With eleven points, Rihards Bukarts was the most productive player of the Latvian hockey team at the last world championship in Tampere, where the Latvians won a sensational bronze. However, he started this season without an engagement and found engagement only at the end of October, when he agreed on a three-month contract with the Swiss Biel.
He collected two points for a goal and an assist in eleven games, and despite being offered to stay, the 28-year-old striker decided to leave due to low workloads, according to a Latvian sports website. According to the Latvians, by signing the contract, he would become a so-called redundant foreigner who would only play in case of injury to other legionnaires in the team.
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Vítkovice – Olomouc 1:0 (12. Bukarts) Video: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
Roberts and Rihards Bukarts already played together in the Czech Republic when they played for the then extra-league Zlín in the 2017/2018 season. Even then, Rihards was not very productive, scoring only four points (2+2) in seventeen games.
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Třinec – Vítkovice 1:2 (18. Bukarts) Video: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
The elder Roberts has been working in Vítkovice since the 2019/2020 season and has a contract in Ostrava for two more seasons. In the current year, he played 32 matches in the extra league and scored nine goals and added three assists. According to Sportacentrs.com, the middle of the Bukarts brothers should sign a contract in Vítkovice by the end of the next extra-league year.
The youngest of the three Bukarts brothers is 19-year-old Rogers, playing overseas in the WHL for the Wenatchee Wild. Rodgers played at the recent U20 World Cup in Sweden, helping Latvia to the quarter-finals with a goal and an assist.
2024-01-17 22:06:04
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