Latvia plays the group stage of the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in a building that Roberts Bukarts has played in many times – Bratislava’s Ondrej Nepela Arena. He’s played several KHL games there as a visiting player, and also the 2011 World Championship.
“That was my first World Championship,” Bukarts recalled. “We started in Bratislava, our first game was against the Czech Republic, and on my first shot I scored my first goal.”
That was the first of three goals for Bukarts that initial tournament, but the Latvians lost that first game 4-2 and finished the tournament in 13th place, despite losing only two of six games in regulation time.
Since then, he’s played in five more World Championships. This year will be his seventh.
Now 28 years of age, Bukarts played seven seasons at the highest possible level in Latvia – the KHL’s Dinamo Riga. For the last four seasons, though, he’s played in the Czech Extraliga for Berani Zlin, Ocelari Trinec, and now Sparta Prague, where he now plays for head coach Uwe Krupp.
“I knew Krupp a long time ago. When I was a kid, I cheered for the Colorado Avalanche and I remember him scoring the Stanley Cup clinching goal!” he said.
“When I played in the (2008) World Junior Championship, he was coaching Germany. That was the first time I met him, then the next time was when he was coaching the national team, and then last year, my brother Rihards played for him in Berlin. So I knew him a little bit, and everything I knew was good, so that made the decision to come to Sparta easier. I knew he was a good coach and he could help me.”
“When I first went (to the Czech Republic), I was the only Latvian player there. Since that time, eight more have arrived.
“I’m happy that I came here, played well, and Czech teams saw that the Latvians were good players. So I’m happy to have opened this market for Latvian players.”
It’s important for Latvian players to have options abroad because, beyond Dinamo Riga, there aren’t many ways to earn a living as a hockey player in the country of just under two million people.
“We have a league there, but most of the teams are just semi-professional,” Bukarts explained. “There just isn’t the money to pay high salaries, so if you want to have a career in hockey, you have to go somewhere else.”
To demonstrate that point, at the last two World Championships, no players on the Latvian team played in their domestic league those seasons for more than a handful of games, and that will likely be the case again in 2019. But despite playing in a variety of different leagues and countries, Bukarts likes the tight-knit group that the team has.
“We’ve had two really good seasons under Bob Hartley,” Bukarts said of the Stanley Cup-winning coach who will be back behind the Latvian bench this season. “Two years ago, Germany beat us out for the last quarter-final spot and last year, we beat out Denmark. That’s the only difference.”
Recalling last year’s all-important group final stage game against the hosts in Herning, Bukarts said: “They had a really good team on paper and there were a lot of people there and a lot of media hype, but we were just a better team, I would say. Or more determined. For us, it was a small dream to make the quarter-finals and I don’t think we were far off from making the semi-finals.”
Latvia beat Denmark that game 1-0 and then lost 3-2 to Sweden in the quarters. Despite scoring two goals and two assists over eight games and serving as the team captain, Bukarts said: “It was hard for me because I was injured after the season, so for a long time I couldn’t practice with the team. I just started skating a couple of weeks before the World Championship, so when I got in there, I just tried my best to help the guys.
“But overall, it was a good tournament for us, and I think if we can bring back the same group of players, we could have another good tournament.”
One thing the Latvian team can always count on is a loyal and vocal group of fans wherever the team goes. The Latvian fans are always among the most passionate at the World Championships.
“They’re like our seventh player, always cheering for us,” said Bukarts. “I remember last year we were playing Finland, and it wasn’t the best game from us, we were losing, but they were still cheering really loudly for us.”
Looking ahead to the World Championship in 2021, which Riga will co-host with Minsk, Belarus, Bukarts said: “It’s going to be a big thing for Latvian hockey and for the Latvian economy – restaurants, hotels, and lots of people coming to Riga and seeing how beautiful it is.
“(Sparta teammate) Jaroslav Hlinka said to me, ‘Riga’s beautiful, but I’d never been there until I went to play in the 2006 World Championship,’ and I said, ‘Oh yeah, I was volunteering there as a team host.’”
While Bratislava in 2011 was his first World Championship as a player, 15-year-old Roberts Bukarts was team host for Canada in 2006 and got to meet some big stars.
“The team staff came in by bus and I was helping them unload the equipment, and I saw Sidney Crosby’s bag, then Brendan Shanahan’s bag … I asked them if they wanted me to help them but they said no, they had it. I just hung around all tournament, watching games for free,” he laughed.
Since then, Bukarts has been on the same ice as Crosby and other big stars. This year will be no different in a group that includes Russia, Sweden and the Czech Republic. But the Latvians hope despite that, another determined effort can bring them back to the quarter-finals.
