The emphasis on professional athletes' significant others, also known as WAGS (wives and girlfriends) has hit an all-time hit thanks to the Travis Kelce - Taylor Swift phenomenon. Regardless of where you sit on this spectrum (as a Chiefs fan I find it odd how people hate it so much), let's look at some popular NHL couples from the 1990s, inspired by Valeri Bure and his still partner, Candace Cameron Bure:
Alexei Yashin and Carol Alt. Supermodel Alt was first married to NHLer Ron Greschner from 1983 to 1996 before she started dating the Senators/Islanders centre. According to whodatedwho.com, they were in a relationship from 2000 to 2018.
Sergei Fedorov/Pavel Bure & Anna Kournikova. Fedorov claims to have married the former tennis star in 2001, although she denies it. Bure and Kournikova were rumoured to have been in engaged in 2000.
Wayne Gretzky and Janet Jones. The original hockey WAG, Janet Jones is an actress/dancer best remembered for her role in Police Academy 2 and having a pictorial spread in Playboy.
Alexandre Daigle and Pamela Anderson. The former first overall pick briefly dated former Playboy playmate and actress Anderson in 1998. Anderson was previously married to Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, and following her relationship with Daigle was married to Robert James Ritchie, aka Kid Rock. Yikes!
550 - Paul Broten
A right winger, Broten was drafted 77th overall by the New York Rangers in 1984, straight out of high school. Following the draft he played four seasons of college hockey at Minnesota, turning pro in 1988-89 with Denver in the IHL, scoring 28 goals and 59 points in his first season.
Broten made his NHL debut in 1989-90, playing in 32 games for the Rangers, scoring five goals and eight points. The younger brother of NHLers Neal and Aaron, Paul became a full-time NHLer in 1992-93, playing in 72 games, scoring 13 goals and 28 points along with 102 penalty minutes, all career highs. In October 1993 he was claimed by Dallas in the waiver draft, scoring 24 points in his first season as a Star. In October 1995 Broten was traded to St. Louis for Guy Carbonneau. He played in 17 games with the Blues before spending the balance of the season in the AHL with Worcester.
Broten played two seasons in the IHL and one final pro season in Germany in 1998-99 before retiring. In seven NHL seasons he played in 322 games, scoring 46 goals and 101 points. Having earned a degree in communications while at the University of Minnesota, Broten has parlayed that degree into a second career in marketing following his playing days.
YouTube clip: scoring his first career NHL goal in a December 1989 game versus Patrick Division rivals, the Washington Capitals.
551 - Andrew Cassels
In September 1991 Cassels was traded from Montreal to Hartford for a second round pick, eventually used to select Valeri Bure.
Andrew Cassels - played six seasons (four as an assistant captain) with the Whalers, scoring 20+ goals and 60+ points three times. In the 1992-93 season he set career-highs with 21 goals and 85 points. Cassels was traded in August 1997 to Calgary with Jean-Sebastien Giguere for Gary Roberts and Trevor Kidd.
Valeri Bure - played parts of four seasons with the Habs, topping out at 22 goals and 42 points in his rookie season. He was traded in February 1998 with a 4th round pick for Jonas Hoglund and Zarley Zalapski.
Let’s give this one to the Whalers, a franchise that didn’t experience a lot of wins. Cassels was a solid middle-six forward for them, and when traded away the franchise (now Carolina) acquired Gary Roberts. Valeri couldn’t live up to the hype of being the younger brother of Pavel, but did turn in a few good seasons with Calgary. Plus he married actress Candace Cameron, so not all bad in the end for him either.
YouTube clip: arguably the most painful goal of his career, scoring off his face during a 1994 game against Vancouver.
552 - Tom Draper
A goaltender, Draper was drafted 165th overall by Winnipeg in 1985 following his sophomore season with the University of Vermont. He played two more seasons for the Catamounts, leaving to play pro hockey in Finland for the 1987-88 season.
Draper returned to North America after one season in Europe, winning 47 games with Moncton in the AHL over two seasons. During this time he appeared in eight games with the Jets, posting a 3-5 record, .823 save percentage and 4.80 goals against average. In February 1991 he was traded for a player to be named later (Jim Vesey); three months later he was traded back to Winnipeg, who then traded him again a month later, this time to Buffalo for a late round draft pick.
