Latvian Hockey News Report

Latvian U20 national team with a 3:1 victory over Belarussian U20 team finished it’s triumph at the Division 1 tournament in Babruysk, Belarus, returning to the Elite division for the 2012 tournament.

Janis Kalnins finished the tournament with the best GAA, as well as SVS%, although the best goaltender award went to British goalie Ben Bowns (who reflected a total of 198 shots, three times more than Kalnins did). However, the best defender award went to Ralfs Freibergs of the Latvian team. The top scorer of the Latvian team was Juris Upitis with 8 (3+5) points, closely followed by the 16-year-old talent Zemgus Girgensons with 7 (4+3) points. Head coach Leonids Beresnevs announced Ronalds Kenins as the MVP of the Latvian team.

Latvian U20 results:

Latvian U20 statistics:

(in bold – players eligible to play at the 2012 World U20 Championship)

Latvian U20 national team head coach Leonids Beresnevs has announced those 30 players, who will take part in the pre-World Junior Championship training camp in Jelgava from December 6 until December 11.

The final roster of the team will be announced on December 10. Already the next day the team will leave for Babruysk, Belarus, where on December 13 will play already against British U20 national team.

List of the candidates:

Yesterday the 2010 Sino Cup finished, as the last two games were held, despite the fact that Latvian U20 team had already played it’s four games by November 12. Latvian team has finished tournament in the second place, right after Belarussian team.

Latvian team started the tournament with an unconvincing 3:2 shootout win over the hosts – Danish U20 team. On the next day Latvians lost 0:3 to Belarussians, which will be the main contestant for the win at the 2011 World U18 Championships in Division 1, but then Latvians beat Finland 3:2 in the shootout – that wasn’t a huge upset, as the Finnish U20 first team is currently at the Four Nations Tournament in Prague. The last game will probably remain as the most memorable of this tournament – a 9:0 run-over the Austrian U20 team.

In the end, Belarussians had eight points and finished the tournament in first place, while Latvians, Danes and Finns had all seven points, and Latvians ended up in the second place only because of a better goal difference. Ronalds Kenins, who scored 6 (2+4) points, was the leading scorer of the whole tournament.

Latvian U20 results:

Latvian U20 statistics:

Today the Latvian U20 national team roster for the U20 Sino Cup in Rodovre, Denmark, which will begin on November 9 and during which Latvian team is going to face Austrian, Belarussian, Danish and Finnish U20 national teams, was announced.

It is the last preparatory tournament for the Latvian team, before the 2011 First division U20 Championship, which is going to take place in Babruysk, Belarus between December 9-13. The only aim for the Latvian team is to win their main rivals Belarussians and return to the Elite division for 2012.

Announced roster for the tournament:

Let me just remind you that in September the sixth Sergei Zholtok Memorial Cup was held in Riga. Here you can take a look back at the team’s roster in September: U20 roster for the Zholtok Cup announced

This evening Latvian U20 national team played already the second game of the sixth Sergei Zholtok Memorial Cup held in Riga. After winning the Belarusian U20 team 3:1 yesterday, Latvians suffered a loss to Russian U18 team 3:5, with four goals scored by Maxim Shalunov.

The game set off in a relatively high tempo, with both teams crushing the net, however, in the sixth minute of the game Maxim Shalunov scored already on the first powerplay of the night. Minutes later Latvians took the initiave of the game and tied the score, when Girts Jansons put the puck in after a rebound from Denis Perevozhchikov’s pads, scoring already his second goal of the tournament. Already late in the period Shalunov scored just another goal.

The second period began with two powerplays for the Latvian team, and in the latter of them Latvians crushed the net with many shots, however Perevozhchikov kept the puck out of it. In the middle of the period Shalunov and the only 1994-born player of the tournament Mikhail Grigorenko were put in the same powerplay unit and almost immediately Grigorenko increased Russian lead to 3:1. After a horrible mistake by defender Raimonds Tubelis, Shalunov was left alone in the front of the net and faced no problems beating Janis Kalnins. However, with a couple of minutes left in the period, Edgars Abolins scored a one-timer goal to make it 4:2.

