WC: 2016 Team Latvia

[kabidjan18]

It's not just about the league they play in, but what sort of players they are. Just because Liiga is slightly better, it doesn't mean that the guy playing there is an improvement over a Norwegian-based player. Jekimovs played in Liiga and was relatively succesful there, yet he didn't make our national team twice and he didn't even get invited to the training camp this year.

Look at Dahlstrom, Bastiansen or Lovlie. They moved from Austria and Allsvenskan respectively to Norway this season. What are you saying, the Norwegian team is going to be worse now because they switched leagues or something? Or what about someone like Bonsaksen? He played in the domestic league and moved to Liiga. Who cares if he's playing in Finland now? The bulk of the Norwegian national team is by no means better than the players on a good Extraliga side. Yes, there are players that are too good for Extraliga (Thoresen) or who would be some of the leading players in the league (Olimbs), but you also get some really quite mediocre ones that wouldn't make it in Extraliga.

In other words, there is a major overlap in terms of skill between a good Extraliga team and a team like Norway or Denmark or Latvia for that matter. An Extraliga scrub like J. Redlihs could easily crack our roster, for example. And we're talking about upper 2nd tier teams now. Austria, Slovenia, Kazakhstan are worse.

As for the point about 'retirement homes', national teams have 35+ year olds too. Olesz is actually 9 months younger than Darzins. He's not an invalid.

Also, last year was probably our worst year offensively in a very, very long time. Darzins-Daugavins was a dynamic duo that saved us from relegation, but it's not like Darzins has been scoring 10 points every time. Not to mention that he was very underwhelming in the KHL at the tail end of the season.

Lol, not long ago you were trying to group Thoresen and Olimb with Soares and Berglund because of leagues they've played in, I've definitely been taking into account individual skill don't worry. If I didn't I would've picked Norway to beat Austria in Sochi.

(Originally wrote a dissertation on why Norway is better than any Extraliga team here. Possible topic for another thread but not here)

Getting back on topic, Darzins also lead scoring with Sprukts the year before, and lead scoring in the Olympics. I do think if Girgensons and Kenins can come that would basically balance missing Darzins out though. Not to defend Darzins too much, he definitely was underwhelming in a lot of the games but a lot of players were extremely underwhelming towards the end of the season. Steven Siego went from a pretty good defenseman to a catastrophe. I see your point about Latvia vs Kazakhstan and I agree that Latvia should be the favorite, however, the matchup of Kazakhstan's top line against Latvia's depleted defense could pull the upset.

 

[Namejs]

Lol, not long ago you were trying to group Thoresen and Olimb with Soares and Berglund because of leagues they've played in, I've definitely been taking into account individual skill don't worry. If I didn't I would've picked Norway to beat Austria in Sochi.

(Originally wrote a dissertation on why Norway is better than any Extraliga team here. Possible topic for another thread but not here)

Getting back on topic, Darzins also lead scoring with Sprukts the year before, and lead scoring in the Olympics. I do think if Girgensons and Kenins can come that would basically balance missing Darzins out though. Not to defend Darzins too much, he definitely was underwhelming in a lot of the games but a lot of players were extremely underwhelming towards the end of the season. Steven Siego went from a pretty good defenseman to a catastrophe. I see your point about Latvia vs Kazakhstan and I agree that Latvia should be the favorite, however, the matchup of Kazakhstan's top line against Latvia's depleted defense could pull the upset.

Having Girgensons would instantly make us better than last year. We had no center depth and Dzerins was our 1st line C. Dzerins. A guy who hadn't scored in something like 30 WC games coming into the tournament. We also didn't have Pavlovs, who was still suspended for doping abuse, and who's going to be a nice addition on the 4th line. He's basically an upgraded Berzins, he can play a bit more physically, he's got a better scoring touch, etc.

On a related note, K. Redlihs will begin on-ice practices next week. He hasn't played for nearly three months, but there's an entire month left to get some conditioning in. If he can make it, we're not going to be any worse than we were last year in terms of our D.

Abols and Rihards Bukarts dropped out of the WHL play-offs tonight, so we might see them both in the training camp soon (unless Bukarts signs an ATO somewhere in the coming days).

Blugers/Blueger was a healthy scratch in the AHL. I wonder if that opens up any possibilities for us to snatch him. Probably not.

 

[GX]

GM Stals confirmed that both Rodrigo Abols and Rihards Bukarts have been invited to the camp.

(Meanwhile, Roberts Bukarts joined the camp today.)

 

[GX]

Another update:

Girgensons has 'agreed' to come
Gudlevskis will ask his team permission in case Crunch doesn't make the playoffs (even despite the fact that Lightning will make it)
Kenins is unlikely to join (without more detailed info)

 

[Namejs]

Kenins is unlikely to join (without more detailed info)

I don't think that's necessarily true, as he expressed willingness to play for the national team in an interview with LTV a while ago.

