By Michael Russo 

Like he can so often do on the ice, right wing Valeri Bure moved at an awfully quick pace and got a lot done Thursday.

By midnight Wednesday, Bure officially became a Panther, agreeing to terms on a three-year deal, $8.6 million deal. By 7:30 a.m. Thursday, he passed his physical. By 11 a.m., he practiced with his new teammates for the first time.

He was in Dallas by 8 p.m. to watch his new team, including his brother, Pavel, play an exhibition game against the Stars. The game was delayed 40 minutes because the Panthers left Florida 21/2 hours late after mechanical problems on their plane.

Bure, the Russian Pocket Rocket, pocketed a large sum of money in the process. Bure, who made $1.175 million last season, will make $2.6 million this season, $2.9 million next season and $3.1 million in 2003-04.

"I just wanted to make sure they didn't pay me in rubles," an ecstatic Bure kidded Thursday night, eight days after the Panthers opened training camp. "I don't know how people sit a month. To sit out at home knowing everybody was playing, I was going crazy already. It seems like forever since the [June 23] trade to when I signed."

Bure, 27, will slip on a Panthers' jersey for the first time Wednesday night in Grand Rapids, Mich., against the Ottawa Senators. He's expected to wear No. 20, the first player since former captain Brian Skrudland to wear the number.

The negotiations were long and tedious, and the Panthers stuck to their wish of signing a long-term deal.

"We discussed short term, middle term, long term and any term," Panthers GM Bill Torrey said. "I can't speak for his side, but dollars sometimes take precedent over term. He had strong feelings and so did we. I told him if he plays with the same determination as he negotiated, we'll be the beneficiary."

Bure has proven that he can be a dominant force in the NHL, setting personal highs of 35 goals and 75 points two seasons ago. That same year, he combined with Pavel to score 93 goals, the most by a brother combination in NHL history. The two also combined for six points in the 2000 All-Star Game, also the most by a brother combination.

Even last season, when he felt unwanted in Calgary and struggled because of it, Bure scored 27 goals and 55 points. Sixteen of his goals came on the power play, tied for ninth in the NHL.

"He brings more speed and quickness to our lineup and he's a very intelligent player," Torrey said. "But the major addition will come on our power play, whether he plays up front or on the point. He's as creative as anybody can be on the power play, and I've thought our power play has been pretty predictable and easily defended against the last few years."

Ironically, that's because the Panthers became a one-man unit on the power play with basically a "Pass-the-Puck-to-Pavel" system. Pavel has scored 30 power-play goals in two years, and Valeri gives the Panthers a new threat. 

Even though the plan is for Valeri to play most of his even-strength shifts on the second line, he will see a lot of power-play time with his brother.

"It'll be cool," Valeri said. "To get some time together I think will be exciting. . .They don't want me to change in any way. They like the way I skate, the way I handle the puck, the way I shoot, the way I go to the net and score goals. That's why they got me, so I'm not going to change my style."