In the third period Russian team had paced down, which allowed Latvians to attack most of the time and led the Russian defenceman to earn several successive penalties. Latvians were down by two goals and the game could have been turned around, if it was not for the admirable performance of Perevozhchikov. When there were only three minutes left in the regulation, Raimonds Tubelis once again forgot about Shalunov, who scored already his fourth goal of the night. With one minute left in a game, during a delayed call, Reinis Demiters managed to shoot a heavy shot, which found its way to the back of the net, but that was the end of it. Russians celebrated a 5:3 victory.

Generally, Latvian first line (Upitis – Bicevskis – Biezais) proved themselves to be capable of surrounding the opposing net and they had many great chances throughout the game. Another notable players was the second line center Ronalds Kenins. As of defenders, Martins Porejs left the greatest impression for me. With around five-six more additions to the team, I feel optimistic about the Latvian opportunity to win their U20 World Championship Division 1 group and once again play in Elite Division in 2012.

Latvian team roster:

Janis Kalnins

Eriks Sevcenko – Martins Jakovlevs; Juris Upitis – Maris Bicevskis – Elvijs Biezais

Reinis Demiters – Martins Porejs; Miks Lipsbergs – Ronalds Kenins – Vladislavs Dobrenkijs

Romans Sevcenko – Toms Taurins; Arturs Mickevics – Edgars Abolins – Maris Dilevka

Raimonds Tubelis – Ronalds Gritans; Egils Kalns – Bruno Zabis – Girts Jansons

Latvian Hockey Federation has announced the Latvian national U20 team roster for the sixth Sergei Zholtok Memorial Cup, which will take place on September 1-4 in Riga, Latvia. This year the tournament will include Latvian, Belarusian, Danish U20 teams, as well as the Russian U18 team.

In December the team, led by Leonids Beresnevs, will play in World U20 Championships Div.1 tournament in Belarus. Latvian team will have only one aim – to win over Belarusians and to return to the Elite division.

Tournament schedule:

September 1, 19:00 Latvia U20 – Belarus u20
September 2, 16:00 Denmark U20 – Belarus U20
September 2, 19:15 Latvia U20 – Russia U18
September 3, 16:00 Belarus U20 – Russia U18
September 3, 19:15 Latvia U20 – Denmark U20
September 4, 15:00 Russia U18 – Denmark U20

The roster includes all the best junior players, currently playing in Latvia. As of players, who are playing abroad, only Ronalds Kenins (GC/Kusnacht Lions) and Girts Jansons (Muik Hockey) will take part in this tournament. It is expected that the World Championship roster will also include Kristians Pelss (Edmonton Oil Kings), Vitalijs Hvorostinins (fighting for a spot on Val-d’Or Foreurs), Rolands Vigners (Reims), Matiss Mezulis (Gotteron U20) and probably also brothers Ralfs and Kristers Freibergs, both playing in Sweden.

Official roster for the tournament:

There is not much time left until the beginning of September, when Latvian U20 team will play already in the sixth Sergei Zholtok Memorial Cup. The candidates list for the team has been made available.

In December the team, led by Leonids Beresnevs, will play in World U20 Championships Div.1 tournament in Belarus. Latvian team will have only one aim – to win over Belarusians and to return to the Elite division.

Candidates list:

Dinamo Riga is getting ready not only for the next season of Kontinental Hockey League, but also MHL, where HK Riga is going to take part in for the first time. Just before the beginning of training camp on June 5, club’s homepage initially announced 46 candidates for the team, but a few days later 2 more players (Jasionis and Ozols) were added to the list.

Both Viktors Jasionis and Mikus Ozols are forwards. While Ozols, being 1991-born, played in Arboga last year, Jasionis played in the Latvian league club Metalurgs Liepaja-2.