WC: 2024 Team Latvia Roster Talk

[HockeyinLV]

I'll be genuinely surprised if I see Elvis in the net in any of the next two games now.

Agreed. I was hoping this WC could give him a confidence boost, but it seems Elvis is just not the same as he was before. Dont know if he ever truly recovers.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Elvis is cooked. Thanks god he wasn't " helping " team last year.

 

[LKI]

It's not like Goalkeeping is the only problem,

 

[HockeyinLV]

It's not like Goalkeeping is the only problem,

I wouldnt say goalkeeping is a problem, since we still have Gudļevskis, but this roster has big gaping holes on offense and especially on defense.

 

[Eye of Ra]

I wouldnt say goalkeeping is a problem, since we still have Gudļevskis, but this roster has big gaping holes on offense and especially on defense.

Blugers
Balcers
Silovs
Rubins
Balinskis
Girgensons

A whole top line missing. Anyone else?

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Blugers
Balcers
Silovs
Rubins
Balinskis
Girgensons

A whole top line missing. Anyone else?

I hope they never call Girgensons.

 

[LKI]

Blugers
Balcers
Silovs
Rubins
Balinskis
Girgensons

A whole top line missing. Anyone else?

Ronalds Ķēniņš comes to mind. And I think Vilmanis could be decent help. (Has not played in NT) Was supposed to play this year but apparently Florida has plans for him this summer.
Missing players would not be the problem if we had decent depth.
For example The skill gap for Balinskis/Rubins and Komuls is very noticable.
Between Balcers and Ansons it is significant.

 

[Antiillafire]

@Namejs right now:

 

[Eye of Ra]

@Namejs right now:

View attachment 873337

 

[ozo]

Not gonna lie, this shallow-ish victory does make me feel better. We really aren't as bad as the previous 5 games suggested. Goalie starts to stop pucks and we actually start to look like a hockey team.

 

[Dofs]

Pretty crazy update about Gudļevskis. He actually didn't have an injury during the game vs Slovakia, he had convulsions in his legs and he was extremely tired, having lost 7 kg(!!) during the game. Nevertheless, the talk is that he will recover for the next game vs USA

 

[kudla]

Pretty crazy update about Gudļevskis. He actually didn't have an injury during the game vs Slovakia, he had convulsions in his legs and he was extremely tired, having lost 7 kg(!!) during the game. Nevertheless, the talk is that he will recover for the next game vs USA

In the first period I thought this might be it for us, he will shut it down like he did aganist Canada at the 2014 olympics. Love it that it's a slovak speciality to make a star out of a goalie. Last time our junior team had 50 shots on J. Wallstedt who lost like 3kg. And of course we didn't score a goal.

 

[Namejs]

Pretty crazy update about Gudļevskis. He actually didn't have an injury during the game vs Slovakia, he had convulsions in his legs and he was extremely tired, having lost 7 kg(!!) during the game. Nevertheless, the talk is that he will recover for the next game vs USA

It actually sounds like a bad mistake on his part to not hydrate properly during the game. The temps in the arena are very high, but you should account for that.

 

[ozo]

It actually sounds like a bad mistake on his part to not hydrate properly during the game. The temps in the arena are very high, but you should account for that.

I actually noticed how mans chugs of water Hlavaj was taking on the bench before the shootout. At the moment it raised my eyebrow, was thinking won't it make him feel bloated or something...

 

[Dofs]

I actually noticed how mans chugs of water Hlavaj was taking on the bench before the shootout. At the moment it raised my eyebrow, was thinking won't it make him feel bloated or something...

Yeah, while less obvious than Gudlveskis, Hlavaj also wasn't too eager to get up after his saves towards the end of the game. They both were extremely tired by the end, which makes sense as both stopped 43 shots.

 

[Vikz]

With the end of the tourney for team Latvia, wanted to share my insights on the key players:

- I liked the top line, and I stand by my point that Dzierkals was a good fit there. He was a good motor / disruption player, who stole pucks, forechecked and entered zones with speed. Too bad that when Daugavins and Abols, being the high IQ players they are, found him with passes, he only could hit goalie in the belly. Since we dont have enough scoring forwards to fill the top 6, putting Dzierkals to open ice for Abols and Daugavins was a good idea. Once Dzierkals was out, this line struggled.

- The only alternative to Dzierkals on the top line was Tralmaks, who was critically misused. And once he got out of the fourth line, the only idea the coaches came up for him was putting him in front of the goalie. Despite him scoring like 20 goals with one timers over the season. Great idea, Vitolins.

- Indrasis and Ri. Bukarts decided to take a year off. They are both well known to be rather lazy and invisible at times. Too bad that with all the talent, none of them showed up. Could really use some offence.

- Batna doing Batna things, but without the scoring he is just a fourth line shutdown center, who is lucky to be just one of two centers on this roster who are actually capable of something.

- NCAA guys all did good, but Locmelis was a slight disappointment after his performance last year. Thanks for the second point against Slovakia, but during the games he was just meh, which reflects his overall season. Hope they dont Girgenson him there in the US and he bounces back offensively next year.

