Did John Grahame drink himself off KHL team?

While hockey fans in North America learn what words will potentially end a player's career, former NHL goalie John Grahame is discovering that KHL teams don't take too kindly to rescuing players from the drunk tank.

Grahame, who played for the Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning before signing with Avangard Omsk, may have cost himself a job, according to a translated article from Sports Planet, via Beyond the Blueshirts:

Yesterday near the club "Atlantid" Grahame was noticed in an intoxicated state, after which a police squad arrived and took him to a detoxification center.  Club president Konstantin Potapov and Avangard general manger Anatoli Bardin came shortly after to collect him from there.  Later from a source in the club came information that the management of the Hawks is going to terminate the contract with the hockey player.  Another option that is not ruled out is the possibility of trading the player.  The press service of the club has not yet officially commented on the situation.

Carolina on Ice offered its take on the former Canes keeper's Russian exploits:

Was Grahame just seen drunk and buzzed? Was he found passed out face down on the sidewalk outside the club? Did he almost Jimi Hendrix/Jim Morrison himself?

I'm not sure what exactly went down, but I do know that he hasn't been playing well - and the team finding out that he's piss-drunk and being arrested to detox would get just about anyone dismissed from any pro hockey team. This one here hopes he can get his act together to at least make a decent back-up goaltender in the NHL one day.

If nothing else, this little incident clears up a major misconception for us, which is that public drunkenness was actually a mandatory qualification for Russian citizenship or work visas.

(Thanks for Puck Daddy reader Ruth for the tip.)

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