Bure once helped pull off the ultimate Vancouver Canucks April Fools' prank

Vancouver Canucks fans have never been pranked harder than they were on the morning of April 1, 2009.

That’s when Team 1040 broadcasters Barry Macdonald and Scott Rintoul, with help from Pavel Bure, fooled everyone into thinking the Russian Rocket was making an NHL comeback with the Canucks.

Bure, who had just turned 38, hadn’t played an NHL game in six years due to recurring knee injuries. He hadn’t played for the Canucks since being traded in 1998.

But many Canucks fans fell for the April Fools’ Day prank hook, line and sinker.

“The most exciting player in the history of the organization, knee injuries shortened his career, or did they? He’s apparently in terrific shape,” Macdonald told Team 1040 listeners in 2009.

Bure is the same age as Mats Sundin, who was in the midst of his only season in Vancouver. Mike Gillis, Bure’s former agent, was also in his first year as Canucks general manager.

But what really sold the prank was Bure’s involvement. The Canucks legend hadn’t been heard from much in Vancouver at that time but agreed to go on the air with Macdonald and Rintoul.

“Yeah, you know I’ve been working out really hard, and I’ve been skating, you know, getting ready,” Bure said oh so casually during the five-minute phone interview. “I talked to some people from the Canucks organization. Yeah, [my comeback is] probably gonna happen soon.”

Bure stayed stoic throughout the interview, as did Macdonald and Rintoul.

“Well, obviously I’m a little bit older than I used to be, but my knee feeling great. I was doing rehab, building muscle around the knee, and I feel really good,” Bure said, adding that he figured he could help the team in shootouts.

Listen here for the full segment (shoutout to Ryan Henderson from Donnie and Dhali for reminding everyone of this):

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