Not many European ice hockey teams can proudly announce that they have a former NHL hockey player on their team roster. The Portuguese club HC Porto can.
The young ice hockey club HC Porto from the north of the sunny country of Portugal will compete in the Liga Ibérica (Iberian Hockey League), announced by the Winter Sports Federation of Portugal and their Spanish counterpart.
With Portugal still lacking an ice hockey rink, games will be played at Spanish locations. Portugal, many call it the ‘California of Europe’, is moving onto the international map of ice hockey. It is a small step, but in the (slightly changed) words of Neil Armstrong – A small step for us, a giant leap for Portuguese ice hockey.
He is an experienced player with 26 games for Latvia in World Championships and Olympic games.
A big step forward for a young and ambitious team: Former NHL player Oskars Bartulis is a fix member on the HC Porto team roster. Another way to make that Porto dot on the hockey map a bit bigger.
Oskars Bartulis is a Latvian former professional ice hockey defense man. Born in Orge, Latvia, on January 21, 1987. Bartulis played parts of two seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers (2005 round 3 #91 overall by Philadelphia Flyers). He also had a long career playing in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) for various teams. Bartulis is known for his all-around skills as a defense man, with good stick handling and a powerful slap shot.
Canadian (born in Toronto/Ontario) coach James Aldred, for sure knows how to shape his team. With experience as a player in the AHL, OHL and IHL and as a coach in Canada and Sweden, he added Porto, Portugal on his personal map. His team roster can be found on Elite Prospects which shows a huge influence of Eastern European hockey. If it will be enough to compete against the Spanish rivals in the upcoming 2024/25 Iberian Hockey League will be seen.
Season start is September 21/22 in Spain.