By Michael Russo
 

It's been more than eight years since actress Candace Cameron, who played D.J. Tanner on the sitcom Full House, took the advice of a co-star and went to a charity celebrity hockey game to meet brothers Pavel and Valeri Bure.

It's been more than seven years since Valeri Bure sat Candace on a stone wall in Paris and proposed to her. It's been more than six years since they were married.

With three children and an exciting Hollywood/hockey life that has taken their relationship from New Brunswick to Montreal to Calgary to South Florida to offseasons in Los Angeles, Candace felt there was still a large part of her husband's life that she knew nothing about.

"There was a piece of the puzzle missing, and I think it was filled in this summer," said Valeri, a Panthers right wing who is out with a broken wrist.

So in June, Bure returned home to Moscow for the first time since he left in 1991.

When Pavel and Valeri left Russia, they were 20 and 17, respectively. Pavel had served time in the Red Army, but Valeri had not. Therefore, Valeri had not been back because he was afraid of being forced to serve his required military service.

If a Russian doesn't serve between the ages of 18 and 20, the army has until he is 27 to make him fulfill the duty. Last December, Valeri became a U.S. citizen and got his American passport. On June 13, he turned 28.

So in June, Valeri took Candace and their children -- Natasha, 4, Lev, 2, and Maksim, 11 months -- home.

"It was very special," said Candace, 26. "He's been waiting quite a long time to be able to do this. It was an unreal experience because it had been so long and so many things changed and was so different for him.

"He got to see old friends that he hadn't seen. We saw where he grew up and went to school and hung out. That's why I wanted to go so badly. He's seen where I grew up [in Southern California] and I wanted to do the same. It just brought back so many memories for him and I felt like I got to know a part of him I really didn't know."

Valeri's mother, Tatiana, and grandmother, Zina, visit Pavel and Valeri in the U.S. during hockey seasons, but this was the first time since Valeri left that he was able to spend time with them in Russia. He also got to see Pavel's world. The former Panthers star spends offseasons in Moscow and owns an apartment there and a house outside the city.

"A different lifestyle he lives there, I'm telling you," Valeri said, snickering. "I wouldn't be surprised if one day he's going to be somewhere in the government. He loves that and he's loved there."

Valeri admits that he felt like a tourist in his native country.

"I described to my wife forever how it is in Russia, what it's like," Valeri said. "You get there and it's completely different. Not only because things change, but because when you grow up, everything is different in your eyes."

The children loved Red Square and the Russian circus, and the family plans to return to Russia annually.

"It's different to be in [Tatiana and Zina's] home," Candace said. "They get to show us and treat us to their daily life. We also think it's so important for our children to grow up and know the Russian culture and be able to speak the Russian language."

Just like a script

Candace, who started acting at 5 and is the sister of actor Kirk Cameron, was cast as D.J. on Full House in 1986 at age 10. The popular show lasted eight years.

In 1991, when the Bure brothers arrived in Los Angeles with their father, Vladimir, they had two workouts per day.

"We'd come home after the morning, sleep the rest of the day, wake up for our 5 o'clock workout," Valeri said. "Married With Children was on at 4 and Full House was on at 4:30. We'd drink tea and have a snack and watch those two shows, but Full House was always our favorite."

While Pavel headed to Vancouver to start dazzling NHL fans, Valeri played three years for Spokane in the Western League.

The Bures would return to Los Angeles in the summers. Dave Coulier, who played Uncle Joey on Full House, plays with the Celebrity All-Stars and struck up a friendship with the Bures.

Pavel and Valeri told Coulier how much they loved Full House.

"So one day [in August 1994], [Coulier] invited me and [actress] Lori Loughlin (who played Becky) to go to the charity game," Candace said. "He said, `I want to introduce you to these two Russian hockey players. They're kind of your age and maybe you'll like one of them.'

"After the game, I kind of saw both boys and Val and I, I don't know for whatever reason, just clicked. We exchanged numbers and the rest is history."

