Burmistrov sits in on practice at Jets Development Camp

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This article was published 04/07/2015 (3218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Alex Burmistrov made a special guest appearance at Winnipeg Jets Development Camp this morning and he has no plans on leaving.

Burmistrov, who re-signed with the club last week after a two-year stint with Ak-Bars Kazan in the KHL, took in the morning practice sessions at the MTS Iceplex to reacquaint himself to Jets staff. He said he planned to stay in Winnipeg from now until training camp in September to get ready for the 2015-16 NHL campaign – his first since leaving after the 2012-13 season.

“I’m really excited, actually,” said Burmistrov. “I miss this game. I miss this kind of game. It’s happened. I don’t want to look back and I’m happy to be here right now.”

Burmistrov bolted in 2013 after not seeing eye-to-eye with then-Jets coach Claude Noel to sign with Ak-Bars, in his hometown of Kazan. The former first-round pick of the Atlanta Thrashers (8th overall in 2010) scored 20 goals and finished with 64 points in 108 KHL games, but also wore Russia’s colours at the 2014 IIHF World Championships and was one of the last cuts of the 2014 Russian Olympic team.

“It was a really good experience,” said Burmistrov of playing in Ak-Barz. “My family was there… lots of pressure because I was the hometown boy and the fans wanted to see something from me.”

As for what happened with the Olympics, he added: “Everybody know why I left… Olympics, I was there for the Olympics and before the first game I went home. Still, the year before we won the World Championships. We won something, so that’s good.”

Burmistrov met with Maurice at the 2014 Worlds and that conversation has been well-documented from the coach’s end over the last week. Maurice raved about Burmistrov’s versatility and the fact that his return would boost the Jets depth chart.

“That conversation meant a lot to me,” said Burmistrov of his chat with Maurice in 2014. “We talked really good. I don’t know how to explain it. At that time I knew I really wanted to come back.”

Asked what has changed about him since he left – as a person or a player, Burmistrov said: “I’m two years older. I don’t know if I’m a different player or not. Maybe a little bit, maybe not. We’ll see.

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“I just want to help the team win games. I don’t know what (they) will expect from me. I’m going to try and work hard every second on my game, try to score goals and help the team win games.”

Finally, asked what number he’d now wear with the Jets – Jacob Trouba locked down his old No. 8 after his departure — Burmistrov smiled and said:

“That’s the biggest question I think, yeah? I don’t think I’m going to wear the number I wore in Russia (69) here. That’s probably not going to work out.”

Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait