Valeri Bure, known as "the Russian Pocket Rocket," played in the National Hockey League for 10 years. He appears in this season's Battle of the Blades on CBC.
You played in Florida. Did you ever see a space launch?
I was there for 3½ years. Yes I did, but from far away. I could see the shuttle go up. It was still pretty impressive.
Would you be impressed to learn that the Canadian Space Agency played a significant part in shuttle missions?
Really? I thought Canada spent all their money on building ice rinks.
No, some was saved to develop and build a robotic arm for space work: The Canadarm.
For real, huh?
Russia has always been a leader in space exploration. Is that a source of pride to you as a Russian?
It probably should be, but it's not. Russia is one of those places where they always want to be first in everything. Growing up, second was not acceptable, not just in space or sputniks. Going to a hockey tournament or championship, you get second and are celebrating, it's just not acceptable. Airplanes, aerospace, everything's got to be No. 1. That's why it was such a big race to put [Yuri]Gagarin into space.
Does the Canadian Space Program need a defining moment, a photo op to galvanize pride? Should we aim to plant a flag on the moon?
It's got to be somewhere else. If it is a defining moment, it's got to be a first. Second doesn't sound good. If you say Canada landed on the moon and put the flag up, who cares? Its been done years ago. First people to play hockey on the moon, how's that? "You serious? Canada played hockey on the moon? Crazy!" And everybody would know that.
The Canadarm 2, employed in building the International Space Station, is massive yet apparently quite dexterous. Being a Canadian arm, should it be able to stickhandle?
What kind of arm does not stickhandle? The baby is born, you give it a stick, right away it stickhandles. A robotic arm you build to stickhandle, after that, it can do anything.
Canada has sent four astronauts into space. If you could choose anyone to send into space - and leave there - who would you choose?
They don't have to come back? I really don't hate anybody that much …
Claude Lemieux? Sean Avery?
I'd still like them to come back. There are plenty of players who were hard. I wouldn't have minded leaving them there while I was playing. After I retired, they could come back.
Sean Avery is an absolute pest but he's a great guy once everything is over. It would be tough for me to leave anyone there.
Can you name the five countries involved in the International Space Station?
U.S. … Russia … Canada. I don't think that China is there … Japan? Japan has got to be there. Four out of five; that's not bad! [The other is the European Space Agency.]/p>
Those five nations have differing crew time allotments. Russia gets 50 per cent of the crew time; America 38 per cent. As junior partner, Canada gets 1 per cent. … If Canada proposed sitting out Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla and Jonathan Toews for the 2014 Olympics in exchange for 10 per cent of Russia's crew time, would that be a good deal?
Probably not. Russians don't trade. They don't like to give up anything …
Alaska?
They'd still say no and still try to win a gold medal. It's a good hockey deal though. Maybe just send them to Mars. They come back after the Games are done.