TV star’s son travels 1,000 miles to play for Jr. Silvertips

For the most part, Maks Bure is just like any of the other players on the Everett Jr. Silvertips 16-under elite youth hockey team. He’s a talented teenager who loves playing hockey and dreams of one day making it to the NHL.

However there’s two things that make Bure unique:

1) He commutes 1,000 miles to be a part of the team.

2) You’ve probably heard of his parents.

Bure is son of former NHL all-star Valeri Bure and actress Candace Cameron Bure, and he’s playing for a team based in Everett despite still living in southern California.

Bure has three goals and four assists in 16 North American Prospects Hockey League regular season games for the Jr. Tips, who travel to Detroit this weekend for the league’s Dixon Cup playoffs. That’s made Bure, a native of Malibu, California, a welcome addition to a team hoping to contend.

“I love playing here,” Bure said. “I get to play in a great rink here, and it’s definitely a step up in level from what I was playing in California.”

“He’s a good player,” Everett coach Turner Stevenson said. “He adds a little bit of a different element to us. He’s physical, he plays the game hard, his work ethic is good, and he does have touch around the net. He’s not one of the super-skilled guys we rely on for goal scoring, but he’s not just the grinding guy, either. He does a lot of things very well, which is a bonus for us, especially from a player we don’t have locally.”

Bure also brings name recognition to the team. His father Valeri Bure scored 400 points in 621 career NHL games between five organizations from 1994-2004, playing in the All-Star Game in 1999-2000 when he was with the Calgary Flames. His uncle Pavel Bure is a two-time winner of the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for leading in the NHL in goals and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Both earned two Olympic medals with Russia.

Meanwhile, Bure’s mother Candace Cameron Bure was a teen acting sensation during the 1980s and 90s, starring as D.J. Tanner in the popular sitcom Full House, which aired for eight seasons from 1987-95. She’s currently a regular on Hallmark Channel movies, and she has 3.6 million Instagram followers.

With that much star power in the family it begs the question: How does the son of a Hollywood power couple end up playing for a team in Everett?

It’s not unusual for youth hockey players to leave home during their teens. Prior to the creation of the Jr. Tips program in 2014 local youth hockey players traveled to places like California and Minnesota to find the competition necessary for development. Everett has often had players from east of the Cascades who billeted locally to play for the Jr. Tips.

But what Bure is doing is a first in program history.

Bure played in the NAPHL last season with the 16U California Titans, but this year the Titans program was bumped from the NAPHL, leaving Bure without a top-level team to play for. Before the season began Bure was slated to play one level down for the Ventura Mariners.

That’s when Bure’s family connections came to the rescue. Bure’s father and Stevenson were teammates with the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, and the fact they have sons the same ages meant they saw one another frequently on the youth hockey circuit. When Stevenson found out about Bure’s dilemma, a spot with the Jr. Tips was offered.

Thus began Bure’s unique travel situation. Bure had already enrolled at school in Malibu, so billeting in Everett was not an option. Therefore, Bure is a full-time player who is a part-time practicer. Usually Bure meets the team at the locations where tournaments take place, often in Detroit. If the Jr. Tips have games in or close to Everett, he’ll arrive a day early so he can get one practice in with the team. But most of the time he practices at home, either tagging on with a local team or practicing solo with his dad.

“It was definitely tough at first,” Bure said about having limited practice time with the team. “But (Stevenson) definitely does a great job of telling me what to do and giving me information before I come, and when I am practicing with the team he does a great job of explaining. It’s not too tough when you have a great coach like him.”

While Bure has a handle on the hockey side, he’s also a grounded individual who’s successfully navigated coming from a famous family, too.

“To be honest, obviously I’m privileged to have parents like I do, but I don’t view my parents as famous, they’re just my parents,” Bure said. “But it’s definitely a great advantage I have with my dad playing in the NHL. I’ve learned everything from him, but he definitely focused on footwork and taught me it’s crucial to how you play. If you look at players like Connor McDavid or any All-Star, they all have the best footwork.”

And even though he’s not in the same field as his mom, she serves as inspiration, too.

“My mom was on Full House, then she stopped acting for a little while, and then she came back and is acting more than ever now,” Bure said. “She’s pursuing her dream, which she loves to do, so it really helps me strive to play hockey and do what I love.”

Candace Cameron Bure has yet to grace Everett with her presence to see her son play, as she’s busy with her acting career. Valeri Bure is able to travel to the games on occasion.

But the presence of all three has added just a touch of glamour to the Jr. Tips this season.

If you have an idea for a community sports story, email Nick Patterson at npatterson@heraldnet.com.

This story has been modified to correct the spelling of Maks Bure’s name.