Valeri Bure

He got married to ‘Full House’ star and Conservative mouthpiece Candace Cameron Bure on June 22, 1996. Valeri and Candace are both devout Christians. They have three children, Natasha, Lev, and Maksim.

In December 2001, he became an American citizen. This meant he could return to Russia without being pulled into the military.

He has cited his family as the reason for his 2005 retirement.

Valeri Vladimirovich “Val” Bure was born on June 13, 1974, to Vladimir and Tatiana Bure, in Moscow. His elder brother, Pavel, has been nicknamed the ‘Russian Rocket’ in the ‘NHL.’

Bure’s father, Vladimir, was a former ‘Olympic’ swimmer who won four medals for the Soviet Union in various ‘Olympic’ events between 1968 and 1976. Later, the Vladimir was able to use his athletic prowess to coach his sons to attain ice hockey glory in the US.

Bure’s parents separated when he was 9. When he was 17, and Pavel was 20, his father immigrated to the US with both sons in tow, to start building their hockey careers. Bure avoided military service with the ‘Red Army’ when he left Russia in 1991. Fearing compulsory service, he did not return to the country until he became an American citizen and turned 28 in 2002.

The family settled in Los Angeles initially to start their training regimen. Vladimir was notoriously tough on both sons. Although their relationship was initially respectful, of late, both Pavel and Valeri have parted ways with their father and no longer speak to him.

Bure played briefly in the ‘Soviet Championship League’ for ‘HC CSKA Moscow’ (the ‘Red Army’ team) in the 1990–1991 season.

While Pavel signed with the ‘Vancouver Canucks,’ Valeri played with the ‘Spokane Chiefs’ of the ‘Western Hockey League’ (WHL), making history as the first Russian player to compete in the league.

In his very first season (1991–1992), Bure was able to score 49 points in 53 games, building a reputation as a “good competitor.” This led the ‘Montreal Canadiens’ to select him as part of their second-round pick at the 1992 ‘NHL Entry Draft.’

He returned to ‘Spokane’ for the 1992–1993 season, where he led the team to an overall ranking of number 2 in the ‘WHL.’ He also set a ‘Spokane Chiefs’ franchise record that season with 68 goals, ending up on the ‘WHL West Division First All-Star’ team as a result.

Although he trained with the ‘Canadiens,’ he returned to the ‘Chiefs’ in the 1993–1994 season for a final stint in the ‘WHL.’ He was selected to be part of the ‘Second All-Star’ team as a result of his work and reached the fourth position on the ‘Chief’s all-time scoring list.

Bure was appointed to the ‘First All-Star’ and the ‘Second All-Star’ teams of ‘WHL’ in the 1992–1993 and 1993–1994 seasons, respectively.

In 1994, he was made part of the ‘World Junior All-Star’ team and later played in a 1999 ‘NHL All-Star’ game.

Bure holds an ‘NHL’ record along with his brother, Pavel, for most goals scored by a set of siblings.