Following a year of trades, Draper appeared in 26 games with the Sabres in 1991-92, posting a 10-9-5 record, 3.21 goals against and .895 save percentage. He played in all seven playoff games for the Sabres that season, which included a 28 save shutout in a Game 6 victory over Boston; unfortunately the Sabres would lose Game 7. Draper appeared in only 11 games with Buffalo the following season, as he was competing for ice time with Daren Puppa, Grant Fuhr and Dominik Hasek. In September 1994 he was traded to the New York Islanders for a draft pick. He appeared in seven games for the Isles, spending most of the season in the AHL.
Draper returned to Winnipeg for a third time, signing as a free agent for the 1995-96 season. He played in one final NHL game with the Jets, then bounced around the North American minors and Europe until retiring after the 2003-04 season.
In six NHL seasons, Draper played in 53 games, posting a 19-23-5 record, .877 save percentage and 3.70 goals against average. He had a brief coaching career in the NCAA and NWHL.
553 - Grant Fuhr
In February 1993 Fuhr was traded from Toronto to Buffalo with a fifth round pick (Kevin Popp) for Dave Andreychuk, Daren Puppa and a first round pick (Kenny Jonsson).
Grant Fuhr: played 64 games with the Sabres over three seasons, posting a 25-29-5 record. In his second season in Buffalo Fuhr shared the Jennings Trophy with Dominik Hasek. Hasek’s emergence as the best goalie on the planet led to Fuhr’s trade to Los Angeles in 1995 with Philippe Boucher and a prospect for Alexei Zhitnik, Charlie Huddy, Robb Stauber and a draft pick. Fuhr didn’t last long with the Kings, but landed on his feet with St. Louis in 1995-96 when he set an NHL record for most games played by a goalie in a single season, with 79.
Kevin Popp: an enforcer, Popp played six seasons in second-tier minor leagues.
Dave Andreychuk: played four seasons with Leafs, scoring 120 goals and 219 points in 223 games. He scored 53 goals in 1993-94, good for fourth in the NHL. During the 1993 playoffs Andreychuk added 12 goals and 19 points as the Leafs made the Campbell Conference Finals. In March 1996 he was traded to New Jersey for second and third round picks, one of which was traded back to Devils.
Daren Puppa: played eight games with Leafs during the 1992-93 season, winning six. He was claimed first by Florida and then by Tampa Bay in the 1993 expansion draft (side note: the 1993 expansion draft had a weird second day where the three previous expansion teams, Ottawa, San Jose and Tampa Bay, were each allowed to pick two players from Florida or Anaheim’s roster. Each team only made one pick, passing on their second).
Kenny Jonsson: the Leafs selected Swedish defenceman Jonsson with the first round pick acquired in the trade. Jonsson made his NHL debut in 1994-95 and was named to the all-rookie team. In March 1996 he was traded to the New York Islanders with a first round pick, Sean Haggerty and Darby Hendrickson for Wendel Clark, Mathieu Schneider and DJ Smith. The first round pick would be used to select Roberto Luongo.
The Leafs are the winners in this trade. Andreychuk had a fantastic 1993-94, and was a solid contributor during his other seasons. Jonsson was a good middle six defenceman for his career and was parlayed into other assets, although the first round draft pick loss was harsh. Fuhr and Puppa are a wash, although Buffalo did get a good defenceman in Zhitnik when they moved on from Fuhr.
YouTube clip: Fuhr jumping in to aid Matthew Barnaby, who was getting pounded by Lyle Odelein. Patrick Roy gets himself involved as well.
554 - Pierre Turgeon
In April 1995 Pierre Turgeon was traded from the New York Islanders to Montreal with Vladimir Malakhov for Craig Darby, Kirk Muller and Mathieu Schneider
Pierre Turgeon - in parts of three seasons with the Habs, he scored 127 points in 124 games, including 38 goals and 96 points in 1995-96. A lack of playoff success during his time (one appearance in 1996, which was a first round loss) led to a trade in October 1996 to St. Louis with Craig Conroy and Rory Fitzpatrick for Shayne Corson, Murray Baron and a draft pick.
Vladimir Malakhov - played six seasons with Habs, scoring 141 points in 283 games, scoring 10+ goals in three straight seasons. He was traded in March 2000 to New Jersey for Sheldon Souray, a draft pick and prospect.