He might've had a talk with his agent, who advised him not to risk with an injury, considering his contract with Canucks is about to end, but that's pure conjecture from my part.

Kenins would be a serious boost to our offense, I'm hoping he can make it. Heck, it even might help his stock, if he steps up and does well in the World Champs.

 

[kabidjan18]

I don't think that's necessarily true, as he expressed willingness to play for the national team in an interview with LTV a while ago.

He might've had a talk with his agent, who advised him not to risk with an injury, considering his contract with Canucks is about to end, but that's pure conjecture from my part.

Kenins would be a serious boost to our offense, I'm hoping he can make it. Heck, it even might help his stock, if he steps up and does well in the World Champs.

Rumor around Vancouver has it that he's fallen out a bit with management.

Haha, Namejs you should take a peek at the Belarus thread.

 

[Namejs]

OK, here's my absolute best case scenario depth chart, assuming everyone from the extended list wants to play for the national team and drops out in the first round of play-offs with no injuries:

Daugavins - Girgensons - Indrasis
Bobby Bukarts - Blueger* - M. Redlihs
Kenins* - Dzerins - Skvorcovs
Jevpalovs* - Abols - Pavlovs
E. Kulda/Dickie Bukarts, Bajaruns

Galvins - Sotnieks
K. Redlihs* - Jerofejevs
Freibergs - J. Redlihs
Sevcenko, Jass

Masalskis
Merzlikins
Gudlevskis*

*questionable

Some glaring problems: it looks like we don't have a single right-handed defenseman on the team. M. Sirokovs could be an option, but he looked like a deer caught in the headlights last year (-6 in 7 games and 0 points for a guy who's supposed to contribute offensively).

Also, the only legit top 6 C we have is Girgensons. If Blugers can't make it, I would try playing Daugavins down the middle, which he has done previously both in the KHL and on the national team, which means Kenins would move up to the 2nd line, Roberts Bukarts/Redlihs would move up to the 1st line and Girgensons would probably drop to 2nd, although all sorts of other options are possible.

 

[kabidjan18]

Nikita Jevpalovs with a goal and an assist for Allen!

 

[GX]

Rihards Bukarts signs an ATO with Portland Pirates, so we may as well cross him of the 'waiting' list

 

[Namejs]

Rihards Bukarts signs an ATO with Portland Pirates, so we may as well cross him of the 'waiting' list

Yup, it was predictable, seeing how consistently good he's been in the WHL, but still, it would've been real nice to watch him in action in some exhibition games.

Assuming Bukarts does well enough to stay with his new team during the play-offs, which I'm sure he will, and seeing how Jevpalovs is probably going to play in the ECHL play-offs, we don't really have much of a competition going on for that 3rd/4th line LW spot anymore, especially if Kenins can't make it either.

By my book, you can pencil in Edgars Kulda in the line-up already. Talking about young'uns, Balcers (1g+1a in the Norwegian play-offs today)/Razgals/Jelisejevs also have a fighting chance to make the team now.

 

[GX]

Rodrigo Abols has joined the camp

The current camp roster looks like this: http://www.eliteprospects.com/team.php?team=1643

 

[kabidjan18]

Any observations from those watching the Denmark game?

 

[Namejs]

Any observations from those watching the Denmark game?

Unfortunately, it wasn't televised.

The lines were:

Ervīns Muštukovs
(Jānis Kalniņš);

Kristaps Sotnieks - Oskars Cibuļskis,
Aleksandrs Jerofejevs - Guntis Galviņš,
Ralfs Freibergs - Maksims Širokovs,
Ričards Birziņš

Miks Indrašis - Gints Meija - Juris Upītis,
Rodrigo Ābols - Andris Džeriņš - Roberts Bukarts,
Kaspars Saulietis - Vitālijs Pavlovs - Gunārs Skvorcovs,
Toms Andersons - Māris Bičevskis - Edgars Kulda,
Nikolajs Jeļisejevs.

2 goals for Meija, 2 goals for Abols. A 6-4 win for Latvia, and it looks like both teams were missing relatively few of their leading players. Not sure about Denmark, but we missed our top 3 goalies, our top line and a couple of defencemen, as well as a couple of depth forwards.

Mustukovs apparently had a bad showing (he let in 4 goals in under 30 minutes and was changed), not that it is in any way relevant, as he's our 5th/6th best available goalie at the moment.

It is noteworthy, though, that Abols was moved to the wing, while Meija, who's mostly a winger, has been used down the middle since the very beginning of the training camp. It kind of makes sense, if you think about it, as Abols would be both less of a liability as a LW due to his lack of experience at this level, and he could provide more secondary scoring when compared to most other options at 3LW.

 

[Namejs]

Another win against Denmark (4-3) today with few changes in the Latvian line-up.