- Before the tournament, I was concerned by the lack of puck movers and shooters among defensemen. It turned out, the main problem with our defense is, well, defense. I swear like, two thirds of goals against were scored when the opponent was just left completely alone in the middle of our zone. Every single defenseman was a liability on defense and every single defenseman apart from Jaks contributed nothing on the offense.

- Goalies are what they are. They are not to blame for most of the goals due to defensive collapses but from a EU league MVP and an NHL starter you would expect that they make some saves they werent supposed to. They just stopped what they were supposed to stop and let in what they were expected to let in. No more, no less. The only thing I would have done differently is put Merzlikins against the US. Gudlevskis looked like he needed to go to rehab until the next season. Probably wouldnt have changed a lot, though. Congrats to Vitols on a solid debut.

- Vitolins was Vitolins. I never particularly liked him, but it is clear that after last year, his credit is almost unlimited, and there are very few alternatives. He did misuse some players, his bias towards certain players and leagues is well known, as well as his conservatism. The biggest mistake was letting Abols go prior to the tournament. He is a capable coach who knows Latvian hockey and players and is a good motivator, something Vitolins clearly lacks. Afterwards, nothing Vitolins did was particularly bad or unexpected of him.

 

[Namejs]

With Abols they lost someone with brass balls who is capable of telling the way things are, even if it goes against what Vitolins himself believes.

I felt like there was a group think going on among the coaches. For me coaching was probably the biggest disappointment.

- Coaching
- Dzierkals
- Komuls
- Elvis
- Batna

+ Tralmaks
+ Egle
+ Lavins
+ Gudlevskis
+ Cibulskis (yes)

Dzierkals was misused, he's a bottom 6 guy.
DItto for Batna, he's a shutdown forward.
Komuls a massive liability, let's not invite him to the NT please. Elvis was mostly unlucky again. Honestly, I almost feel sorry for him, he just can't catch a break.

Tralmaks is an obvious top 6 forward. The guy's a beast. Egle is going to be a great bottom 6 energy guy. Lavins was surprisingly effective as a 4th liner. Reminded me of Kenins at his peak. Cibulskis showed that he's still serviceable.

I think there were a number key takeaways for us before the Olympic qualis and this team is going to benefit from that.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Wait, Gudlevskis was the DEL MVP? That's kinda funny.

 

[Vikz]

Wait, Gudlevskis was the DEL MVP? That's kinda funny.

My bad, I was probably subconsciously thinking about Silovs last year. Gudlevskis was the best DEL goalie.

 

[Dofs]

The main problem that I see in the championship is inconsistency. I did think before the tournament that getting rid of Abols was a big mistake and I think the tournament showed why. The team just wasn't properly ready for the beginning of the championship and their will to fight fluctuated greatly in different games. Vitolins always had success with hard 'no nonsense' guys who are great motivators. Without them his resume is pretty questionable. Abols is such a guy and he was gone this year, likely because they couldn't agree with each other.

The next main problem was that atrocious defense. Yes, we were missing too much in the defense area, and our depth is what it is, given that we had to take the likes of Komuls. It is what it is. Hope we will be deeper in the coming future, the juniors are promising. Though next year is highly likely to be similar to this year. Balinskis might still get stuck in NHL playoffs, Cibulskis is already 36, and if another player gets injured again, then hello Komuls again, or a player of similar quality. We'll see.

Overall, the tournament was ok. Was nice to finally see Tralmaks and Egle, they truly played well and I think will now become the core players of the NT. We did get 4 wins, and the 9th place is not that bad. But it did also feel that Latvia didn't show what they could have shown. Overall I have mixed feelings about the performance of the team.

 

[FinPanda]

The main problem that I see in the championship is inconsistency. I did think before the tournament that get rid of Abols was a big mistake and I think the tournament showed why. The team just wasn't properly ready for the beginning of the championship and their will to fight fluctuated greatly in different games. Vitolins always had success with hard 'no nonsense' guys who are great motivators. Without them his resume is pretty questionable. Abols is such a guy and he was gone this year, likely because they couldn't agree with each other.

The next main problem was that atrocious defense. Yes, we were missing too much in the defense area, and our depth is what it is, given that we had to take the likes of Komuls. It is what it is. Hope we will be deeper in the coming future, the juniors are promising. Though next year is highly likely to be similar to this year. Balinskis might still get stuck in NHL playoffs, Cibulskis is already 36, and if another player gets injured again, then hello Komuls again, or a player of similar quality. We'll see.

Overall, the tournament was ok. Was nice to finally see Tralmaks and Egle, they truly played well and I think will now become the core players of the NT. We did get 4 wins, and the 9th place is not that bad. But it did also feel that Latvia didn't show what they could have shown. Overall I have mixed feelings about the performance of the team.

Latvia had more wins than Finland. Imagine that..

 

[Dofs]

Latvia had more wins than Finland. Imagine that..

Latvia's opponents were easier, to be fair.

 

[FinPanda]

Latvia's opponents were easier, to be fair.

True, but I feel like we should've done better. We didn't beat Austria which would've given us 4 wins and it didn't happen, so feels like an excuse from a Finnish point of view. The least it should've been tied.