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Friday, September 3, 1999
Val home at last
Val Bure understands the universal appreciation that goes with finally being appreciated.
"When you're happy at your job," he says, standing outside the clubhouse at Canyon Meadows, his round at the Flames' Charity Golf Classic just completed, "everything seems better in your life. Your job, no matter what it is, affects everything you do. Right?"
Couldn't agree more.
"So when you believe people are being fair to you, treating you right, you're going to be better at your job. Right?"
Bang on. "So for me in Montreal, it was frustrating. A lot of guys, they love Montreal. Crescent Street. The action. But me, I wasn't getting a lot of ice time, so I'd go home and think 'Why aren't I playing more?' I didn't care about Crescent Street.
"Here, I play a lot. No Crescent Street. Not near the action. But I look around here" -- he grins, spreads his arms wide --"and I say to myself 'Awesome!'
"Every time they'd trade for someone, bring in someone new, I'd get pushed back. Even if I was playing as good or better than that guy. Just because they brought a new guy, he'd be automatically ahead of me. He'd be on one of the top two lines, I'd be down on the third.
"A lot of times people don't appreciate what they have."
Valeri Bure won't be up nights tossing, turning and thumping his pillow in a fit of nocturnal anguish anymore. Heading into this season, be assured, he's appreciated. In fact, counted upon, Calgary's bust-it-open guy.
"Was last year a 'breakthrough' year?" He considers the assessment a moment. "Goals-wise and points-wise, sure. But every year I get more comfortable with the league and the players, I think I improve. Breakthrough ...? Yeah, I suppose you could call it that. I played more. I accomplished more. I felt more a part of things."
A slippery, sidestepping, little beggar, Bure evolved into the Flames' find of last season, their most dangerous, unpredictable, creative offensive force.
"Going up against the D, one-on-one, I consider it a challenge. You get such a rush beating a guy by deking one way and going the other, or slipping the puck between his skates. It feels SO good. And it usually creates a 2-on-1 or 3-on-2. That's the whole point. To eliminate the first guy."
Does Bure expect more responsibility this season?
"I'd like to think so. I hope to get more ice time, now that Theo's gone. There's a group of young guys here that need to score goals for this team to be successful. Someone's got to do it."
The Bure deal -- that shipped defenceman Zarley Zalapski and winger Jonas Hoglund -- to the Habs has to be counted a heist of major proportions.
"There's no doubt in my mind from the word go that it was a good trade," says GM Al Coates. "We got lucky because in order to try and get Brian Savage going, they put him up on the top two lines and took Bure off. We traded one player who didn't fit and was grossly overpaid. And got back someone with a tremendous upside.
"What I like is that Val's always upbeat. Always smiling. I love to come to the rink in the morning and see him.
"He never mopes or worries about how this might affect that."
And why not? What's there to mope, or worry, about. He's got a nice contract, a renewed confidence, purpose, and the appreciation of his employers.
"All anyone wants, no matter what their job," says Bure, "is a fair shake. Right?"
Shouldn't be too much to ask.
ONE LINERS: Coates had nothing new to report on the Jarome Iginla contract front, but expects to speak with agent Don Meehan again today. The Flames would naturally like to have Iginla tied into a long-term -- read: three-year -- deal and that may be a sticking point in negotiations. ... The winning team at the Charity Classic was captained by Jeff Shantz and included Phil Louie, John Niedermaier, Dave Sclandgers, Arnie Matisson and Rob McClain. Second were: Phil Housley, Al Wenzel, Brian Schmidt, Keith Thompson, Doug Philan and Ron Tomanik. The tourney raised $138,000 for the Special Olympics, Minor Hockey Assistance Program, MS Society and Calgary Flames Foundation.
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