Riga, October 8, LETA. Latvian striker Raivis Ansons has fallen under the auspices of the Pittsburgh “Penguins” in the draft of the National Hockey League (NHL) on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old Anson was named the Penguins in the fifth round with a total of 149.
Anson spent the previous season in the Quebec Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) team in Be-Como “Drakkar”, where he scored 13 goals in 60 games and assisted in 22 goals.
While foreign hockey players have difficulty returning to North America, Ansons represents Optibet’s Latvian Hockey League (OHL) team “Zemgale” / LLU, marking two assists in one match.
Ansons has represented the Latvian youth team at world championships.
The “Penguins” team is currently represented by striker Theodor Blugers, but last season the contract with the American Hockey League (AHL) team Wilkes-Bar / Screnton “Penguins” was Renar Krastenberg, who did not play in the second strongest league in North America.
The Penguins NHL team was once also represented by Peter Skudra and Viktor Ignatiev.
In addition to Anson, the Pittsburgh team selected four more hockey players in this year’s draft. In the second round, the Finnish goalkeeper Joels Bloomquist was chosen with the number 52, in the third round with the number 77 Swedish puck catcher Kalle Klangs, in the fourth round with the number 108 American striker Lukass Svedžkovskis, and in the sixth round with the number 170, another American .
Last year, the Vancouver “Canucks” team selected goalkeeper Artūrs Šilovs from the Latvian hockey players in the sixth round with the total number 156.
The greatest recognition in the context of the NHL draft was earned by Latvian hockey in 2012, when the 14th round number Buffalo “Sabers” chose Zemg Girgenson, but in the second round with the 52nd number Pittsburgh “Penguins” “took” Theodore Bluger.
In total, 37 Latvian hockey players have been drafted in the NHL.
In April, when the NHL’s central scout bureau published the latest draft forecast, the list of hockey players playing in Europe included Jānis Švanenbergs, the striker of the Russian Youth Hockey League (MHL) unit “Rīga”, but he was not selected in the draft.
Drafting in NHL teams does not guarantee a contract. Statistics show that 60% of draft players do not play any NHL games.
It has already been reported that the New York Rangers chose the talented Canadian Alexis Lafrenj with the first number on Tuesday.
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