Ostap Safin | Photo: hcsparta.cz
The 24-year-old Czech ice hockey player Ostap Safin has decided to join the Tolyatti “Lada” club of the occupiers’ league, also accepting Russian citizenship in order not to be counted as a legionnaire in this league.
Safin renounced his Czech citizenship and obtained a Russian passport. Media “iSport” indicates that in this way he will receive a significantly higher salary. Safin spent the past season in the Czech extra league club “Sparta” Prague, where he scored 13 (8+5) points in 41 games, and in the second league of the Czech Republic, representing Skolova “Banik” in five matches, he had eight assists.
During his career, Safin was in the Czech U16, U17, U18 and U20 national teams. He was born in Prague and started his hockey career at the “Sparta” academy. In 2017, he moved to North America, where he played in the OMJHL, AHL and ECHL leagues until 2022. In the AHL tournament, he has 58 regular season championship games with 12 (7+5) points for the Bakersfield “Condors”, but he has one goal and one assist in six “play-off” duels.
