News from September 2002

In Florida, Pierre Dagenais (6-5, 215) will get a chance this year to become the next Bertuzzi.

Valeri Bure, meanwhile, is the antithesis of what people think about when they consider the banging, go-to-the-net types Keenan loves. So the speculation has been building all summer. The Panthers, it's being written all over North America, will be unloading Bure, and soon.

General Manager Rick Dudley was out to quash those rumors last week.

"I'm not going to say there haven't been times people have called, mostly because of the stories out there. But there's nothing going on right now," Dudley said.

"We kind of like what we've seen in the (summer) camps and want to see what we've got in training camp," Dudley said. "Valeri is a 30-goal scorer who happened to have a rough year in terms of injury. He's one of the most creative players in the game, and there's no question we're excited to have him and Viktor (Kozlov) back healthy."

Early in the summer, there was talk that Bure would be headed to Chicago to be reunited with coach Brian Sutter. Bure scored 35 goals under Sutter in Calgary in 1999-00, and with Tony Amonte departing via free agency, the Blackhawks had a hole to fill.

GM Mike Smith preferred to give Theo Fleury the same $4 million he would have paid Bure, however. Better yet, he didn't have to give up anything to sign Fleury.

More recently, Bure supposedly has been headed to the greater New York area for a reunion of sorts with brother Pavel, now with the Rangers. The Islanders wanted a scorer to play on Alexei Yashin's wing. New Jersey, whose strength coach is the Bures' father, Vladimir, needs scoring. Hey, Radek Dvorak will miss the first four to six weeks of the season with a knee injury, so even the Rangers have been in the mix.

Of course, none of these teams is willing to give up much in return. The Islanders supposedly are offering Oleg Kvasha, who scored 17 goals in two seasons as a Panther prospect. Devils' defenseman Andrei Zyuzin, whom Dudley traded both for and away, is available. The Rangers? Well, they have even less to offer.

The thinking is that after scoring just eight goals in 31 games in an injury-riddled season, Bure is there for the taking. Think again, Dudley said.

"One thing both Mike and I appreciate about Valeri is his skill level. He's a dynamic little guy who happens to be small and happens to have had a rough year.

"We don't have a team full of huge assets. But we do have some assets, and Val is one we value."

All of which means Bure won't be traded for a while. But if a few of the team's young wingers, such as Dagenais, Niklas Hagman or Kristian Huselius, prove themselves, he could become available.

"I hope he's going to put me on the ice a lot, and be hardest on me," Bure said before a workout Friday at Incredible Ice.

"I like that. I like to have responsibility, and to be on the ice during the deciding minutes."

Bure recalled the final minutes of a game against Washington last season in which Florida was losing by a goal and he had a great chance from the slot.

"Something happened and I didn't score, and Mike was all over me. You know what? Great. I like that. I didn't score and he should be all over me. But put me in that position again, and if I do score he's going to be the first to come and congratulate me on it. I like it that way."

Much has changed in the past year for Bure, who at 28 is three years younger than his more celebrated brother, Pavel.

This time a year ago, the brothers were being billed as the force that would propel the Panthers back to the playoffs. Instead, Valeri was limited to 31 games by two knee injuries and Pavel was traded to the New York Rangers last March.

Valeri, who totaled just eight goals and 18 points last season, doesn't hide his disappointment that the pairing never worked out.

"I was excited to spend time with him," he said. "To play with him was unbelievable, but for me just to spend the time off the ice.... He got to know my kids, and they're just starting to understand who is Uncle Pavel. So those were really good times. I was really sad to see my brother go. But it's all part of the business."

Valeri said he was disappointed to hear so many teammates say they were happy when Pavel was traded.

"I was surprised more than anything. They never came up and said those things to me, or to my brother."

Even so, Valeri said it won't be tough to return to the Panthers' locker room. "Most of those guys who said that stuff aren't with us anymore. If somebody still holds a grudge against my brother, that's up to him. I'm moving on. I respect everybody's opinion, obviously, but my brother and I are bigger than that. You can't control what people say about you."

Aside from some occasional swelling, Bure is satisfied with the condition of his right knee, which was surgically repaired on Oct. 19 and again on March 17, forcing him to miss 37 games after the first incident and the final 14 after the second.

"There's a lot of scar tissue in there, and I get a reaction sometimes, but it feels good," he said. "The doctors were able to save a lot of my meniscus (cartilage), and that should prolong my career."

Bure and his family, including his wife, actress Candace Cameron, spent the summer in Los Angeles, but he kept tabs on the Panthers' many moves and feels the personnel is improved, particularly on defense.

"At the end of last year we got Igor Ulanov, and we got Dmitri (Yushkevich) over the summer. Those two and (Sandis) Ozolinsh give us three solid veteran guys. Then there's the young kids who can step in; I see a big improvement."

Bure, who missed only six games in his three seasons with Calgary prior to last year -- during which time he averaged almost 30 goals a year -- feels consistency will be the key to significant improvement this season.

"Last year we'd play unbelievable against good teams and come out and be terrible the next night. I know we can compete with anybody; we'll be physically ready, so now mentally we just have to be ready to play every game."