 He returned to the Devils the next season but spent the entire season in the AHL for the Albany River Rats.Balmochnykh became a free agent in 2004 and returned to Russia permanently, rejoining HK Lipetsk.After two seasons in the Vysshaya Liga, Lipetsk were relegated to the Pervaya Liga, the country's third tier league and Balmochnykh moved to Belarus with HC Dynamo Minsk before returning to the Russian Superleague with Metallurg Novokuznetsk.