“That was my first World Championship,” Bukarts recalled. “We started in Bratislava, our first game was against the Czech Republic, and on my first shot I scored my first goal.”
That was the first of three goals for Bukarts that initial tournament, but the Latvians lost that first game 4-2 and finished the tournament in 13th place, despite losing only two of six games in regulation time.
Since then, he’s played in five more World Championships. This year will be his seventh.
Now 28 years of age, Bukarts played seven seasons at the highest possible level in Latvia – the KHL’s Dinamo Riga. For the last four seasons, though, he’s played in the Czech Extraliga for Berani Zlin, Ocelari Trinec, and now Sparta Prague, where he now plays for head coach Uwe Krupp.
“I knew Krupp a long time ago. When I was a kid, I cheered for the Colorado Avalanche and I remember him scoring the Stanley Cup clinching goal!” he said.
“When I played in the (2008) World Junior Championship, he was coaching Germany. That was the first time I met him, then the next time was when he was coaching the national team, and then last year, my brother Rihards played for him in Berlin. So I knew him a little bit, and everything I knew was good, so that made the decision to come to Sparta easier. I knew he was a good coach and he could help me.”
“When I first went (to the Czech Republic), I was the only Latvian player there. Since that time, eight more have arrived.
“I’m happy that I came here, played well, and Czech teams saw that the Latvians were good players. So I’m happy to have opened this market for Latvian players.”
It’s important for Latvian players to have options abroad because, beyond Dinamo Riga, there aren’t many ways to earn a living as a hockey player in the country of just under two million people.
“We have a league there, but most of the teams are just semi-professional,” Bukarts explained. “There just isn’t the money to pay high salaries, so if you want to have a career in hockey, you have to go somewhere else.”
To demonstrate that point, at the last two World Championships, no players on the Latvian team played in their domestic league those seasons for more than a handful of games, and that will likely be the case again in 2019. But despite playing in a variety of different leagues and countries, Bukarts likes the tight-knit group that the team has.
“We’ve had two really good seasons under Bob Hartley,” Bukarts said of the Stanley Cup-winning coach who will be back behind the Latvian bench this season. “Two years ago, Germany beat us out for the last quarter-final spot and last year, we beat out Denmark. That’s the only difference.”
Recalling last year’s all-important group final stage game against the hosts in Herning, Bukarts said: “They had a really good team on paper and there were a lot of people there and a lot of media hype, but we were just a better team, I would say. Or more determined. For us, it was a small dream to make the quarter-finals and I don’t think we were far off from making the semi-finals.”
Latvia beat Denmark that game 1-0 and then lost 3-2 to Sweden in the quarters. Despite scoring two goals and two assists over eight games and serving as the team captain, Bukarts said: “It was hard for me because I was injured after the season, so for a long time I couldn’t practice with the team. I just started skating a couple of weeks before the World Championship, so when I got in there, I just tried my best to help the guys.
“But overall, it was a good tournament for us, and I think if we can bring back the same group of players, we could have another good tournament.”
One thing the Latvian team can always count on is a loyal and vocal group of fans wherever the team goes. The Latvian fans are always among the most passionate at the World Championships.
“They’re like our seventh player, always cheering for us,” said Bukarts. “I remember last year we were playing Finland, and it wasn’t the best game from us, we were losing, but they were still cheering really loudly for us.”
Looking ahead to the World Championship in 2021, which Riga will co-host with Minsk, Belarus, Bukarts said: “It’s going to be a big thing for Latvian hockey and for the Latvian economy – restaurants, hotels, and lots of people coming to Riga and seeing how beautiful it is.
“(Sparta teammate) Jaroslav Hlinka said to me, ‘Riga’s beautiful, but I’d never been there until I went to play in the 2006 World Championship,’ and I said, ‘Oh yeah, I was volunteering there as a team host.’”
While Bratislava in 2011 was his first World Championship as a player, 15-year-old Roberts Bukarts was team host for Canada in 2006 and got to meet some big stars.
“The team staff came in by bus and I was helping them unload the equipment, and I saw Sidney Crosby’s bag, then Brendan Shanahan’s bag … I asked them if they wanted me to help them but they said no, they had it. I just hung around all tournament, watching games for free,” he laughed.
Since then, Bukarts has been on the same ice as Crosby and other big stars. This year will be no different in a group that includes Russia, Sweden and the Czech Republic. But the Latvians hope despite that, another determined effort can bring them back to the quarter-finals.