The famous hockey player Pavel Bure was born in Minsk on March 31, 1971 in a sports family. He is the heir to the name and surname of his grandfather - the eminent watchmaker of the time of the imperial empire. His father, Vladimir Bure, was an outstanding swimmer who specialized in sprinting. The most important achievement in the career of Vladimir Bure was the bronze medal won at the 1972 Olympic Games . When Pavel, the eldest son, became seriously interested in hockey, Vladimir’s marriage with his wife Tatyana broke up, and mother took all the cares on raising her sons.
Paternal and grandfather’s example, maternal rigor and own perseverance became a reliable foundation in shaping the future world-famous Russian missile.
How it all began
Pavel Bure, whose biography is intertwined with a sports career, decided on a sport and began to train at a young age. His family was not very wealthy, so he sought everything himself. At the age of five, Pasha entered the CSKA sports school, where he began fruitful training for the future athlete. His first appearance in sports was held in March 1988 in the Dynamo-CSKA match, when an athlete at the age of 16 seriously declared himself with accurate and quick goals. After such a successful start, a player in the CSKA team had a great match against “Chemist”, thereby bringing his team to a winning score of 6: 4.
First achievements in sports
After a bright start, the young hockey player Pavel Bure was invited to the USSR youth team, which won the 1989 World Championship. He received the Championship gold medal, and was also named the best forward, gaining 14 points. Since then, the hockey player’s career began to develop rapidly. At the age of 19, he played in the USSR national team, and in the first five, at the same time he already held the title "Honored Master of Sports".
Tough choices
After tremendous success, the young athlete as a member of the team went to the team training camp in Novogorsk. There, each player was given the condition to conclude a contract with any hockey club of his choice, this was necessary in order to stay in the national team. Moreover, the terms of contracts have grown significantly. Bure Pavel had to sign a contract with CSKA for 3 years instead of one, but the hockey player refused the proposed conditions. He was ready to play 1 year, but he was not offered such conditions. The result of the denial was the deprivation of the right to play for the USSR. And in 1991, Pavel ended his life in CSKA and ended his game in the national team.
New benchmark
After the events in CSKA, the young hockey player left for Canada, signing a contract with the NHL club Vancouver Canucks, playing in which he continued to have an incredible athletic grip. During the first two seasons, he emerged as an outstanding member of the club on American soil. And in this, according to the athlete himself, a considerable role was played by the support of senior comrade Igor Larionov. Great help in adapting to a new place for Pavel was provided by his parents and relatives who were nearby, which is especially important, given how old Pavel Bure was at that time. Such an important step as the departure of a hockey player on a continent completely alien to him then served as a starting point in his greatest career. According to the attacker himself, he himself does not know what his fate would have been if he had stayed in Russia then. Perhaps he would not have the kind of sports hardening that he acquired by playing in Canada.
Demonstration of skill
He played his first match against the Winnipeg Jets. He did not manage to score a single goal, but nevertheless he showed his sporting character, which won the foreign fans. The player played his first season in Canada quite successfully, scoring a total of 40 goals. And in the 1992-1993 season the number of goals was already reached 60. After such a successful series of games, Bure has firmly taken its place among the best hockey players in the world. The press around the world prophesied to him an even more successful next season, which could raise the Canadian club to the first positions in the world ranking. And the forecasts came true. In the 1994 Stanley Cup final, the Canadian “Vancouver”, although it was not possible to snatch victory in the hardest match against the “New York Rangers,” but Bure Paul showed himself as the greatest master of his craft, winning the honor and respect of millions of fans.
Serious injury
The further career of the famous NHL player was just as successful until the 16th game of the 1995 season. Then, in the match against Chicago, the striker collided with rival player Steve Smith and suffered a serious knee injury. The injury was accompanied by a rupture of many ligaments, a long recovery was required, so Paul was forced to miss the rest of the game season. After the treatment and rehabilitation measures, the club member was able to recover from a serious injury. Father Vladimir helped him in this, who developed a set of special recovery exercises in
pool, and also provided a powerful moral and physical support to his son.
