I'm surprised people talk about Linden, Luongo, Bure or even Burrows getting their number retired.
* Linden had a very solid career, but nothing exceptional. He didn't play his whole career in Vancouver also.
* Bure spent 428 games as a Canucks, barely more than half of his career. That's equivalent to only 5 full seasons.
* More or less the same for Luongo, who actually spent more time as a Panther than as a Canuck already.
* Burrows has no argument to be in this discussion.
To be retired, you should have both a very high level and longevity *with the team* IMO. Having only one of those should not be enough.
Under those criteria, only the Sedins really deserve to have their number retired.
Pavel Bure had an overnight effect on the fanbase, as it saw exponential growth during his time with the team. He changed the entire culture of hockey in Vancouver and was as significant a hockey icon as any in the city.
The impact that he had was that of a rock star. Canucks sweaters were flying off of shelves in other markets because of this player; people waited hours for his autograph.
His on-ice achievements far surpassed any that had ever been witnessed before from a player in a Canucks sweater. He made the games worth watching a la Connor McDavid, but to an even greater degree due to his fearlessness and thus his flair for making dazzling plays and scoring highlight-reel goals without any regard for the context of the game -- there was a chance that he could score any time he touched the puck from any zone, whether it was coming out of his own end with it or taking it to the net from the deep corners of the offensive zone.
He is the most culturally-significant player in team history, and he still is the best individual on-ice performer in its history, with all due respect to the Sedin brothers.
There was only one Pavel Bure, and his linemates were always substandard after his rookie campaign. After returning from a groin injury at the start of 1993-94, for example, he scored scored 49 goals, 78 points in the final 51 games on a line with a rotation of Gino Odjick, Murray Craven, Jimmy Carson, Greg Adams, etc. He scored 30% of the team's goals and contributed to 46% of the team's offense during that period to lift them into that year's playoffs, where he went on to score 16 goals in 24 games, including 13 goals over a stretch of 12 games between the Flames, Stars, and Leafs series. The next season, he dominated the first-round series against St. Louis with 7 goals, 12 points in 7 games. He is a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, with the majority of his NHL career having been spent in Vancouver.
He wasn't a Canuck for very long, but those years were special for the team and its fans. Part of the reason why the Canucks fanbase is its current size is because of Pavel Bure. He expedited the popularization of the team in a market where a lot of hockey fans were once Leafs or Canadiens fans. Hockey was a niche sport in Vancouver until Pavel Bure came along.
