bure's triple deke Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 http://burestriplede...tnalls-hof.html The Province ran an article today, blasting Mikael Samuelsson for a recent Swedish interview disparaging Alex Burrows and his finger-biting antics in the 2011 SCF. Good for Botch. But he and his paper missed another interview foul in their own backyard when they reached former Canuck Geoff Courtnall for comment regarding Pavel Bure's HHOF induction just over two weeks ago. Read on for the article they should've printed. My apologies to Pavel Bure. For a blog sullying his good name by association, BTD has been woefully silent on last month's Hockey Hall of Fame induction. Somewhere out there, sitting on millions of rubles and memories of Anna Kournikova, I know the Russian Rocket's been waiting for my two kopecks on the matter... By now you've surely read the dozens upon dozens of articles covering the drama of Bure's overdue selection into the Hall. If not, don't worry...as with anything in the media, they're all echoes of the same stories we've been hearing since his departure 13 years ago: *Most electrifying Canucks player ever, yes. *Most electrifying player of his time, (arguably) yes. *Vancouver needs to retire his number, of course. *The Canucks organization hated (and still hates) Bure, naturally. The last one is questionable, but that debate is a can of worms worthy of putting the current Luongo-Schneider drama to shame. (You can read the Sparknotes version of Bure vs. the Canucks in this Province article.) At any rate, those four statements essentially form the skeleton for 99% of the media's coverage on Bure's pending induction. That's why one particulararticle stood out last month in the wave of coverage following the announcement. In an interview with The Province, former Canucks teammate provided some bold insight into Bure's previous non-selections. Word for word, Courtnall blamed the Hall for "prejudice towards Russian players in the NHL." While it's not an original perspective ( ), nor one of much consequence to Courtnall (I doubt he has any illusions of receiving a call himself from the HOF), it's interesting nonetheless. Here's why. In addition to Russians, you can presumably extend this prejudice that some feel exists in the NHL towards Europeans, in general. For all the hype Bure's HOF snubs have garnered over the last half decade, it's kind of poetic that in the year he does get the call, another glaring pass has been made towards Brendan Shanahan, a Canadian. In addition to Bure, Shanahan was overlooked in favour of Swedish centre Mats Sundin (perhaps the Hall isn't so much anti-Russian as it is pro-Toronto). It's hard to imagine such a prejudice as Courtnall has suggested exists when a Russian and a Swede get voted in for the Hall ahead of a Canadian with 600 goals. The retired power forward and current league disciplinarian now enjoys the distinction of being the most prolific point-scorer in NHL history not in the Hall of Fame (among those who are eligible¹). Besides Shanahan, another Canadian remains waiting in the wings in Eric Lindros. The latter is arguably much less of a snub than Shanahan, but the former Flyer's injury-shortened career is almost a carbon copy of Bure's. Along with Bure, pre-concussion Lindros had few peers to match his skill and dominance in the 90's. Their stats are near-identical. 779 points in 702 games for Bure; 865 in 760 for Lindros. Both starred in their teams one-off playoff runs – Bure in 1994 and Lindros three years later. And while the Rocket garnered a few more individual awards by comparison (a Calder and two Maurice Richards), Lindros's Hart holds considerably more NHL cred. Even off the ice, Lindros' departure from Philadelphia had all the controversy Bure's did in Vancouver. So. Geoff Courtnall. While you gotta admire him coming to Bure's defence, his claim appears to be unfounded. For what it's worth, his accusation does provide an effective starting point to analyze the Hall's incosistencies. At any rate, Vancouver can finally put the issue to rest. Regarding his play on the ice, the NHL was exceedingly lucky to have seen as a player as Bure was. This city, all the more so to have had him on our side. I can appreciate the reasons why he wasn't chosen in his first six years of eligibility – first and foremost, for lack of longevity – but byegones will be as such. Starting now, we can officially appreciate Bure's place among the league's very best of all-time. Meanwhile, Detroit and Philadelphia can continue the same weeping and wailing we've endured for our former superstar. (Only difference is, Geoff Courtnall, theirs are Canadian.) -HC ¹ Ahead of Shanahan are Jagr and Selanne, who are still active, as well as Recchi and Modano, for whom the three-year waiting period has not yet passed. Next on the list is Pierre Turgeon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TowelPower12 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Russian Rocket* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bure's triple deke Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 Russian Rocket* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Mind Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The HHOF is a joke anyway. And it's probably comments like Courtnall's that got 2 non-Canadians in the hall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boudrias Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I more than suspect that Bure had not been put in the HHOF because of his connections to the Russian Mafia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheels22 Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 It's scary to think that if Bure's career hadn't been cut short, he probably could have scored 750+ goals, easily... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dura_mater Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I more than suspect that Bure had not been put in the HHOF because of his connections to the Russian Mafia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forsy Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortorella's Rant Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 It's scary to think that if Bure's career hadn't been cut short, he probably could have scored 750+ goals, easily... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John.Tallhouse Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Haha Rushin' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Ed Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I always ask rushians why they are in a hurry... Out. Of. Vodka. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryanstorm Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Bure would have had easily 1000+ goals had he played consistently as many games as Shanahan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bure's triple deke Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 Bure would have had easily 1000+ goals had he played consistently as many games as Shanahan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TowelPower12 Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Bure would have had easily 1000+ goals had he played consistently as many games as Shanahan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuck nit Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Tretiak Fetisov Kharlamov Larionov Bure Canada,initially a nation of European immigrants -Canada,not native North America-is finally getting it right at the HHOF,allowing troglodytes like Cherry to ferment in their vile ignorance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disisdayear Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Bure would have had easily 1000+ goals had he played consistently as many games as Shanahan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uber_pwnzor Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Hahaha "Samuelsson fingers the finger biter". It cracked me up :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggins Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Coud have, would have, should have... I'm a big fan of Bure and there's no telling what he could have done if he had a longer tenure in the NHL. As well, on Bure's induction to the HHOF, what Courtnall speaks of is part of the contributing factors that goes into the vote (it's unfortunate, but historic evidence does show a bias to North American players, based on inductees -- exceptions being Sundin and Lidstrom). We need to consider other players who were given consideration, and though I cannot recall the complete list of inductees over the past six years of Bure's eligibility, my reflexive inclination is to say that those who were elected ahead of Bure were deserving of their induction. I would say the same goes for Shanahan and Lindros. In due time, barring extenuating circumstances, I'm sure they will be inducted into the HHOF. I would have love to have seen Shanahan inducted in the class of 2012, but it didnt' happen...it will happen soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-AJ- Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Well, mathematically speaking, yes. But you can't expect that he would have been scoring 50 goals a season into his late-thirties and forties. If he had played a healthy 1500 games (which he probably would have reached around this time), I think you could have expected 700+, but not quite 1000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disisdayear Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 2011 Joe Nieuwendyk Doug Gilmour Mark Howe 2010 Cammi Granato Angela James Dino Cicarelli 2009 Brett Hull Brian Leach Luc Robitaille Steve Yzerman 2008 Igor Larianov Glenn Anderson 2007 Mark Messier Al MacInnis Scott Stevens Ron Francis 2006 Patrick Roy Dick Duff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.