And again on top of success
Pavel Bure met his return to hockey with a wave of conflicting statements by the press and the opinions of fans. Some claimed that he was unlikely to be able to recover from his earned injury and the best games were already behind, while others believed in the stubbornness and sports power of the hockey player. Moral tension made itself felt, and the first half of the season was extraordinary, because in some games he shone as a player, and in others he did not declare himself. However, although the desire to return to its former form was on the face, he failed to continue to gain victory points. In the 18th match, the hockey player was injured again, but this time his back suffered.
Next records
In 1998, the famous striker, recovering from an injury, was invited to the Russian team to participate in the Winter Olympics in Nagano. The coaches had high hopes for him, and he justified them. Despite the problems with well-being, Bure Pavel brought his team to the semifinals, in which a tense struggle was waged. As a result, even though the Russian team lost to the Czech team, Pavel was named the best striker of the Olympic Games. Only in the game against the Czech team he scored 5 goals, which was an incredible world achievement, for which the athlete was subsequently even listed in the Guinness Book of Records. This is the only case in history when a Russian hockey player achieved such a record by winning a silver, not a gold medal.
Most valuable player
After the games in Nagano, the guy decided to break the contract with the Canadian club. However, the club did not want to let the athlete out of its ranks, as a result of which the former striker staged a strike lasting more than six months. After the final departure from Vancouver, the hockey player signed a contract with the American club Florida Panthers. The hockey player spent his first season with Florida very successfully, throwing one goal after another and taking the club to the leading lines of ratings, but failed to finish the season just as well. An old knee injury reminded of itself and as a result of the fact that the athlete tucked his leg, the cruciate ligament of the joint was torn. Having recovered from another injury, the player carried out one of the most successful seasons in his career, in which he scored 58 goals. And for his legendary hat-trick on February 6, 2000, at the All Stars match, he received the Most Valuable Player of the Match prize.
The main thing is not to lose heart!
Further sports career Pavel Bure, whose biography includes a number of not the most successful games, “Florida”, built quite complicated. The failure in the 1/8 finals of the Stanley Cup matches, the worst in history, 11th place in Russia at the World Championships was a real blow for both the player himself and for millions of fans. Despite the setbacks, he answered definitely to the press questions about what plans the hockey player had in his sports career and what Pavel was doing, stating his desire for future victories.
What does Pavel Bure do
So, in 2000, he fought for the title of best player of the past season, along with Jaromir Jagr and Chris Pronger. In addition, he was recognized as the best sniper of the championship and received the Morris Richard Trophy award. The won awards confirm both the presence of an incredible supply of strength and energy for the athlete, and a high rating in game matches. Answering the question of where Pavel Bure is now, one can clearly answer that he continues to amaze hockey fans around the world with his unsurpassed athletic grip and fortitude. With his unique game, he fully justifies the title of “Russian Rocket” of world hockey.
Pavel Bure: personal life
The whole life of an outstanding athlete of our time is riddled with a huge number of trainings and sports camps. In addition to participating in games and championships, an athlete needs a lot of work on himself and a competent distribution of time. At the same time, Bure always speaks very friendly of Russia and is very bored, being away from his homeland. The athlete seeks to spend his every vacation in Moscow, gaining strength for future achievements. Despite frequent invitations to entertaining events, a successful hockey player prefers to breathe in a cozy home environment.
According to Pavel Bure himself, personal life with such a busy sports schedule and constant flights simply fades into the background. At the same time, he always dreamed of having a family and his cozy home, however, according to him, he would decide to do this only when he realized that he was completely ready. So, at the turn of the 40th anniversary, the athlete had a long-awaited wedding, and soon he became the first father. With a huge number of personal achievements and medals of various merits won in various world championships, Pavel Bure is not going to make high-profile statements about his future career.