Former CSKA and Vancouver Canucks hockey player Pavel Buré in an interview with , he said that his move to the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1991 was not made easier by “hockey businessmen” and that he himself was already a quite sophisticated player.
In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the head of the Russian Hockey Federation (RHF), Vladislav Tretyak, and the Russian Sports Ministry to examine the situation in which Russian hockey players leave at young ages to play in foreign leagues. The Head of State underlined the obvious damage caused by the fact that “hockey merchants select children from sports schools and train them abroad”, stressing that this is “a trade not always regulated and not always noble.
— How do you assess Vladimir Putin’s remarks at the Perm sports forum, according to which “hockey businessmen” are driving young players away from Russia? How to manage this?
— There are problems everywhere. The president expressed this subject, people reacted. We will therefore work in this direction.
— When you left for Vancouver in 1991, were you recruited by a businessman or did you consciously decide to pursue a career in the NHL?
— When I left, I was 20 years old. At the age of 16, I started playing professionally for CSKA, and two seasons later I was recruited to the USSR national team. He has already become an Honored Master of Sports, competed at the international level for several years and ranked among the top five in the national team. I left for the NHL, already having some experience, I could not be called a child. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything. It was difficult for me to powder my head.
I was just taking the next step. Because a lot of the guys I played with had already left for America. And if I received the award for the best forward at the World Junior Championship, I was also superior to the guys who played a year or two in the NHL. I knew I could come to Vancouver and play there with peace of mind. I grew up with them, I scored more goals than them. If they could rock the NHL, why not me?
I wanted to try myself in this league and take the next step in my career. I didn’t leave when I was 15-16, businessmen didn’t take me. I was an experienced player. And CSKA paid me compensation: Vancouver gave 200 thousand dollars, I added 50 thousand from my own pocket. That was 30 years ago, now multiply by ten. With today’s money, they paid me $2.5 million.
We managed to reach an agreement. And I myself wanted to take the opportunity to thank CSKA, where I grew up, where they gave me a hockey uniform. By the way, I then brought 200-300 sets of uniforms to the military club. Every year I tried to convey something. And I saw with what eyes the guys of the 90s, when there was nothing, looked at this new uniform – and they played hockey. As a child, I myself received old leggings from craftsmen, the palms of which were already worn out. And I was in seventh heaven. And here’s a whole set of uniforms! I think it was a good thing,” Bure said in an interview with .
Bure played for CSKA from 1987 to 1991, becoming USSR champion in the process. In 1991, the hockey player moved to Vancouver, where he spent the next nine years of his career.
Source : MatchTV
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