MOSCOW, October 10 (RIA Novosti) – Pavel Bure is one of the few Russian members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He played for 12 seasons in the National Hockey League and nicknamed ‘The Russian Rocket’ for his speed. But Bure admits that today’s hockey players are much bigger, much faster and scoring more goals than ever before.
“When I played there was too much hooking and grabbing,” he told Radio VR.
“Now, there is what they call a ballot created for everything. So, it is a faster game right now. So, I like the way it is right now better.”
“If you calculate, there are I think like 24 US teams and only 6 Canadian. So, just figure it out,” he said.
He underscored that the sport is, in fact, moving to the US.
“Hockey is getting more popular all over the US,” he said. “When I started, there was, I think, only one team – the Los Angeles Kings. Now they’ve got Anaheim, they’ve got San Jose, they’ve got Florida, they’ve got Tampa. So, it is just NHL doing the great job to spread out the hockey game.”
When asked to compare the Russia’s Continental Hockey League, the KHL, with North America’s NHL, Bure voted for the NHL, saying that “the NHL was there forever. And the KHL is a new league. It’s been around for only two years. And for the KHL it is still a long way to go, to compete with the NHL. So, I think the NHL is still the best league by far.”
When asked whom he would chose to play for him if he had to host his own all-star game, he said that his number-one pick would be Ontario native Wayne Gretzky, who he called “the best player ever”.
