Mustangs add tenacious D-man from Kazakhstan in Boyko

The Ogden Mustangs have a relentless, hard-working defenseman on the blue line this season in Nikita Boyko.

Boyko will be the first ever player to wear the Mustangs jersey from the country of Kazakhstan.

He describes his style of play as an attacking defender who likes to  get involved offensively. Mustangs head coach Jake Laime said he’s  impressed with his work ethic, comparing it, along with his skill set to  former-Mustang-with-a-very-similar-last-name Ilya Bobko.

At 5-feet-10-inches and 167 pounds, Boyko will add some good depth on  the Mustangs’ back end. Born in 2001, he’s one of the younger players  on the team and has four seasons of junior hockey eligibility remaining,  including this one.

“I feel really good about this upcoming season,” Boyko said. “Our  team seems really strong. The fans in the community have been great, and  I feel with the kind of support that they have shown, we will be really  strong going forward. All of these things are the reasons that I was  very excited to join the Mustangs hockey family.”

This will be Boyko’s first season outside of Kazakhstan. He played in  the Barys Astana there. Last season he also played for the Kazakhstan  U18 team in the World Championships.