Bure could be gone for season

Vancouver Canucks right wing Pavel Bure, who has not rounded into form this season after missing nearly all of 1995-96 with a knee injury, will miss at least two weeks with whiplash.

Bure has been bothered by the injury since the season opener, when he was slashed by Calgary defenseman Todd Simon. But he aggravated the injury Monday in a 5-1 loss at Colorado when he was hit by defenseman Aaron Miller.

He was examined Tuesday night in Vancouver by team doctor Ross Davidson and the team said that Bure will miss a minimum of two weeks.

"It goes back a long time to the first game and we were hoping it was going to go away," Bure told the Vancouver Sun. "But the last couple of months it's been getting worse and worse. It's my whole upper body -- my chest, my neck, my spine, my arms, everything. It's bothering me almost 24 hours a day. I don't think I'm going to play until I'm 100 percent healthy."

Bure, a two-time 60-goal scorer, has been limited to 23 goals and 32 assists for 55 points in 63 games this season. He is second on the team in all three categories, tied with Martin Gelinas in goals. Bure is also tied with Chris Joseph and Markus Naslund with a team-worst minus-14 rating.

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