Taking Your Puck and Going Home

This holiday weekend has been rather odd in the hockey world, as two players were unhappy with their current situations and decided to walk away. It's safe to say that neither will be seeing anymore time on the NHL or AHL level, as both are repeat offenders.

First up, Alexander Burmistrov. You may remember him as a former first round pick of the then-Atlanta Thrashers in 2010 that left for Russia after the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season due to butting heads with then Winnipeg Jets coach Claude Noel. He returned in 2015 to the Jets, only for him to eventually butt heads with current Jets coach Paul Maurice. Last season, it came to a head, and he was sent down to Manitoba of the AHL, only for the Arizona Coyotes to claim him off waivers. He did not sign with Arizona after the season, opting to sign with the Vancouver Canucks prior to this season. Now, this bit of news from Pass it to Bulis, as Burmistrov was once again, unhappy with his playing time, and after getting scratched from the team's last game for a seventh defenseman, he has decided to retire from the NHL. Yes, at the age of 26, Burmistrov has decided to pack his bags and head back home.

Next up, Steve Moses. Undrafted after spending four years at the University of New Hampshire, he would begin his professional career in 2012-13 with Jokerit, and would play with them for three seasons, including their first year as a member of the KHL. In the off-season of 2015, he would sign a one-year deal with Nashville with the expectation that he would be on the NHL roster. However, prior to the start of the 2015-16 season, he was sent down to Milwaukee of the AHL, and was unable to get noticed enough to even crack the Predators' roster. That December, his contract with the team was terminated so he could return to the KHL, this time as a member of SKA-St. Petersburg. He would spend the rest of the 2015-16 season, as well as all of 2016-17, with the team until signing with Rochester of the AHL prior to this season. His time with Rochester would be short lived however, as he was suspended by the team recently for breach of contract, and as of right now, he is now signed with Jokerit again.

As odd as the two instances of walking away have been, it was hardly the first, as Vadim Shipyachov had been signed with the Vegas Golden Knights prior to the season, but was sent down to Chicago of the AHL. His complaining about not being in the NHL was fairly well-documented, and his NHL contract would be terminated soon after so he too, could return to the KHL.

I don't know what to make of this, but it is clear that the level of play between North American hockey and European hockey can be too much for certain players to take, and while it is notable that the players gave it a shot, leaving in the middle of a season does them no favors when it comes to future North American opportunities.

Get On Board for the New Admirals

Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Admirals' Facebook page

With all of the talk about AHL teams relocating and changing affiliations with their NHL parents, here is some rather "rare" uniform news.  The Milwaukee Admirals will be going from black as a primary color to return to their navy roots while going from the cartoonish "Deadmiral" to a more menacing version of the "Deadmiral."  As you can see, though, the cartoonish version will remain on some level, as their third jerseys from last year will still be intact, thus giving the team their usual white, new navy, and light blue jerseys to choose from this season.  Black is all but gone from the color scheme, which is a great thing for a team that is one of the few AHL teams to maintain their own identity as opposed to looking more like their NHL parent.  Also, as you can see, the shoulder yokes on the new jerseys are done to subtly make an "M," which is one of the more clever things a team can do.  As for the negatives, the lack of a waist stripe does knock the look down a notch, as does the new shoulder patch:

Here, it seems that the Admirals were trying to do a little too much here, as the previous shoulder patch, an anchor, worked just fine.  Beyond those nitpicks, the Admirals did a great job with their re-brand.  While they maintained a piece of their previous look in their third jersey, it works well in that role.  As for the primary looks, it does manage to tie in all of the looks the Admirals have had over the years on some level.