In the off-season, the Canucks made another significant move, signing Rangers' captain Mark Messier during free agency on July 26, 1997. Despite finally having a high-profile centre to play with, media reports soon appeared claiming that Bure was asking to be traded. The Canucks opened the season with two games against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in Tokyo – an event organized by the league to market hockey for the upcoming 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. After two injury-plagued seasons with the number 96 on his jersey, Bure switched back to his familiar number 10, explaining: "I'm not superstitious, but the last two seasons have been bad memories." Although the Canucks missed the playoffs for the second straight year, he returned to his previous form in 1997–98, scoring 51 goals for his first 50-goal season since 1993–94, and third overall. Bure later recalled that with the Canucks out of playoff contention with a handful of games left, head coach Mike Keenan told him he could play as much as he wanted to reach the milestone. Scoring 50 goals was also implicit in a contract bonus for Bure. With an additional 39 assists, his 90 points ranked him third in the NHL, behind Peter Forsberg and Jaromír Jágr.