Teodors Bļugers

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LatviaLatvia  Teodors Bļugers Ice hockey player
Teodors Bļugers
Date of birth August 15, 1994
place of birth Riga , Latvia
size 183 cm
Weight 84 kg
position center
Shot hand Left
Draft
KHL Junior Draft 2011 , 2nd lap, 39th position
Dinamo Riga
NHL Entry Draft 2012 , 2nd round, 52nd position
Pittsburgh Penguins
Career stations
2009–2012 Shattuck-Saint Mary's
2012-2016 Minnesota State University, Mankato
2016-2018 Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins
since 2018 Pittsburgh Penguins

Teodors Bļugers ( Anglicized spelling: Theodor "Teddy" Blueger ; born August 15, 1994 in Riga ) is a Latvian ice hockey player who has been under contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins from the National Hockey League since March 2016 and also for their farm team , the Wilkes- Barre / Scranton Penguins , plays on the position of the center in the American Hockey League .

Career

Bļugers in the Pittsburgh Penguins jerseys

Born in the Latvian capital Riga , Bļugers learned to play ice hockey in the ice hockey school of the former Latvian national player and IIHF Hall of Fame member Helmuts Balderis . From there he ventured to North America in 2009 and played on the ice hockey team of his high school , the Shattuck-Saint Mary’s , for the next three years . During this time he was drafted in 2011 in both the Entry Draft of the Junior League United States Hockey League by the Sioux City Musketeers and in the KHL Junior Draft 2011 of the Continental Hockey League by the Latvian club Dinamo Riga . A year later, draws followed in the CHL Import Draft of the Canadian Hockey League by the Oshawa Generals from the Ontario Hockey League and in the NHL Entry Draft 2012 in the second round in 39th position by the Pittsburgh Penguins from the National Hockey League (NHL).

However, Bļugers initially decided to continue his career at Minnesota State University, Mankato and to continue playing ice hockey in parallel to his studies. With the university's ice hockey team, he participated in the game operations of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), a division in the game operations of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) , between 2012 and 2016 . In addition to winning the division championship twice, the Latvian received nominations for the WCHA All-Tournament Team in 2014 and the WCHA First All-Star Team in 2016. During this period, he completed 155 games for the team and scored 108 points  - 35 alone of which in his fourth and final year. After the end of the college season, Bļugers, who now often operated under the Anglicised names Theodor Blueger or Teddy Blueger , received a contract offer from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

After signing, the attacker came to Pittsburgh's farm team , the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins , in the American Hockey League (AHL) for his first professional appearances at the end of the 2015/16 season . In a total of 20 games he managed only one assist. At the beginning of the 2016/17 season , Bļugers was a regular at the Baby Pens . He collected 31 points scorer in his rookie season , which he followed by another 45 in the following year. After collecting a further 39 points in just 45 appearances in the AHL in his third professional year in North America by the end of January 2019, he was appointed to the Pittsburgh NHL squad for the first time. By the end of the season he played 29 games in which he scored ten times.

International

For his home country, Bļugers took part in the junior division of the U18 Junior World Championships in Division I in 2011 and, after the successful promotion to the top division, in 2012 . As the tournament's top scorer, the striker played a major role in the rise. With the Latvian U20 selection , he completed the U20 Junior World Championships in 2012 and 2013 . He also played after relegation at the 2014 U20 World Junior Championship in Division IA .

The attacker made his first appearance for the senior national team as part of the 2017 World Cup . He also played at the World Championships in Denmark in 2018 and in Slovakia in 2019 .

Achievements and Awards

International

Career statistics

Status: end of the 2018/19 season

Regular season Playoffs
season team league Sp T V Pt SM Sp T V Pt SM
2012/13 Minnesota State University, Mankato NCAA 37 6th 13 19th 40
2013/14 Minnesota State University, Mankato NCAA 40 4th 22nd 26th 55
2014/15 Minnesota State University, Mankato NCAA 37 10 18th 28 26th
2015/16 Minnesota State University, Mankato NCAA 41 11 24 35 29
2015/16 Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins AHL 10 0 0 0 2 10 0 1 1 4th
2016/17 Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins AHL 54 7th 24 31 20th 5 1 0 1 2
2017/18 Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins AHL 70 21st 24 45 43 3 0 2 2 4th
2018/19 Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins AHL 45 21st 18th 39 18th - - - - -
2018/19 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 28 6th 4th 10 15th 1 0 0 0 0
NCAA overall 155 31 77 108 150
AHL total 179 49 66 115 83 18th 1 3 4th 10

International

Bļugers in the jersey of the Latvian U20 national team

Represented Latvia at:

year team event result Sp T V Pt SM
2011 Latvia U18 World Championship Div. I. 1st place 4th 4th 1 5 0
2012 Latvia U20 World Cup 9th place 6th 1 2 3 6th
2012 Latvia U18 World Cup 9th place 6th 2 2 4th 6th
2013 Latvia U20 World Cup 10th place 6th 1 2 3 8th
2014 Latvia U20 World Cup Div. IA 2nd place 3 0 1 1 8th
2017 Latvia WM 10th place 7th 1 0 1 6th
2018 Latvia WM 8th place 5 1 2 3 0
2019 Latvia WM 10th place 7th 1 3 4th 6th
Juniors overall 40 12 18th 30th 42
Men overall 19th 3 5 8th 12

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

Commons : Teodors Bļugers  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Squad of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the season 2019/20
personal data
SURNAME Bļugers, Teodors
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Blugers, Teodors; Blueger, Teddy; Blueger, Theodor (anglicized spellings)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Latvian ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1994
PLACE OF BIRTH Riga , Latvia