Alexander Burmistrov

Alexander Olegovich Burmistrov (Russian: Александр Олегович Бурмистров, [ɐlʲɪˈksandr bʊrˈmʲistrəf]; born 21 October 1991) is a Russian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL. He has also previously played in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) for AK Bars Kazan and the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise from 2010 to 2013.

Playing career

Junior

Burmistrov joined the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) after being selected 12th overall in the 2009 CHL Import Draft. He made his debut in North America on 17 September 2009, against the Owen Sound Attack, recording his first career OHL goal in his debut.

Professional

On 8 October 2010, Burmistrov made his NHL debut with the Atlanta Thrashers against the Washington Capitals. On 29 October, he scored his first career NHL goal against the Buffalo Sabres. He then engaged in his first career NHL fight on 11 December against John Tavares of the New York Islanders. He would score 13 goals with 15 assists during the 2011–12 season for the newly relocated Winnipeg Jets. At the onset of the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Burmistrov was assigned to Winnipeg's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the St. John's IceCaps, where he would go on to record two goals and nine assists in 22 games before being recalled to Winnipeg for the start of the shortened 2012–13 season.

Alexander

Alexander (/ˈæləɡzˈændər/, /ˈæləɡzˈɑːndər/) is a common male first name, and less common surname derived from the Greek "Αλέξανδρος" (Aléxandros). The most famous is Alexander the Great, who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.

Origin

Etymologically, the name is derived from the Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros), meaning "Defender of the people" or "Defending men" and also, "Protector of men", a compound of the verb ἀλέξειν alexein, "to ward off, to avert, to defend" and the noun ἀνήρ anēr, "man" (GEN ἀνδρός andros). It is an example of the widespread motif of Greek (or Indo-European more generally) names expressing "battle-prowess", in this case the ability to withstand or push back an enemy battle line.

The earliest attested form of the name is the Mycenaean Greek feminine anthroponym 𐀀𐀩𐀏𐀭𐀅𐀨, a-re-ka-sa-da-ra (transcribed as Alexandra), written in the Linear B syllabic script.

The name was one of the titles ("epithets") given to the Greek goddess Hera and as such is usually taken to mean "one who comes to save warriors". In the Iliad, the character Paris is known also as Alexander. The name's popularity was spread throughout the Greek world by the military conquests of King Alexander III, commonly known as "Alexander the Great". Most later Alexanders in various countries were directly or indirectly named for him.