Valeri Bure, often known as just „Val“ is a popular ex ice hockey player hailing from Russia who became known through his sports career in the United States.
Valeri Bure was a hockey player for the NHL for over 10 seasons and also the first Russian to be included in the Western Hockey League.
His wife is a known American actress named Candace Cameron. The couple has been in the media for as long as they got together and they have survived all of the troubles that they have been exposed to thanks to the drama.
Early years
Valeri Bure was born as Valeri Vladimirovich Bure on June 13, 1974, in the capital city of the Soviet Union called Moscow, located in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
Everyone knows that he is Russian as soon as he says his name. He doesn’t feel offended by this, though.
He was raised in a highly athletic family by his loving parents Tatiana and Vladimir. He always talks about his parents in the best way possible, in order to honor everything they did for him when he was just a little kid.
His father Vladimir, whose roots are in a Swiss village called Furna is a respectable Soviet swimmer, who gained Olympic medals at the Olympic Games which took place in the period from 1968 to 1976.
His ancestors were very respectable people: they were craftsmen for the royal imperial family which built watches for the emperors (tsars).
Although his parents loved their children very much, the children didn’t keep their marriage together so they separated in his young life. It was in 1983.
In 1991, his elder brother Pavel gained an opportunity to play hockey in the American NHL League as a member of Vancouver Canucks. He was a bit jealous but happy for the opportunity he got.
It was the reason he and his father also moved to North America and his mother joined them a little later. The family moved to Los Angeles and Vladimir continued coaching both of his boys in hockey.
Boys have a half-sister named Katya from their father’s second marriage. From 1992 until 1998 the boys got more and more estranged from their dad, but they never wanted to speak about it.
Brothers decided to become independent and decided to leave their father, but it seems that there was a feud they did not want to talk about. Still, he speaks respectfully of him and that’s why we don’t know what happened.
Career development
In 1990, before leaving Russia, Valeri played hockey for CSKA Moscow and involved in Junior hockey in his home country.
After coming to the US he started playing hockey in the Western Hockey League, as one of the members of Spokane Chiefs. Valeri was the first Russian ever to join this hockey league.
Valerie was a good player for the chiefs in his first season so he was selected by the Montreal Canadiens which drafted him in 1992.
Valeri Bure returned to Spokane Chiefs in the following season where he became one of the lead players at the club.
He made a record in the chiefs with 68 goals in that season so he became a member of the First All-Star Team.
Valeri Bure played for Spokane during three seasons where he became the fourth scorer on their all-time score list.
In 1994/95 Valeri joined the professionals as a player of Fredericton Canadiens. His NHL debut was in February 1995.
His brother Pavel has a huge star in Vancouver so it was hard for Valeri to fulfill people’s expectations.
He felt like he was living in his brother’s shadow but couldn’t be mad because they were very close. His score in the season was average and he had many injuries in the season.
Saku Koire and Oleg Petrov played the line alongside Valerie and since they were the smallest players in the league they were named „Smurf Line“.
In 1998, Valeri was traded to Calgary Flames which Valeri welcomed because he liked this team very much.
He became one of the most important players in the team and he became No.1 offensive leader in the season 1999/2000. He was so happy that he trained more than he needed to, in order to polish his skills.
Valeri Bure was known for his great speed and great skating which helped him gain a place in the All-Star team.
This gave him an opportunity to play alongside his brother Pavel. That season both brothers set records for most goals as siblings.
After a while, Valeri began arguing with his coach which eventually led to rumors that he wanted to be traded in Calgary. A lot of stories like these used to leak and end up in the media, but not too much was really that serious.
In the summer of 2001, he was traded to the Florida Panthers where his brother Pavel already played. When his contract ended he became a free agent.
He signed to Panters after negotiating his salary but was injured and had to undergo knee surgery. It was a pretty serious surgery and the worst thing was that he had to rest.
In 2002/03 season was not a good season for him because he injured his wrist and missed a lot of games.
He was traded to St. Lais Blues in 2003 but he didn’t play there a lot due to his new injury.
Bure returned to Panther’s where he became one of the most important offensive players of the season. However, the club traded him in 2004 to Dallas Stars.
In the 2005/06 season, he played for Los Angeles Kings but he missed the entire season and underwent surgery again. He retire when he was 31.
As for his playing at the Olympic Games, he joined the Russian Olympic team for the 1998 Olympic Games.
In 2002 he joined the team again in Salt Lake City where his team won a bronze medal.
Valeri Bure Personal life
In 1996, Valeri married a known American actress Candace Cameron who is most known for the role which made her famous: D.J. Tanner in a comedy series called „Full House“.
They started dating in 1994 and soon decided to get married because they felt that they are great for each other. They were introduced to each other at a charity hockey game.
Val knew Candace from “Full House” and he watched it very often because he used it to learn English. He says that the world seems very small when he thinks about it that way.
The couple has three children: two sons named Lev and Maksim and a daughter Natasha. They teach them both cultures, but mostly English because this is something that will come in handy.
Lev and Maksim have grown-up boys and they both play hockey as their father.
Lev is a player of a hockey team “Odessa Jackalope” in Texas and he makes his parents very proud of his hard work. He was often in tabloids after it was revealed that he dated Bella Robertson, a daughter of Duck Dynasty Robertson.
Valeri’s daughter Natasha is very beautiful and looks a lot like her mother. She works as a model and has a popular YouTube channel.
She also acts and sings and is involved in charity campaigns like her mother.
She was in one season of a popular reality TV show called “The Voice” where she was chosen in the team of Adam Levine. They were all very proud of her.
In 2001, Valeri gained American citizenship. This was a big moment he was waiting for.
In 2007, after retiring from hockey he decided to get into a restaurant business together with his wife.
They opened „The Milk and Honey Cafe” in Florida which they closed after moving to California. They have a winery in California called „Bure Family Wines”. It did pretty well and they were happy when the business launched.
In 2010, Valeries became a contestant of a reality skating show called Battle of the Blades and was partnered with a figure skater Ekaterina Gordeeva with whom he won the competition.
Valeri and Candace are both Christians and are very religious. She has published a bestselling book “Kind Is the New Classy: The Power of Living Graciously” where she shares her thoughts about God, life and her family.
Valeri Bure Quick summary
Full name: Valeri Vladimirovich Bure
Date of birth: June 13, 1974
Birthplace: Moscow, Soviet Union
Age: 46
Profession: former hockey player, businessman
Height: 1,78 m
Weight: 82 kg
Net Worth: $11 million