When Rogers Arena erupted in the long, adoring ovation for Pavel Bure, it washed over years of old wounds and brought the staid, private man to tears.
It may also have been the final hurdle cleared for the Canucks to finally hang Bure’s No. 10 from the rafters.
None of the key players who are trying to bring this endlessly divisive issue to an end knew how the crowd would react to the Canucks only hall-of-famer.
Bure, who said it was his first time in Vancouver since he retired, didn’t know. And neither did Francesco Aquilini, the Vancouver Canucks owner who has been determined to bring Bure home, and see his number retired along the three other Canucks legends.
By the way, what owners want, they usually get.
Speaking publicly for the first time about Bure, Aquilini stopped short of making his jersey retirement announcement Friday.
But, like Bure when he met with the Vancouver media Thursday, he wasn’t hiding from it.
“This is something we’re going to work on and definitely it’s in the plans,” Aquilini revealed. “We think that Pavel is going to be a great addition to all the members who are retired up there.
“He’s such a great guy and he’s such an exciting player. You could see the fans. The standing ovation went on for at least five minutes.”
During the day, local sports radio station TEAM 1040 ran polls on who had the best night Thursday, a 4-0 Canucks win. The top three choices were Bure, for his homecoming ovation, Derek Roy, for an impressive debut, and Zack Kassian, for scoring his first goal since January.
The right answer didn’t even make the list. It was Aquilini.
The only thing bigger than the ovation for Bure was the smile on Aquilini’s face when it unfolded.
“I expected an ovation but not for that long,” Aquilini said. “I thought maybe for a minute or two but it went on for quite a while. That’s the fans appreciating what Pavel did.”
It was more than six months ago when Aquilini first dreamed all of this up.
Inspired by fans who kept asking him “Is Pavel coming back?” the owner took it upon himself to make something happen with the player who some have painted as a malcontent because of his fractious relationship with Canucks management.
When Bure felt mistreated, and lied to, he wanted out. Some vilified him for it and an ever-decreasing few continue to carry a torch.
“I listened to the fans,” Aquilini said.
“He never had problems with the fans. He had problems with management, but never the fans.”
Aquilini’s road map to bring Bure home to Vancouver began with a historic dinner in Toronto before Bure’s Hockey Hall of Fame induction. It was during this supper Aquilini endeavoured to bridge the gap between Bure and the organization by discussing what the star player has always wanted, a plan to honour his jersey.
The story first broke in The Province back in November and was met with a sensational denial from a competing newspaper.
Aquilini finally confirmed the report Friday.
“Being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, he wanted to be a Canuck when he was inducted,” Aquilini said. “That’s why he wanted me to be there.
“I thought it was a great opportunity. It was a two-way street.
“When we were there, we talked about what the Canucks meant and what was important to him.”
What people may not understand is that Aquilini knew Bure long before he became owner of the Canucks.
When Bure was playing, Aquilini was chewing up air miles between Los Angeles and Vancouver.
“The players would be flying commercial and I kept running into them on the plane,” Aquilini said. “We’d chat and talk.
“And Gino (Odjick) stayed in one of our hotels, the Atrium on Hastings Street. We had a bar there and all the players used to go there.
“I got to know (Bure) there. I’ve known him since 1994.”
It’s impossible to say whether Bure would have come back without that relationship with Aquilini, but it helped. A lot.
All that remains now is a rubber stamp. The Canucks three-person committee has to make their official recommendation to finally hang 10.
“I think they are very positive about it because Pavel was such a great player,” Aquilini said.
“I can’t make the announcement yet. We want to make sure everything is in order. But it’s definitely something we want to do.”
Stan Smyl, one of the three on the committee told The Province this week that he agrees with Aquilini, it’s time to honour Bure.
“Something is going to happen and something is going to happen quickly,” Smyl said.
It is sure to be one of the hottest tickets of next season.
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