Latvia men's national ice hockey team

Latvia
Association	Latvian Ice Hockey Federation
Head coach	Harijs Vītoliņš
Assistants	Artis Ābols; Edgars Masaļskis
Captain	Kaspars Daugaviņš
Most games	Rodrigo Laviņš (230)
Top scorer	Leonīds Tambijevs (66)
Most points	Leonīds Tambijevs (150)
Home stadium	Arēna Rīga
Team colors
IIHF code	LAT
Ranking
Current IIHF	10 (6 June 2021)
Highest IIHF	9 (first in 2005)
Lowest IIHF	13 (first in 2018)
First international
	Latvia 3–0 Lithuania; (Riga, Latvia; 27 February 1932)
Biggest win
	Latvia 32–0 Israel; (Bled, Slovenia; 15 March 1993)
Biggest defeat
	Canada 14–0 Latvia; (Davos, Switzerland; 20 January 1935)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances	32 (first in 1933)
Best result	7th (1997, 2004, 2009)
IIHF European Championships
Appearances	1
Best result	8th (1932)
Olympics
Appearances	5 (first in 1936)
International record (W–L–T)
	194–161–39

The Latvian men's national ice hockey team represents Latvia in international ice hockey. The team is ranked 10th in the world by IIHF as of 2019. The team is controlled by the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation. Their best ever finish at the World Championships was 7th place in 1997, 2004 and 2009. At the 2018 World Championship the team finished 8th. Latvia reached the quarterfinals at the 2014 Winter Olympics, losing 2–1 to Canada. Latvia has 7,145 registered players (0.36% of its population).

Overview[]

Rank	Olympics	World Championships	European Championships
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th		1997, 2004, 2009
8th	2014	2000, 2018	1932
9th	2002	1998, 2003, 2005
10th		1933, 1938, 1939, 2006, 2012, 2017, 2019
11th		1999, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2021
12th	2006, 2010
13th	1936	1935, 1996 (1.B)↑, 2001, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2016
14th		1994 (2.B), 1995 (2.B)
15th
16th
↑: promoted, ↓: relegated, (3.B): (rank.pool)

Tournament record[]

Olympic Games[]

Games	GP	W	T		L	GF	GA	Coach	Captain	Finish
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	3	0	0		3	3	27	Arvīds Jurgens	Leonīds Vedējs	13
1953–1991	As part of Soviet Union due to Soviet occupation
1994 Lillehammer	Did not qualify
1998 Nagano	Did not qualify
2002 Salt Lake City	4	2	1		1	20	14	Curt Lindström	Harijs Vītoliņš	9
2006 Turin	5	0	1		4	11	29	Leonīds Beresņevs	Kārlis Skrastiņš	12
Games	GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	Coach	Captain	Finish
2010 Vancouver	4	0	0	1	3	6	22	Oļegs Znaroks	Kārlis Skrastiņš	12
2014 Sochi	5	1	0	0	4	9	14	Ted Nolan	Sandis Ozoliņš	8
2018 Pyeongchang	Did not qualify
2022 Beijing	TBA							Harijs Vītoliņš	Teodors Bļugers	TBA
	TBA

World Championship[]

Graph shows Latvian results in IIHF World Championship since 1993.

Championships	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA	Coach	Captain	Finish
1933 Prague	4	1	0	3	3	9	–	Arvīds Jurgens	Finished in 10th place
1935 Davos	5	1	0	4	11	25	–	Leonīds Vedējs	Finished in 13th place
1938 Prague	4	1	0	3	4	8	Arvīds Jurgens	Leonīds Vedējs	Finished tied in 10th place
1939 Zürich/Basel	3	1	0	2	6	21		Leonīds Vedējs	Finished in 10th place
1993 Bled/Ljubljana (Group C)	7	6	1	0	101	9	Helmuts Balderis	–	Finished in 21st place (Won Group C)
1994 Copenhagen/Aalborg (Group B)	7	6	0	1	61	9	Helmuts Balderis		Finished in 14th place (2nd in Group B)
1995 Bratislava (Group B)	7	6	0	1	65	16		Aleksandrs Beļavskis	Finished in 14th place (2nd in Group B)
1996 Eindhoven (Group B)	7	6	1	0	41	16	Leonīds Beresņevs	Oleg Znarok	Finished in 13th place (Won Group B)
1997 Helsinki/Tampere/Turku	8	4	2	2	37	23	Leonīds Beresņevs	Normunds Sējējs	Finished in 7th place
1998 Zürich/Basel	6	3	1	2	21	18	Leonīds Beresņevs	Oleg Znarok	Finished in 9th place
1999 Oslo/Hamar/Lillehammer	6	2	0	4	24	22	Leonīds Beresņevs	Oleg Znarok	Finished in 11th place
2000 Saint Petersburg	7	3	1	3	15	17	Haralds Vasiļjevs	Harijs Vītoliņš	Finished in 8th place
2001 Nuremberg/Cologne/Hanover	6	3	1	2	19	13	Haralds Vasiļjevs	Harijs Vītoliņš	Finished in 13th place
2002 Gothenburg/Karlstad/Jönköping	6	1	0	5	11	18	Curt Lindström	Harijs Vītoliņš	Finished in 11th place
2003 Helsinki/Tampere/Turku	6	3	0	3	14	16	Curt Lindström	Harijs Vītoliņš	Finished in 9th place
2004 Prague/Ostrava	7	2	2	3	12	14	Curt Lindström	Sergejs Žoltoks	Finished in 7th place
2005 Vienna/Innsbruck	6	2	1	3	10	21	Leonīds Beresņevs	Kārlis Skrastiņš	Finished in 9th place
2006 Riga	6	2	1	3	12	24	Petr Vorobiev	Aleksandrs Semjonovs	Finished in 10th place

