Kristaps Sotnieks

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Kristaps Sotnieks
Kristaps Sotnieks 2012.jpg
Born (1987-01-29) January 29, 1987 (age 34)
Riga, Soviet Union
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 192 lb (87 kg; 13 st 10 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
KHL team
Former teams		 Dinamo Riga
HK Riga 2000
Lada Togliatti
National team  Latvia
Playing career 2005–present

Kristaps Sotnieks (born January 29, 1987) is a Latvian professional ice-hockey defenseman. He currently plays for Dinamo Riga in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Playing career[]

In his first season in senior hockey in 2004/05 Sotnieks mostly played for the reserves squad of HK Riga 2000 which played in the Latvian hockey league, however he also played 5 matches in the main team of Riga 2000 in Belarusian Extraliga. Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout the squad of Riga 2000 was quite impressive that year, including NHLers Kārlis Skrastiņš, Sergejs Žoltoks and Darby Hendrickson, thus it was especially tough for youngsters like Sotnieks to get through on the main team. In 2005 Sotnieks played in five matches for Latvia at the U18 World Championships.

The next season Sotnieks was already a regular player in the main team of Riga 2000 which won bronze medals in the Belarusian Extraliga. In 42 matches he scored one goal, gave 4 assists and got 10 penalty minutes. In 2006 Sotnieks represented Latvia at the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Canada, earning 2 points for assists as Latvia was relegated to Division I.

The next two years Riga 2000 played only in the Latvian hockey league with Sotnieks as one of the most reliable defenders on the team. In 2005, 2006 and 2007 as a member of Riga 2000 Sotnieks won Latvian league titles.

When Dinamo Riga was formed in 2008 Sotnieks wasn't among the players who were expected to be playing regularly for the side which included former NHLers like Duvie Westcott and Filip Novák, as well as a whole selection of players who had played for Latvia national ice hockey team at several world championships - Atvars Tribuncovs, Rodrigo Laviņš, Guntis Galviņš, Krišjānis Rēdlihs, Oļegs Sorokins and Agris Saviels. Thus Sotnieks was expected to be a leading defender for HK Riga 2000 (the farm club of Dinamo) playing in the Belarusian league. However, Sotnieks became a regular for Dinamo. As of 17 February 2009, he has played 43 matches for Dinamo in the KHL, scoring two goals.[1]

In February 2009 Sotnieks played for Latvia national ice hockey team in the Qualification to 2010 Winter Olympics, scoring two assists in three games and earning Latvia a qualification spot at the Olympics.[2]

Career statistics[]

Regular season and playoffs[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2004–05 HK Riga 2000 BLR 5 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
2004–05 HK Riga 2000 LHL 21 2 1 3 14 2 0 0 0 4
2005–06 HK Riga 2000 BLR 42 1 4 5 10 — — — — —
2005–06 HK Riga 2000 LHL — 3 6 9 10 — — — — —
2006–07 HK Riga 2000 LHL 45 5 6 11 71 — — — — —
2007–08 HK Riga 2000 LHL 48 4 3 7 32 — — — — —
2008–09 Dinamo Riga KHL 46 2 0 2 34 3 0 0 0 2
2009–10 Dinamo Riga KHL 48 0 2 2 28 9 0 2 2 6
2010–11 Dinamo Riga KHL 45 2 6 8 12 11 0 1 1 4
2011–12 Dinamo Riga KHL 49 2 4 6 41 6 0 1 1 2
2012–13 Dinamo Riga KHL 47 3 5 8 12 — — — — —
2013–14 Dinamo Riga KHL 53 5 6 11 49 7 1 1 2 0
2014–15 Dinamo Riga KHL 55 4 6 10 34 — — — — —
2015–16 Dinamo Riga KHL 60 2 12 14 26 — — — — —
2016–17 Lada Togliatti KHL 56 6 8 14 24 — — — — —
2017–18 Lada Togliatti KHL 17 2 0 2 8 — — — — —
2018–19 Dinamo Riga KHL 55 3 7 10 28 — — — — —
2019–20 Dinamo Riga KHL 60 4 6 10 20 — — — — —
2020–21 Dinamo Riga KHL 26 0 4 4 4 — — — — —
KHL totals 617 35 67 102 320 36 1 5 6 14

International[]

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
2005 Latvia U18-IB 5 0 0 0 2
2006 Latvia WJC 6 0 2 2 6
2007 Latvia WJC-DI 5 1 2 3 2
2009 Latvia OGQ 3 0 1 1 2
2009 Latvia WC 7 0 1 1 8
2010 Latvia Oly 4 1 0 1 4
2010 Latvia WC 6 0 1 1 0
2011 Latvia WC 6 0 4 4 6
2012 Latvia WC 7 0 0 0 0
2013 Latvia OGQ 3 0 0 0 0
2013 Latvia WC 7 0 0 0 12
2014 Latvia Oly 5 0 1 1 0
2014 Latvia WC 7 1 2 3 8
2015 Latvia WC 7 0 0 0 27
2016 Latvia WC 7 1 2 3 2
2016 Latvia OGQ 3 0 1 1 2
2017 Latvia WC 7 0 2 2 0
2018 Latvia WC 8 0 2 2 0
2019 Latvia WC 7 0 1 1 0
2021 Latvia WC 7 0 2 2 0
Junior totals 16 1 4 5 10
Senior totals 101 3 20 23 71

References[]

  1. ^ "Dinamo Riga Statistics". Kontinental Hockey League. 2010-02-03. Archived from the original on 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
  2. ^ "Team Latvia Statistics" (PDF). International Ice Hockey Federation. 2009-08-02. Retrieved 2009-08-02.

External links[]


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