Hockey teams on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean were saying goodbye to forward Eduards Tralmaks.

When the Latvian winger signed as a UFA with the Edmonton Oilers last week, he was taking 26 goals out of the lineup of the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins, the Detroit Red Wings’ top farm club.

Across the pond, two clubs in the Czech Extraliga – Karoly Vary and Kladno – were also lamenting the decision as the man nicknamed Trail Mix was hitting the trail.

“When Tralmaks left for overseas, we made a clear agreement – if he does not get a permanent place in the NHL by the set date, he will finish the season in the Energia jersey,” Karoly Vary club owner Dušan Šenkypl told the Czech website Hokej.cz.

Karoly Vary officials finally did confirm the worst-kept secret in Czech hockey. They had traded the rights to Tralmaks to Kladno, his old Czech club.

“Eduards ultimately decided that if he returns to Europe, he wants to continue elsewhere,” Šenkypl said. “It is his choice, which we respect.

“At the same time, we used our position: we turned the European rights for a player who did not play a single game for us into financial compensation.”

Kladno Antes Up For Tralmaks

Kladno paid a reported 5 million Czech koruna ($236,000 US dollars) for Tralmaks, who signed a five-year contract with the club. But they won’t be getting him in the lineup, either. At least not right away.

“We knew that this situation could occur,” said the head of Kladno’s sports department, former NHLer Tomáš Plekanec. “When Eda wants to return to Europe, we will, of course, continue to count on him in Kladno.

“I would like to wish him good luck in fulfilling his dream of playing in the NHL.”

Representing His Country in a New Format

Tralmaks, meanwhile, is back on the ice, getting ready to represent his homeland of Latvia in a new hockey format. He’ll be captaining his country as the play in the European Nations Cup three-on-three tournament. He will be the captain of the team.

The tournament is being held at the Xiaomi Arena in Riga, Latvia, on July 18 and 19. Eight teams will compete – Latvia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Estonia.

“Currently, the entire team is preparing hard for the tournament, because we want to show our best performance to our fans, especially in the games against the NHL stars who will come to Riga,” Tralmaks told Latvian website TV Net Sports.