Championships	GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	Coach	Captain	Finish
2007 Moscow	6	2	0	1	3	20	22	Oleg Znarok	Rodrigo Laviņš	Finished in 13th place
2008 Halifax/Quebec City	6	2	0	0	4	11	19	Oleg Znarok	Rodrigo Laviņš	Finished in 11th place
2009 Bern/Kloten	7	2	2	0	3	15	23	Oleg Znarok	Kārlis Skrastiņš	Finished in 7th place
2010 Cologne/Mannheim/Gelsenkirchen	6	2	0	0	4	15	18	Oleg Znarok	Herberts Vasiļjevs	Finished in 11th place
2011 Bratislava/Košice	6	2	0	2	2	18	19	Oleg Znarok	Herberts Vasiļjevs	Finished in 13th place
2012 Helsinki/Stockholm	7	2	0	0	5	11	19	Ted Nolan	Jānis Sprukts	Finished in 10th place
2013 Stockholm/Helsinki	7	2	0	1	4	14	25	Ted Nolan	Lauris Dārziņš	Finished in 11th place
2014 Minsk	7	3	0	0	4	20	24	Ted Nolan	Herberts Vasiļjevs	Finished in 11th place
2015 Prague/Ostrava	7	0	2	1	4	11	25	Aleksandrs Beļavskis	Kaspars Daugaviņš	Finished in 13th place
2016 Moscow/Saint Petersburg	7	1	0	3	3	13	22	Leonīds Beresņevs	Kaspars Daugaviņš	Finished in 13th place
2017 Cologne/Paris	7	3	0	1	3	14	18	Bob Hartley	Kaspars Daugaviņš	Finished in 10th place
2018 Copenhagen/Herning	8	3	1	2	2	18	19	Bob Hartley	Roberts Bukarts	Finished in 8th place
2019 Bratislava/Košice	7	3	0	0	4	21	20	Bob Hartley	Lauris Dārziņš	Finished in 10th place
2020 Zürich/Lausanne	Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic^[3]
2021 Riga	7	2	0	3	2	15	16	Bob Hartley	Lauris Dārziņš	Finished in 11th place
2022 Helsinki/Tampere
2023 Saint Petersburg
2024 Czech Republic
2025 Sweden/Denmark

European Championship[]

Games	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA	Coach	Captain	Finish	Rank
1932 Berlin	4	1	0	3	5	13	–	Arvīds Jurgens	Consolation Round	8th

Team[]

Current roster[]

Roster for the 2022 Winter Olympics Qualification.

Head coach: Harijs Vītoliņš^[4]