Craig Darby - played only 13 games with the Isles over two seasons (scoring two assists) and was lost to Philadelphia in the 1996 waiver draft. Darby found his way back to the Habs in the late 1990s, playing two full seasons, the best in a career that was primarily spent in the minors.
Kirk Muller - played 27 games over two seasons (scoring 15 points) before a trade to Toronto in January 96 with Don Beaupre for Damian Rhodes and Ken Belanger as part of a three way trade that also involved Ottawa.
Mathieu Schneider - played 78 games over two seasons, scoring 56 points. Three months after Muller was traded to Toronto, Schneider was sent to the Leafs with Wendel Clark and DJ Smith for Kenny Jonsson, Darby Hendrickson, Sean Haggerty and a first round pick. If you read the previous section about Grant Fuhr carefully, you will realize this first round pick was used to select Roberto Luongo.
The Habs are the winner of this one. Turgeon may have been run out of town, but he lasted longer than any of the Isles players did on Long Island. You can’t discount that Malakhov had a good run with Habs as well. The Isles did use Schneider as part of a package to acquire the first round pick used to select Roberto Luongo, but we all know how that ended. 🙁
YouTube clip: Turgeon’s first goal as a Hab, scored against Montreal’s bitter rival the Quebec Nordiques.
555 - Pavel Bure
In January 1999 the Russian Rocket, after sitting out the first three months of the 1998-99 season, was traded from Vancouver to Florida with Brad Ference, Bret Hedican and a third round pick (Robert Fried) for Mike Brown, Dave Gagner, Ed Jovanovski, Kevin Weekes and a first round pick (Nathan Smith).
Pavel Bure - played parts of four seasons with Panthers, scoring 152 goals and 251 points in 223 games. Bure scored 58 and 59 goals in back-to-back seasons (99-00, 00-01), winning the Rocket Richard Trophy and was also named a second team all-star both seasons. The Panthers made the playoffs once during Bure’s tenure (2000) and they were swept by New Jersey in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. Bure was traded to the New York Rangers in March 2002 for three draft picks, Filip Novak and Igor Ulanov.
Brad Ference - played 167 games with Panthers over four seasons, scoring 28 points and recording 432 penalty minutes. In March 2003 he was traded to Phoenix for a second round pick and Darcy Hordichuk.
Bret Hedican - played 202 games over four seasons, scoring 17 goals and 65 points. In January 2002 he was traded to Carolina with Kevyn Adams and Tomas Malec for Sandis Ozolinsh and Byron Ritchie.
Robert Fried - played four seasons at Harvard University. He never played pro hockey.
Ed Jovanovski - played 434 games over seven seasons, scoring 57 goals and 234 points, while recording 536 penalty minutes. An assistant captain for four seasons, he finished sixth in Norris voting twice (2002 & 2003), played in four all-star games and had three straight seasons of 40+ points. The Canucks made the playoffs four straight seasons (2001-04), making it out of the Conference Quarter-Finals only once. In 2003 they lost to Minnesota in the Western Conference Semi-Finals, with JoVo Cop leading the team in playoff scoring with 7 goals in 14 games. In July 2006 he signed with Phoenix as a free agent.
Mike Brown - played 16 games over two seasons, recording 77 penalty minutes and zero points. In October 2002 he was selected by Anaheim off waivers.
Dave Gagner - played 33 games with the Canucks scoring 2 goals and 14 points during the balance of the 1998-99 season. Gagner retired after the season.
Kevin Weekes - over two seasons with Canucks played in 31 games, posting a 6-15-5 record. In December 1999 he was traded with Bill Muckalt and Dave Scatchard to the New York Islanders for Felix Potvin and two draft picks.
Nathan Smith - played four games over three seasons with Canucks. In 2007 he signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent.
I am willing to call this one a draw. In reality the trade could be boiled down to a one-for-one between Bure and Jovanovski. Bure was the star that burned bright in Florida but faded quickly due to injuries and attitude. Jovanovski was not the all-world player that Bure was, but he was a solid contributor who carved out an 18 year NHL career and was an important member of the Canucks for almost a decade.
YouTube clip: clip video of Bure’s time with the Panthers, featuring a lot of goals, naturally. You may want to watch on mute as the music is a bit annoying, unless you like low quality remixes of The Prodigy.
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