Guntars Paste | Photo: “Sports Studio”
Latvian hockey official and players’ agent Guntars Paste shared his thoughts on Bob Hartley, salaries in the Optibet hockey league (OHL) and the contribution of Riga “Dinamo” to Latvian hockey in a conversation with Valdas Valters on the “Youtube” channel “William Hill TV”.
“I think yes, he’s a slave to money,” says Paste about Hartley, who recently returned to Omsk. “No one refuses money. I will tell you more. I have in Omsk dudehe is the general manager [Aleksejs Volkovs]. Club manager Krylovs wanted to invite Mike Babcock in general. I think Hartley’s contract with LHF was normal, but considering our poverty, still too big. No, you’re a thief. Scammer, what will you do. What brought him to Latvia? Visitor [Koziols], that also says a lot. I think that he also received some money from it,” says the official.
Rihards Bukarts, the striker of the Latvian national team, is still without a contract, whom the Swedish media have already caught up with send to to the “Brynas” unit. “Then why doesn’t he drive if there is already an offer? How long will he sit without a contract? For Latvian hockey players, their desire is usually greater than their ability. It’s almost November, you have to go play if there’s an offer,” says Paste. “He will show up somewhere. He has an injury now. He plays golf and slowly prepares for the season,” an official shares his thoughts about Lauri Dārziņa. “I think that he will not leave anywhere, and if he plays, it will be here in Latvia,” Paste assured.
“I know that Kalniņš refused Neftekhimik before “Amur”, but that offer was twice as small. The currency account is open, the money can be safely withdrawn, what are the problems? The NHL won’t be able to tempt a goaltender, let alone some loser who has something to prove. Kalniņš became the champion of Finland, albeit as the second goalkeeper, but that season was miserable for him. What kind of goalkeeper will you be if you are allowed to play three matches in the national team? Kalniņš was sent to Khabarovsk thanks to his performance in the ranks of “Jokerit”. Yeliseev is doing well in Vladivostok, he wanted to prove himself in the KHL. There was a lot of hanging around with it [pārejas] permission. Tambiev has already started stressed,” revealed the agent.
“Let Indrasis deal with his own head. It’s good that it all ended that way. It was a coincidence that when I got a call from “Spartak”, Indrašis was next to me, I negotiated the contract within two minutes. There was a moment when you couldn’t understand anything. Germany is no longer my job, he gets 80 thousand there [sezonā]. In Russia, the salary would be 17 million rubles per season plus 12 million rubles for 30 points, a total of 29 million. It would be around 490 thousand euros per season,” says Paste.
“I don’t know what salaries are like in Latvia, I’m ashamed to even think about it. There must have been a player last season who got three thousand a month. This season there are those who get two thousand, maybe there is someone who earns three. I will say that in terms of salaries, the OHL is an amateur league. Paid more when I played. Alexander Kerch received two thousand dollars, which at that time was completely different money,” revealed the agent.
“Mestis” is a good league for young people, but how many of them can be taken to the national team? None. You will take Khomyakov, who is the most productive? He weighs 13 kilograms. Open all the doors and he will be blown out with a draft. The MHL team paid about one million per season. Now anyone ready to give a million? In the last season, we discovered that we have Patrick Ozol. How would he develop and grow for the national team if there was no “Dynamo”. He would have been over a long time ago. The guy went to the “Dinamo” training camp and Zubov noticed him. All hockey players who are still breathing somewhere are a product of Riga “Dinamo”, said Paste.
