Bure Shut Out Of Hall For Third Straight Year

Congratulations should go out to Igor Larionov and Glen Anderson for getting voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. For both players, this was long overdue and they are worthy admissions.

I do find it somewhat strange that Pavel Bure didn't receive enough votes from the committee considering the explosive career that he had. There might not have been a better one-on-one player in the history of the game than Bure in his prime. Say what you want about his character, Bure was a phenomenal hockey player.

3rd all time in goals per game. And he's been passed over three straight years?

Don't ever say the committee isn't steeped in politics. If they weren't, Anderson and Bure would have been inducted years ago.

Here's a previous post I wrote about Bure some months ago:

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I hate getting into arguments about who should be in the Hall Of Fame but this one is cut and dried for me. Pavel Bure was one of the most dominant players of his generation, not to mention one of the most exciting players of all time. As for pure entertainment value, Bure is right up there with Guy Lafleur and Wayne Gretzky.

When he was in his prime in Vancouver, there were many nights when he was an unstoppable scoring force. He was also one of three Russians who made the biggest initial impact on the NHL along with Sergei Fedorov and Alex Mogilny. Bure may not be popular with the fans in Vancouver but that shouldn't play into his Hall worthy credentials.

If Cam Neely is in the Hall of Fame, why not Bure?

Here's the relevant stats:

Games Played

Bure: 702
Neely: 726

Goals

Bure: 437
Neely: 395

Points

Bure: 779
Neely: 694

Playoff Games

Bure: 64
Neely: 93

Playoff Points

Bure: 70
Neely: 89

Stanley Cups

Bure: 0
Neely: 0

In case you've forgotten how good Bure really was, here's a few videos to remind you.




And now, "The Mother Of All Elbows". Bure had a nasty streak that people tend to forget. If this happened nowadays, Bure would have gotten 20 games.