Bure, Pavel

1971 – He was born on the 31st day of March this year in Moscow, USSR. Bure comes from an athletic family; his father, Vladimir Bure, was an Olympic swimmer who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1968, 1972, and 1976 Olympic Games.

1987 - Bure began his hockey career at 16, playing for the Soviet Red Army team.

1989 - Nicknamed the Russian Rocket for his speed and skill, Bure was picked 113th overall in the sixth round of this year’s NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks out of the Central Red Army.

1995 - Bure did the first ever Sports Live Chat on the Internet in Canada in this year with Bob Kerstein, CIO of the Vancouver Canucks.

1998 – He won a silver medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

1999 – He was traded to the Florida Panthers with Bret Hedican, Brad Ference, and Vancouver's 3rd round choice in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft for Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Mike Brown, Kevin Weekes, and Florida's first round draft choice in the 2000 draft.

2001 – A Moscow based newspaper called the eXile published an article claiming Bure broke-up with Anna Kournikova after discovering she had two vaginas. Bure successfully sued the eXile under Russian libel law for 500,000 rubles (about US$10,000) in damages.

2002 - He was a right-winger and played in the National Hockey League (NHL), as well as for the Soviet Union and Russia internationally. He won a bronze medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Also in the same year, he was acquired by the New York Rangers along with Florida's 2nd round pick in the 2002 draft for Igor Ulanov, Filip Novak and the Rangers' 1st and 2nd round choices in the draft and a 4th round choice in the 2003 draft.

2005 - Bure again launched another Kournikova related lawsuit, this time against perfume chain Arbat Prestige for defamation. Bure seeks 300,000,000 rubles in damages. He has had a relationship with tennis player Anna Kournikova, which ended in a broken engagement.