I'd argue that "esteemed" coach Pat Quinn in combination with him being Vancouver's first superstar, (gradually) let Bure do too much of what he wanted to, over Bure's first few years there, which didn't bode well for him over time. He landed in a good spot, and they were a very good team starting around the time Ron Caron gifted them depth in a big trade in 1991; the year before Bure arrived.
How he performed playing for Tikhonov and the CSKA behind the Iron Curtain, is not the same as what he did in the NHL. Tikhonov certainly would have liked him, probably in part because of Bure's training, in conjunction with his game
then.
Supposedly, Bure wanted Mike Keenan as his coach in Florida, which probably surprised a lot of people. Bure said this. Does that make any sense though? Florida hired Mike Keenan December 6th, 2001 - they were 6-15-2-3 under Duane Sutter - only to trade Bure March 18th, 2002. Bure
claims that he wanted Keenan. That was his guy. Somehow, Florida management/owernership (GM Cliff Fletcher), wanted Bure's input, even though they must have known that they weren't going to be keeping him?
Of course Bure would love Mike Keenan going back to the 1997-98, when the Canucks were 4-13-2 under Tom Renney, hired Mike Keenan (finishing with 21-30-12), and Keenan made assurances to him that he could get 50 goals to get his bonus; and his stats might increase his value.
In both scenarios, Keenan
still wants to move off of Bure.
Mike Keenan allowed him to inflate his value in both scenarios. At this point in time ('98 and again in '01), Bure might relate to him, thinking that they're both misunderstood geniuses. If they had an extended period, attached to one another, there's no chance in hell - who are we kidding - that they would have been two peas in a pod. Love? They never got to the "After the Love Has Gone" portion, it was certainly on the horizon if Bure's still with Florida in 2002-03, or Vancouver in 1998-99.
If you think that Bure's style - which you're very familiar with - would translate well schematically to what the Islanders and Habs where doing back in the day, all the power to you.
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I don't think they (the coaching staff/players) would put up with his style.
"From Al Arbour and Scotty Bowman and Badger Bob Johnson and all the successful coaches I've been with over the years, that's the way they've had success," says Trottier. "It's not a new turn of the coaching wheel or anything. If you pay attention to defence with fortitude and care, things will eventually happen for you offensively." It's funny how many times coaches and his teammates are quoted for highlighting Bure's defense around this time (FLA/NYR). On one hand, his supporters will cite these examples as to how good he was defensively towards the end of the career, when in reality, it's like teammates/coaches have to keep emphasizing it to him so that it finally sinks in, encouraging him at every chance.
Pistol Pete Maravich and Todd Marinovich also had hard-ass dad's, and specifically with Pistol Pete, his value through the better part of 10 years is in line with Bure's. You'd pay to watch them in their primes, but you're not getting anywhere with them.
