at the time, Bure declined to play due to a lack of proper insurance in the event of injury. Personal life Bure married actress Candace Cameron on June 22, 1996. They were introduced by Cameron's Full House castmate Dave Coulier at a charity hockey game in 1994. The couple has three children: daughter Natasha (b. 1998) and sons Lev (b. 2000) and Maksim (b. 2002). Bure became an American citizen in December 2001. Bure cited his family as the reason he retired from hockey in 2005. He felt he could return from his surgeries, but wanted to spend time with his children and allow his wife to return to acting. Bure and his family are Christians. Both Valeri and his older brother Pavel became estranged from their father Vladimir Bure, along with his second wife, Julia, and their half-sister Katya, by 1998. Neither brother has explained a reason for the split. In 2007, Bure and his wife opened a Florida restaurant called The Milk and Honey Café, but closed the business when the family moved to California. They operate a Napa Valley winery, Bure Family Wines. Bure developed an interest in wine early in his NHL career that he described as growing into a passion: "I fell in love with the behind-the-scenes work and being able to start from the vineyard and put it into a bottle. It's an amazing process." Bure modified the Russian imperial seal his great-grandfather stamped on his watches to use as his company's label. Bure returned to the ice in 2010 as a contestant on the second season of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's figure skating reality show Battle of the Blades. The series was a competition that paired a former professional hockey player with a figure skater. Bure's partner was Ekaterina Gordeeva. The pair won the competition and shared a $100,000 prize donated to charities of their choice. Bure's donation was made to Compassion Canada. Career statistics Regular season and playoffs International Awards and honors See also List of family relations in the NHL List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards References Career statistics: External links Bure Family Wines Official website 1974 births Living people American Christians American men's ice hockey right wingers American people of Swiss descent Battle of the Blades participants Calgary Flames players Dallas Stars players Florida Panthers players Fredericton Canadiens players HC CSKA Moscow players Ice hockey players at the