You have to go outside hockey, in fact, to find a similar figure.
Sandy Koufax had four seasons when he might have been the greatest pitcher who ever lived. Then he was gone.
Gale Sayers had three seasons when he was the most exciting running back in NFL history. Then he was gone.
Like Bure, their talent was transcendent. Like Bure, there is something sad and incomplete about their careers.
The difference, of course, is the controversy that surrounded Bure at the end of his Canucks’ years, and there remains something troubling about the way the final act played out here. You can also ask how hard the Canucks would have tried to repatriate Bure if he hadn’t been a former client of GM Mike Gillis and a new friend of owner Francesco Aquilini.
-Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province on Pavel Bure, where you can read more about Bure's days in Vancouver.
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