Burto heading for France

Former Brahma signs with Evry les Peaux-Rouges

We’ve heard a little about this around NYTEX over the last few weeks...I’ve finally confirmed that former Brahmas forward Matt Burto has signed with Evry les Peaux-Rouges in the French Ice Hockey Federation Division 2 (the second highest level of professional ice hockey in France).

Burto, 26, played two seasons with the Brahmas. He tallied 38 points (15 G, 23 A, +2) and 149 penalty minutes in 110 games played and added two assists and 10 PIM in 21 post-season contests.

He wasn't a big scorer, but Burto was certainly a fan favorite for his hard work on and off the ice. He developed into a good two-way forward from his rookie season through his second year and had the heart of a true Brahma. He'll definitely be missed.

Can’t tell you much about Burto's new team or the league due to the difficulty in translating the French websites, but here’s some basic info from Wikipedia:

FFHG Division 2 consists of 20 teams divided into two pools with ten teams each. Evry lesPeaux-Rouges sits in the Northern pool. Each team plays the other teams in their pool at home and away (18 games). At the end of this regular season the 8 highest ranking teams in each pool enter a combined knock-out play-off series while the four lowest ranking teams (two from each pool) enter a play-off series of their own. The winner of the former play-off series is promoted to FFHG Division 1 while the loser of the latter play-off series is demoted to FFHG Division 3.

Burto married longtime girlfriend Lauren Nuland on July 31st in Newport, Rhode Island.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith