in itself makes the book worth owning.

Bure has been dubbed a businessman on and off the ice, and the biography traces his eventual downfall in Vancouver to his signing of a $25 million U.S. contract after the Stanley Cup run. It’s not so much that Bure’s effort deteriorated after landing his big deal, Banks opines. But a combination of injuries and backroom struggles with Vancouver management sapped his desire to play for the Canucks. Which, of course, ultimately led to his acrimonious departure for Florida after too many messy seasons and coaching changes with his original team.

As noted before, much of Bure’s life away from the rink remains shrouded in mystery. It’s still not one hundred percent clear what the root of his refusal to play for the Canucks anymore was. Nor do we know the precise reason for Bure’s severing of ties with his father and personal trainer Vladimir. However, excellent detective work by Banks has resulted in such tidbits as the tracking down of Bure’s “first wife,” an explanation of the Rocket’s switch to number 96 before the 1995-96 campaign, and extra details on his Mafia connections.

One suspects questions will always linger. As he showed in his encounter with the media during his 5 November return to Vancouver with the Panthers, Bure simply doesn’t want to shed light on anything he does outside playing hockey. But as Banks notes, “The sense of mystery that surrounds Bure’s personality has only enhanced his allure.” Pavel Bure: The Riddle of the Russian Rocket provides the best glimpse beyond Bure’s veil of secrecy that you’re ever likely to find.