Valeri said it was difficult to "get brave enough to ask for her number. We met one more time before I left for dinner and you just kind of knew this was going someplace."

A few days later, Bure, a second-round pick by the Canadiens in 1992, left for Montreal. But that was a lockout-shortened season, so Bure was sent to play for Fredericton, New Brunswick, of the AHL.

"We'd talk on the phone and every day I'd be like, `Come visit me, come visit me, come visit me,'" Valeri said, laughing. "Then one time I said, `Come visit me,' and she's like, `OK.' She came to Fredericton, we had a great time and things started rolling."

It was the last season of Full House. The way the shooting went, Candace worked three weeks and then got a week off. Every week off, she'd fly to Fredericton.

"Pavel once said to me, `Candace, I really knew you loved my brother when you were willing to get on a plane and fly to Fredericton every three weeks,'" Candace said, laughing.

In February 1995, Bure made his NHL debut for the Canadiens.

"It was literally the night my show ended for a week off and I was getting on a plane the next morning for Fredericton," she said. "And he called me and said, `I just got called up to Montreal.' I went crazy."

Said Valeri: "She was at a restaurant and she just started screaming and yelling, `My boyfriend just got called up. My boyfriend just got called up.' People must have thought she was nuts. People had to be like, `What's called up? Called up? Who? Where?' It was pretty funny."

The relationship between Cameron and Bure flourished. They were married in June 1996, and it was soon after that they started building their own full house.

Valeri rarely speaks English to his children.

"Sometimes it's harder than I thought it would be, but I'll speak to them in Russian because it's the easiest way to learn," Valeri said. "I couldn't believe my daughter in Russia. She picked it up so quick, I was amazed."

Candace took lessons for a year in Los Angeles and Montreal.

"When we're sitting at a dinner table with friends and they're talking, it's too fast for me," she said. "But when he's talking to the kids, I understand everything he's telling them. If you drop me off in the middle of Russia, I know enough that I can get by."

Valeri speaks impeccable English. While Pavel also speaks English well, he has a thick Russian accent and doesn't always use proper grammar. Valeri's dialect barely has his native accent.

"He's very Californian-ized," Candace said with a laugh.

`Just normal people'

Candace took a break from acting while starting a family, but she began working on a few television projects this past summer.

Valeri feels stardom is ahead of her.

"I've gotten the chance to see her a few times on the set, and talk about professional. She's unbelievable," he said. "She takes what she does really serious. With her talent and how much she cares, I don't think she'll have a problem being really successful."

Valeri says when they're out together, she's usually recognized but "people don't know her name. They're like, `D.J., D.J., D.J.' Because we're both [famous], people don't think we're normal people, like we don't eat what normal people do. When I meet people, they're nervous and get caught up, but we're just normal people."

Candace thinks Valeri has a future on camera, and Valeri said they've talked about starting a production company.

"He has so many options what he wants to do after hockey," Candace said. "Every time I see him on camera, I just think he can light up a room. His energy on camera, he's just so personable. His eyes and his smile, the camera eats it up. So I don't know about acting, but I think he would be a great television personality or hockey [broadcaster]."

Better than TV

Valeri knows he has come a long way since his childhood, when his mother worked three jobs to support her two sons until Pavel started getting paid from the Red Army team.

He said he sometimes has to pinch himself to make sure he's not dreaming: He's married to Candace, they're raising three beautiful children and he makes millions playing the sport he fell in love with as a kid.

Asked if he marvels sometimes at the road his life has taken since growing up middle-class in Russia, Valeri said, "I do every second.

"Me and my brother talk about that quite a bit. We never dreamt we'd be where we are right now. Our biggest dream was to play for the Russian team and maybe owning a car. That was the dream. Look now. I'm playing hockey for a living. I'm paid a lot of money, live in South Florida with my wife and three kids.

"You can't get sad. You can't get mad at your life. We all have ups and downs in this business, and in this life and there's a lot going on. But if you think about it, you know what? Look at where I'm at. It's amazing. It really is."