Jim Jamieson of the Vancouver Province reached out to Russia to gather Igor Larionov's memories of playing with Pavel Bure.
“When you see a player in and out, in every city in the NHL and at his best,” he said. “All those games at the Pacific Coliseum and then in others cities, in Florida and New York. You have a chance to see the artist. You can see something special coming out every time. It’s a gift to be able to understand the game right and to be in position to get the puck and score the goal. You have to cherish that as a player, a teammate and a friend.
Here's more from Larionov.
Meanwhile Tony Gallagher tracks down Pat Quinn and Scotty Bowman about their thoughts on Bure. As always, Bowman's thoughts are fascinating.
“I haven’t seen a lot of guys like him. Rocket Richard was a lot like that when I saw him when he was in his prime, but it was a different game altogether, the guys then didn’t have the kind of speed they do now."
He added: “The Russian style has always been built around the forward, and their style was to have a guy leave the zone early and he’d take a defenceman with him,” said Bowman. “I remember (former Red Army coach) Anatoly Tarasov, talking with him one day after he’d watched a couple of our practices in Montreal, asking me why we didn’t have (Guy) Lafleur leave early.
“The (NHL) teams are beginning to use the no-red line a little more now, but it surprises me how little. Bure would have been something with Igor and no red line.”
Here's the full story.
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