Who is Pavel Bure really? That was the question frequently asked when the man dubbed the Russian Rocket first came to the atten-tion of the media and National Hockey League brass in the late 1980s. After his awesome 1991—92 rookie season with the Vancouver Canucks and two subsequent 6o-goal years, no one doubted Bure’s startling on-ice talents. But the question of who he truly is remains unanswered. Is he a petulant prima donna, or a misunder-stood introvert? Is he a hardworking gamer, or an underachieving slacker? Flickering between sun and shadows, exuberance and melancholy, East and West, Bure is a man of deep paradoxes. As a new millennium dawns, the Russian super-star, who now plays for the Florida Panthers, is still very much an enigma. For the first time, author Kerry Banks paints a vivid portrait of Bure that not only captures his electrifying hockey abilities but fills in the blanks of his intriguing personality. In this in-depth, unauthorized biography, Banks takes us behind the scenes to Bure’s origins in his native country and re-creates the fascinating machinations that brought him to the West. Along the way, he sheds light on the obscure hockey world of the former Soviet Union and delivers what may be the most thorough investigation to date of the impact Russian players have had on the North American game. Bure’s amazing displays of speed, logic-defying maneuvers and pinpoint scoring in NHL and international arenas are a matter of record, but an air of mystery has always shrouded him. Here, as never before, the many riddles that surround him, including his puzzling annulled marriage, his alleged association with the Russian underworld and his often stormy relationships with his father, the media and team management, are revealed.