Kings get Valeri Bure

In the waning days of the free agency period, we're seeing a lot of RFAs get re-signed by their teams. Fewer are the big name players going to different teams. Friday, though, the Kings signed Valeri Bure to a one-year deal. Assuming they're paying him less than $3M, it's a good deal. Otherwise, I don't know. Make no mistake: Valeri is good, but he can't hold a candle to his brother Pavel. Face it, he can't really hold a candle to his wife Candace Cameron either. I digress. He's a good player, but he can't really stay healthy. (Sounds like his brother). Healthy or not, though, this dude will give you a point two out of every three nights. I'd take that every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Like his brother (who had an excuse -- injury), Valeri didn't play at all during the lockout.
I don't know about his change of cast, though. He last played alongside Mike Modano in Dallas. A great player, and a classy guy. Now, his marquee teammate will be J-Ro. Don't get me wrong... I think J-Ro is a great player, but he's just a little too loudmouthed for my liking. LA is the right city for him, though.

By the way, ¿Dondé Pavel Bure? Does anyone know? Aside from the gloom-and-doom "the league is going to hell in a handbasket and lots of players are fleeing for Europe" comments, I haven't heard a word about Pavel. I know his knee is a significant concern, but he won the freakin' Rocket Richard trophy twice in a row (1999-2000, 2000-01) and has regularly produced at a clip of more than a point a night. I'm sure a lot of clubs would be willing to offer him Jason Allison type money.

There's crazy stuff going on at the Canes boards. People getting banned, the whole board getting locked, the same people getting other screen names banned, everyone getting really defensive. I'm sure the offending party(-ies) will get bored eventually and leave us alone, but it's kind of ugly right now.

If you wanna see some spectacular goals, check out the NHL Network's "Top Ten Goals of the 2003-04 season". Coming in at #4 is a really nasty backhander goal scored by the Canes' Kevyn Adams against the Rangers. I think I've posted the link to a video of that specific goal, but take the 20 minutes to watch the top 10. They're all jaw-dropping.