The main takeaway for me is how efficient the Abols-Dzerins-Bukarts line was. Abols has been surprisingly good (3G+1A), 2G+1A for Dzerins, 0G+3A for Bukarts in these couple of games. Dzerins and Bukarts have played on the same line for a long time in the KHL and Abols seems to compliment the both of them very well.

Cibulskis seems to be playing with a lot of fire and determination, which is a good sign seeing how depleted our D corps are.

Bicevskis on the other hand was terrible, Kalnins wasn't very convincing between the pipes either. Expected more from Freibergs-Sirokovs.

We also seem to be losing a ridiculous amount of face-offs, which isn't very surprising with Meija as our 1C (38% career FO% in the KHL). I'm not sure the Indrasis-Meija-Upitis experiment is going to work against any decent team. Upitis was getting suffocated physically even against Denmark, Indrasis has never been overly responsible defensively and they're losing possession in the face-offs the entire time. That line could work with someone like Kenins (who was called up to the Canucks btw) or Karsums on their wing, but they're not here.

 

[GX]

Ivars Punnenovs and Edgars Siksna joins the camp

 

[Namejs]

Girgensons will join the camp next week.

K. Redlihs will probably not recover from his leg injury in time.

 

[GX]

Gudlevskis will stay with Tampa for their playoff run, so it seems very unlikely that we might see him at WC this year.

 

[GX]

Two defenders Renars Demiters and Janis Andersons join the camp. Both played for Zvolen in Slovakia.

 

[Elvs]

Why no Kulda or Bartulis on the backend?

 

[Namejs]

Why no Kulda or Bartulis on the backend?

Injury/opt-out.

After Andersons and Demiters, Pujacs and J. Redlihs will probably continue to boost our D corps later this week/early next week.

Also, the barely 18 year old defenceman Rubins played his first exhibition game with the national team against Belarus, and he seemed surprisingly solid defensively, he's a real good skater with a great size and reach. Sounded very mature for his age based on TV interviews as well. He had a nasty injury, which hindered the start of his season, and based on Kristians numbers this season in SuperElit/Allsvenskan, his stocks dropped in my eyes, but this one game changed that.

In the most recent team practice Rubins was moved up to the 1st D pairing along with Galvins, and it wouldn't surprise me if he actually made the team in the end. It's funny to think he probably would be playing for our U-18 team right now if he was 3 weeks younger.

In other news, Balcers has went on a pretty decent scoring run in the Norwegian finals. If he makes it back in time, he could be invited too. I can't see how he's worse than someone like Ozolins.

In the AHL, Kenins, Blueger, Bukarts, Jevpalovs have all been seeded against superior teams in the play-offs, so if any of them drop out real fast, they could make the flight home for the last exhibition games. Kenins obviously would be a serious boost to our offense.

As for Gudlevskis, missing him really won't be a major loss. We have 2 goalies that have been better than him lately. And if Bolts make a deep play-off run, it might even be better if he stays with Tampa as their 3rd string goalie. As microscopic as it might be, this probably is his last chance in the NHL.

 

[ergi24]

J. Redlihs, Pujacs matter of course.

Gipters, Andersons already added.

Balcers? ok.

Arturs Kulda, Oskars Bartulis, Eriks Sevcenko, K.Redlihs, Karsums injured
Darzins family

Bicevskis? Jerofejevs?

Jerofejevs broken rib, Bicevskis suspected concussion. Maybe they will play, maybe...

Merzlikins
Masalskis
Punnenovs

Sotnieks - Cibulskis
Galvins - Pujacs
Freibergs - Andersons
J. Redlihs - Rubins/M.Sirokovs

Daugavins - Girgensons - M.Redlihs
Indrasis - Meija - Skvorcovs
Abols - Dzerins - Bukarts
E. Kulda - Pavlovs - Saulietis
Upitis, Balcers

 

[Namejs]

T. Andersons and Birzins have been released from the team.

Merzlikins will join the camp tomorrow. Girgensons will arrive in Latvia only after the exhbition games against Germany.

 

[ergi24]

Pujacs is injury K. Redlihs tomorrow try to skate. Jerofejevs should be OK. Please K. Redlihs and Jerofejevs....

 

[Namejs]

Pujacs is injury K. Redlihs tomorrow try to skate. Jerofejevs should be OK. Please K. Redlihs and Jerofejevs....

Jerofejevs is in no way an improvement over someone like J. Redlihs. And Pujacs has regressed a bit, he's no longer the top 4 D that had 20+ points in the KHL a few years ago, so his absence doesn't really have a major impact, as we have enough replacements of that type/caliber.

What we do need are puck moving defencemen that can actually create something in the offensive zone and man the point on the PP against teams like Sweden or Russia. On that same note, K. Redlihs hasn't played for months and there's no way he's going to get back in shape in 2 or 3 weeks.

 

[GX]

Merzlikins in, Punnenovs out (injury).

I guess we will be more than fine with Masalskis/Merzlikins. If Gudlevskis joined the camp late or already mid-WC, I doubt he will become the starting goaltender.