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Bogdonavic Bio


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Niko Bogdonavic isn't a household name quite yet, but that may soon change as he is nearing his VHL debut for the Riga Reign. The Reigns young defenseman has taken a path to get to this point that has been traveled by many before him, and will be traveled by many after, but it is the individual stories that turn them into our own unique ones. Niko is no different. 

 

Back Story

Life in Serbia is not easy for many, and for the Bogdonavic family, it was often a struggle, but hockey was always an escape from a lifestyle that many would consider to be less than ideal. It all started back in the early 90s when Niko's father, Nikola was in Sarajevo, of the former Yugoslavia, now Bosnia and Herzegovina. Civil war tormented the region for many years as the former country was split off one by one until present day when we have the seven countries we currently know in the region. Nikola was enlisted in the Bosnian Government Defense Forces when  Republika Srpska, encircled, and laid siege to Sarajevo for almost four full years. It still remains as the longest continued siege on a Capital city in any war. Death was seen on both sides, but seeing so many civilian lives taken, Nikola knew he had to get out before they both were killed. Fleeing the city with help from other soldiers fleeing with their families, they were able to sneak past the RS forces under the cover of darkness. Wandering the countryside, Bogdonavic had no clue where to go next. After many days on the road he eventually found himself in Belgrade, where he tried to blend in and settle down. Unable to hold a job and bouncing around Belgrade for many years, He eventually met Elena, the daughter of a baker in town, who disapproved of Nikola.  Elena and Nikola started dating anyways, and were eventually married in 1997. In January of 1998 they welcomed their first child, Niko, into the world. 

 

Early Life 

With Nikola unable to hold a job for very long, money was always tight in the Bogdonavic family. Elena tried to work to make ends meet, but females in the work place were often disrespected, and Nikola wanted her to stay home. To say Niko grew up poor was a huge understatement. As the years past, Niko having just turned 8, Nikola eventfully settled into a factory job and money, while not a lot, still came in at a nice pace. This allowed the family to buy a TV. The first thing that turned on was a hockey game between Slovakia and the Czech Republic during the 2006 Winter Olympics. Niko was absolutely mesmerized with the game. Niko would start out playing hockey in the streets every day working on his skills and moves he saw the players doing on TV. Nikola and Niko had found a bond with the game of hockey, watching and playing, whenever they could. After many months of begging his father to be able to go play real hockey, his father had saved enough money to buy his son his first pair or ice skates. 

 

And So It Begins 

Joining a small children's rec league hockey team, Niko was anything but graceful on the ice, but with hard work, help from coaches, and determination, Niko became a great skater and a good hockey player, eventually graduating from small rec leagues to traveling leagues. The divorce of his parents, and the eventually abandoning from his father, Niko became more and more angry as the days passed. Coaches saw this and tried to channel his anger as they moved him from a winger to a defenseman. The power Niko showed was simply amazing, sometimes getting the best of him and leading to fights on the ice. He eventually became so violent in his checking, that coaches were starting to wonder if he had hit a dead end on where his talents could take him for the level of competition available to him in Serbia. The talents of this Serbian boy garnered the attention of many people, local and afar. Word of this phenom eventually made its way across the pond and onto the desk of retired sports agent, Mister Jones. Not knowing if he wanted to come out of retirement for a shot in the dark player, but unable to turn away from the rumours of the talent this kid from Serbia showed, Mister Jones eventually made his way to Serbia to scout Niko. What he saw next was a kid with pent up anger and using that to obliterate his opponents. He was raw, but the talent was clearly there. Mister Jones was going to convince Niko he needed to go to North America with him and start playing professional hockey. Knowing his career in Serbia was starting to wind down, Niko took the opportunity and traveled to America with Jones. 

 

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State-Side and Canada

Once back in the states, Jones immediately went to work calling every NHL team. None of whom wanted anything to do with Niko. Not yet dejected, Jones reached out to old friends in the VHL, where a few teams in the minor league system were highly interested in Niko. Due to the rules of the VHL and VHLM, Niko eventually chose to sign with the Ottawa Lynx of the VHLM as a free agent. His career there started a little rocky, but after finding his footing in an odd world versus the one he was accustomed to, Niko went on to show flashes of brilliance for the Lynx. In only 60 games, He finished out the season with 27 assists, 3 goals, 83 hits, and 53 shots blocked. Niko caught the attention of other teams in the VHLM and those in the VHL. 

 

After closing out his season in Ottawa, Niko was placed into the VHLM draft as well as the VHL draft. The Lynx then drafted Niko to bring him back to Ottawa with the ninth overall pick. In the VHL the Riga Reign decided to select Niko with their selection at number six. Not quite ready to make his VHL debut, the Reign allowed Niko to stay down in the Minors with Ottawa for another season. Niko started working in his offensive skill set during this season and finished out a well-rounded season appearing in all 72 games and notching 20 goals, 39 assists, dishing out 152 hits, and blocking 100 shots en route to Ottawa earning the second seed in the VHLM playoffs. Ottawa would fall to the eventual champs, but now Niko is focused on the VHL as his VHLM eligibility has been exhausted. 

 

The rising two-way defenseman looks forward to making his big debut. 

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