http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1395793
There's a large thread in the main section detailing why he wanted to leave. In short, he was manipulated by the organization, cheated out of his trust and confidence in management. From the very beginning, he had to pay a large sum of his own money to arrive in Vancouver; the team would not sign him until he paid $50,000 of the transfer fees from Russia. He remained in LA for two weeks without any contact from the Canucks before they contacted him about flying to Vancouver; they cited they were unsure they wanted to sign him that season. He had to stay at his agent's house during those two weeks. He was left not knowing when, if at all, he would be contacted by the team.
When they signed his initial contract, the team signed him at a price substantially below his actual value, citing he had to prove he was worth anything higher. Before his next contract, he and the team battled 17 months before agreeing to anything. At that point, Pavel requested for a trade in November 1993. The team refused to trade him. Meanwhile, he was scoring 60 goals in back-to-back seasons and experiencing success like no other Canuck had before him. He was one of the faces of the league at this time.
The organization had throughout the negotations, meanwhile, attempted to sign him to another lowball contract, then when negotiations became difficult, the team spread rumors that he wanted to hold out of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals due to contract negotiation issues -- Pavel never did this. They allegedly planted the story via the media in order to slander him when negotiations became difficult, then did little to deny it, thus allowing the rumor to linger despite its falsehood.
When he and the team finally reached an agreement on a deal, they tried to sign him in Canadian dollars rather than in what all other players received -- US dollars. At the time, the Canadian dollar was substantially lower than the US dollar in value, meaning they tried to trick him into signing at a price well below what he had verbally agreed to. After the negotiations, Pavel tried to shake hands with Quinn and move on; Quinn would not shake his hand.
The contract he signed in 1994 had an agreement that, in the event of a lockout (1994-95 lockout), he would still receive a salary. This was agreed to on both sides. They were supposed to pay him a signing bonus when the contract was signed, but delayed that payment for three months. They then refused to pay any of the money he was owed that year; he bitterly fought for three years to have that money paid, and was not paid even a portion of the amount owed to him until the 1997-98 season -- and in the end, he only received $1 million of the $1.7 million he was owed. Bure had to file arbitration with the help of his new agent, Mike Gillis, to have his owed amount acknowledged.
Throughout his time with the team, the organization never backed him up on anything. When he finally decided enough was enough and asked for a trade in 1998, he held out in order to ensure the team would move him. The organization then turned the media and the fans against Pavel and vilified him for not wanting to play for the team. Thus, when Pavel left, he was undeservedly hated for holding out and leaving. He had every reason to want to leave, and nobody should dislike him for it. Pavel always put the fans first, and when he was on the ice that was all that mattered. Unfortunately, the off-ice debacle around him made it an unbearable situation to be here. The organization chased him out of here, and as we have seen recently, they are the ones who must approach him and begin the healing process with him.
From the time he arrived here, his effect on the franchise was incredible. He transformed this market into what it is today; the on-ice product had been abysmal for years, and Pavel changed the market with his exhilarating play; expectations became different, the way fans cheered for the team became different. He put this team on the map and grew the fanbase on an exponential scale. Pavel transformed a middling NHL market into a true hockey market and brought out the hockey fan in everyone. When he was here, he was a rock star. Fans clamored everywhere he went, and at times it was even overwhelming. There were songs about him, bags of fanmail were sent every week to him personally, and fans cheered as much for him as they cheered for the team. In fact, there were many Bure fans who later became Canucks fans. That was his effect -- he introduced fans to the game with his style and turned the city upside-down.
When fans flocked to the arena, it was often to see him. He was the face of the team marketed to the rest of the NHL -- the most exciting player in the league. He led the team with his play, and was one of the heroes of the 1994 Stanley Cup run. Without him and his effect on the product and the fanbase, the team might not have survived the scare of relocation. Pavel was adored in a way different than any other player has been appreciated in Vancouver before or since. You suggested he was not an icon: I'll argue he was the most important icon this team has ever had.