No.	Pos.	Name	Height	Weight	Birthdate	Team
5	D		1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	98 kg (216 lb)	(1997-06-17) 17 June 1997 (age 24)	Dinamo Riga
9	F	Renārs Krastenbergs	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1998-12-26) 26 December 1998 (age 22)	EC VSV
10	F	Lauris Dārziņš	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(1985-01-28) 28 January 1985 (age 36)	Dinamo Riga
11	D	Kristaps Sotnieks	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	94 kg (207 lb)	(1987-01-29) 29 January 1987 (age 34)	Dinamo Riga
14	F	Rihards Bukarts	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1995-12-31) 31 December 1995 (age 25)	Admiral Vladivostok
16	F	Kaspars Daugaviņš	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	97 kg (214 lb)	(1988-05-18) 18 May 1988 (age 33)	SC Bern
17	F	Mārtiņš Dzierkals	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1997-04-04) 4 April 1997 (age 24)	HC Škoda Plzeň
18	F	Rodrigo Ābols	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	(1996-01-05) 5 January 1996 (age 25)	Örebro HK
21	F	Rūdolfs Balcers	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	79 kg (174 lb)	(1997-04-08) 8 April 1997 (age 24)	San Jose Sharks
23	F	Teodors Bļugers – C	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1994-08-15) 15 August 1994 (age 27)	Pittsburgh Penguins
25	F	Andris Džeriņš	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	87 kg (192 lb)	(1988-02-14) 14 February 1988 (age 33)	Steinbach Black Wings 1992
26	D	Uvis Jānis Balinskis	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1996-08-01) 1 August 1996 (age 25)	HC Litvínov
27	D	Oskars Cibuļskis	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	97 kg (214 lb)	(1988-04-09) 9 April 1988 (age 33)	Dinamo Riga
28	F	Zemgus Girgensons	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	92 kg (203 lb)	(1994-01-05) 5 January 1994 (age 27)	Buffalo Sabres
29	D	Ralfs Freibergs	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)	82 kg (181 lb)	(1991-05-17) 17 May 1991 (age 30)	Dinamo Riga
30	G		1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	88 kg (194 lb)	(2001-03-22) 22 March 2001 (age 20)	Manitoba Moose
35	G		1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	80 kg (180 lb)	(1998-01-25) 25 January 1998 (age 23)	Utica Comets
70	F	Miks Indrašis	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	(1990-09-30) 30 September 1990 (age 30)	HC Vityaz
71	F	Roberts Bukarts	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1990-06-27) 27 June 1990 (age 31)	HC Vítkovice Ridera
72	D	Jānis Jaks	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	(1995-08-22) 22 August 1995 (age 26)	HC Sochi
73	F	Deniss Smirnovs	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)	80 kg (180 lb)	(1999-03-07) 7 March 1999 (age 22)	Genève-Servette HC
74	G	Ivars Punnenovs	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	(1994-05-30) 30 May 1994 (age 27)	SCL Tigers
80	D	Sandis Smons	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1999-05-19) 19 May 1999 (age 22)	Genève-Servette HC
81	F	Ronalds Ķēniņš	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(1991-02-28) 28 February 1991 (age 30)	Lausanne HC
94	D	Kristiāns Rubīns	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	96 kg (212 lb)	(1997-12-11) 11 December 1997 (age 23)	Toronto Marlies

Retired numbers[]

Coaching history[]

	Coach	GP	W	T	L	GD	P-ts
1939	^[6]^[7]	3	1	0	2	6:21	n/a
1992–1994	Helmuts Balderis	--	--	-	--	---	--
1995		--	--	-	--	---	--
1996–1999	Leonīds Beresņevs	56	36	7	13	275:143	79
1999–2001	Haralds Vasiļjevs	32	12	8	12	81:76	32
2001–2004	Curt Lindström	65	32	8	25	202:161	72
2005–2006	Leonīds Beresņevs	32	25	3	14	112:113	53
2006	Petr Vorobiev	11	4	16	25:35	9
2007–2011	Oļegs Znaroks	37	15	0	22	98:126	41
2011–2014	Ted Nolan	26	11	0	15	57:65	35
2015	Aleksandrs Beļavskis	7	0	2	5	11:25	5
2016	Leonīds Beresņevs	7	1	3	3	13:22	6
2016	Haralds Vasiļjevs	3	2	0	1	13:5	6
2017-2021	Bob Hartley	15	6	4	5	32:37	23
2021-	Harijs Vītoliņš	3	3	0	0	17:1	9

References[]

^ "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Includes Olympics, World Championships, World Cups, Canada Cups and Summit Series.
^ Steiss, Adam. "2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship cancelled". iihf.com. IIHF. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
^ "Team Roster Latvia". iihf.com. 25 August 2021.
^ "LHF iemūžina Žoltoka 33. Numuru un godina viņa piemiņu". 24 April 2019.
^ "Ted Nolan to coach Latvia". webarchive.iihf.com. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
^ Zariņš, Viesturs (4 May 2006). "Latvia's hockey history spans a century". Latvians Online. Retrieved 11 April 2019.

External links[]

[IIHF_Men's_World_Ranking-1] "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.

[all-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Includes Olympics, World Championships, World Cups, Canada Cups and Summit Series.

[3] Steiss, Adam. "2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship cancelled". iihf.com. IIHF. Retrieved 21 March 2020.

[4] "Team Roster Latvia". iihf.com. 25 August 2021.

[5] "LHF iemūžina Žoltoka 33. Numuru un godina viņa piemiņu". 24 April 2019.

[6] "Ted Nolan to coach Latvia". webarchive.iihf.com. Retrieved 11 April 2019.

[7] Zariņš, Viesturs (4 May 2006). "Latvia's hockey history spans a century". Latvians Online. Retrieved 11 April 2019.

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