CNNSI.com's David Vecsey tackles three issues from around the league:

1	Will another knee injury finish Pavel Bure?

Pavel Bure Ian Tomlinson/Getty Images/NHLI Nobody looks forward to rehabbing a major knee injury, especially a 31-year-old who has already done it twice before. Such is Pavel Bure's lot, as he faces the prospect of a torn ACL in his left knee. Bure was in Birmingham, Ala., on Thursday to see renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews. Rangers team doctors and other medical personnel in New York haven't been able to find a definitive tear, and Bure isn't taking any chances. When he tore up his right knee in 1999, Panthers team doctors diagnosed it as a mild sprain and he continued to play on it. Only after the pain became unbearable did he go to see Andrews, who found and repaired a torn ACL. Bure had previously torn his right ACL while with Vancouver early in the 1995-96 season. Depending on what Andrews finds, that's three major knee surgeries -- two right, one left -- in seven years. If this were 10 years ago, Bure would have been finished a long time ago. But with modern technology as it is, these things have become almost routine. While a tear would almost certain knock Bure out for the rest of this season, there's no reason to think he wouldn't be back in time for next season. And if you look at Bure's past comebacks, it could be the best thing to happen to the Rangers, who have Bure under contract for two more seasons. After his first surgery in 1995, Bure came back to score 23 goals in 63 games the next season. The year after that, 51. After his second surgery, Bure came back to score 58 and 59 goals the next two seasons. There are no guarantees that Bure can do it again, there aren't even any guarantees that he'll even play again. But know this: Bure keeps himself in supreme physical condition and is one of the few players capable of pulling off another comeback. Cam Neely did it, coming back from a horrible string of injuries to score 50 goals in 49 games in 1993-94. Mario Lemieux overcame back problems and cancer and is on his way to leading the league in scoring at age 37. Bure should be mentioned in the same sentence as them, having already overcome long odds twice, but his supreme physical accomplishments are undermined by a reputation for selfish play and terrible defensive lapses.

2	How much does Theo Fleury have left in him?

Theo Fleury AP With three goals in four games, Theo Fleury is making the Blackhawks feel good about their two-year, $8.6 million gamble. In his own way, Fleury thanked the team for supporting him even after he checked back into rehab just before the season. It would have been easy for the Hawks to cut the cord, but they didn't. And now Theo's back doing what he does best, doing the one thing that appears to be easy in his life. Will it last? Will he help the Blackhawks get into the playoffs? Maybe beyond the first round for the first time since 1996? Maybe. Maybe not. Addicts don't think that way. For addicts, it's all about today. Not drinking, not smoking, not snorting, not doing today whatever it is that will jeopardize tomorrow. Four games is not nearly enough to guage what Fleury has left, although we have already seen glimpses of the traits that made him one of the most enjoyable and entertaining players in the NHL. When SI's Jay Greenberg first introduced the world to Fleury in 1990, he did it as such: "The smallest player in the NHL, 5 ft. 6 in., 160-pound right wing Theoren Fleury of the Calgary Flames, might be the most obnoxious one too. Unable to find anyone his own size, Fleury picks on players 30 to 50 pounds heavier and half a foot taller. He slashes at their calves, digs his elbows into their ribs and snarls insults, both generic and personal, at their psyches. And as agitated opponents exhaust themselves chasing him, Fleury adds the ultimate insult: He streaks off to score or set up a goal. When you spend your life defying attitudes, you develop one yourself." A decade later, nothing had changed. SI's Austin Murphy wrote in 1999: "No one in the league puts on a better show, and we aren't just talking about Fleury's often baroque scoring celebrations – who can forget his sliding half the length of the ice on his knees while pumping his fists after a playoff goal in overtime against the Edmonton Oilers in 1991? Flames coach Brian Sutter reckons that fewer than half a dozen players in the league can match Fleury's 'pure intensity and passion for the game.' " He was the Little Engine that Could, and for his first 10 seasons he was the face of the perennialy overmatched Calgary Flames. That is, a face with 13 shades of purple around the eyes, a toothless grin and tiny white scarlines that look like a faded map of the Sasketchewan dogsled trails. But somewhere along the line, something changed in Fleury. His reckless abandon became simply reckless, his toothless grin became a snarl, and the twinkle in his eye faded. The anticipation that used to accompany every shift was replaced by apprehension. Some suggest that when Fleury was traded from Calgary, he lost part of his identity. Others say signing with the Rangers led him to the perils of big-city life. All bunk. Fleury's troubles were there the whole time waiting to explode. His antics wore out his welcome in New York. (In New York! Where Darryl Strawberry was embraced for 10 years.) During last season -- en route to an absurd 216 penalty minutes -- Fleury decked the San Jose mascot, made chicken gestures at Eric Cairns of the Islanders and quit in the middle of a game at Pittsburgh. That was it for the Rangers, who declined a $7 million option year. Now Theo's back getting a second -- or is it third? -- chance with Chicago. He appears to have a grip on himself for the time being. And as long as he does that, whatever he does on the ice is gravy.

3	What was the best grudge match last week?

Ilya Kovalchuk Scott Cunningham/Getty Images It wasn't the Michael Peca-Darcy Tucker game that got tons of advance billing and very little payoff. It wasn't even Patrick Roy playing against the Canadiens – and getting shelled – seven years to the day after being traded. Nope, it was right here in Atlanta, where Ilya Kovalchuk and Edmonton's Mike Comrie traded blows in what is becoming a legitimate feud. Flashback to Feb. 5: Comrie alerts officials to Kovalchuk's illegal stick, which Comrie first noticed the week before during the All-Star weekend's YoungStars Game. Kovalchuk is called for a penalty late in a tied game and embarrassed in front of the home crowd. The Oilers fail to score on the power play. And as soon as he jumps out of the penalty box, Kovalchuk takes a breakout pass and scores the go-ahead goal. He skates past the Oilers bench and asks, "Is this stick OK?" That's what you get from a brazen 18-year-old rookie. "He's a very cocky kid," says Oilers coach Craig Mactavish. "I guess he's too young to understand what goes around comes around." Well, it all came around Sunday afternoon at Philips Arena as the Oilers and Thrashers met for the first time since the incident. Late in the first period, Comrie catches Kovalchuk with a hard check in front of the Oilers bench. Kovalchuk tries to wrap his stick around Comrie's neck and the gloves come off. With his five-inch height advantage, Kovalchuk keeps Comrie at arm’s length – think big brother with his palm on little brother's forehead while little brother swings fruitlessly. Comrie tries to spin away and all Kovalchuk can do is grab a handful of hair and pull Comrie back within punching range. Eventually, having lost his helmet, jersey and perhaps a few locks of hair, Comrie concedes by skating away as the Philips Arena crowd goes crazy. After the Oilers' 3-0 victory, there were more potent quotables. "He hit me from behind," Kovalchuk said through an interpreter. "He wanted to hit me. They were screaming at me from the bench the whole game. They are a team of morons. I think people who were seeing their first hockey game could tell they were paying special attention to me." Oilers coach Craig MacTavish denied his team's intent to take liberties with Kovalchuk. And as for being a team of morons? "Consider the source," MacTavish said. However, even Comrie admitted that the Oilers were looking to give Kovalchuk an attitude adjustment. "I felt like it probably needed to be done whether it was me or it was anybody else in the dressing room," said Comrie, who was ejected for not having his jersey tied down. "We've got some issues to deal with and it was good to get it done with. "We're not the only team that feels that way. I've talked to players on his team. They agree he says things that probably shouldn't be said and acts improperly. I felt like I had to deal with it." The teams meet again Feb. 23 in Edmonton. Don't miss it.