Latvia future is bright
- Thread starter Artorius Horus T
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SoundAndFury
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Sorry but what a nothing-burger of a thread 
Some good players are going to retire, some good players are going to come up. Nobody on either side of this equation is a game-changer unless you count Murnieks who is currently 15 and is at least 5 years away from making an impact.
You added someone like Krastenbergs to the list who, if the Latvian hockey was really to improve significantly, shouldn't even be on the team and someone like Hodass whose pro future is really kinda murky and he might just become a depth defenseman akin to guys like Cukste or Bindulis. Fenenko or Bulans are similar cases although being 2 years younger they have more room to grow.
Who is RoBalcers from the WHL I have no idea at all. Some kind of mixture of Balcers and Roberts Bukarts who travelled back in time to Rihards Bukarts' WHL days?
Some good players are going to retire, some good players are going to come up. Nobody on either side of this equation is a game-changer unless you count Murnieks who is currently 15 and is at least 5 years away from making an impact.
You added someone like Krastenbergs to the list who, if the Latvian hockey was really to improve significantly, shouldn't even be on the team and someone like Hodass whose pro future is really kinda murky and he might just become a depth defenseman akin to guys like Cukste or Bindulis. Fenenko or Bulans are similar cases although being 2 years younger they have more room to grow.
Who is RoBalcers from the WHL I have no idea at all. Some kind of mixture of Balcers and Roberts Bukarts who travelled back in time to Rihards Bukarts' WHL days?
trust no one
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Probably was thinking about Rodzers Bukarts.Sorry but what a nothing-burger of a thread
Some good players are going to retire, some good players are going to come up. Nobody on either side of this equation is a game-changer unless you count Murnieks who is currently 15 and is at least 5 years away from making an impact.
You added someone like Krastenbergs to the list who, if the Latvian hockey was really to improve significantly, shouldn't even be on the team and someone like Hodass whose pro future is really kinda murky and he might just become a depth defenseman akin to guys like Cukste or Bindulis. Fenenko or Bulans are similar cases although being 2 years younger they have more room to grow.
Who is RoBalcers from the WHL I have no idea at all. Some kind of mixture of Balcers and Roberts Bukarts who travelled back in time to Rihards Bukarts' WHL days?
SoundAndFury
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Probably. Not sure if that's better or worse than my option since the FrankenBalcers maybe could have been an impact player. CHL forward with 0,5 PPG about to turn 20 doesn't really move the needle.
Artorius Horus T
sincerety
i disagree. greatly
Finns are helping Latvia atm, helping them improve their hockey and it shows.
I know you as a person from Slovakia would praise your country but,
Slovakia as a hockey country is not in some great place atm, outside 2 or 3 players
what you got? nothing, what future you might be talking about?
Czech? their last gold is from 14 year ago and their last medal came with a Finnish coach
(whom they fired because of cultural differences), before that it was 13 years from their last medal,
only 1 star player in the NHL, - hows their future? not bright
both Extra leagues (or what is their sponsor now) are at the bottom of Europe top leagues.
Belarus? vs Latvia, Latvia >> Belarus
Latvia 100% is on the rise with bright future
SoundAndFury
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As long as we agree all those countries are better than Sweden there is no need to take this any further I feel.
RKBoy
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both Slovak and Czech leagues are levels above (especially Czech one) and nothing suggests that is going to change in the future, recent drafts are showcasing lots of talented players from Slovakia and Czechia are now being produced with several very likely might getting drafted in next few years even in the 1. round.. again.
we definitely have far more players to talk about than Latvia with NHL or top euro leagues potential, i dont really know what are you on.
Czechia has lot of succes in Junior level recently with 3. semis in a row and Bronze and Silver medals..
they also just got Silver medal in last HGC..
Slovakia also have much better results in Junior and U18 in recent years than Latvia, again proving your arguments wrong.
Latvia might be improving with small steps but its nothing groundbreaking and saying that there is nothing to talk about with Slovakia and Czechia hockey futures is totally ignorant and wrong.
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What do you mean by this? Have I missed something?
Latvia has decent situation. But I remember roughly ten years ago the situation in my opinion was similar. There were players in CHL who had atleast decent stats.
Latvia as NT is playoff contender in any WHC. I´m not sure if player having ice time in CHL leagues makes him automatically prospect that will make that team any better or even help it to maintain the level. Playing in CHL does not even mean that player will have pro career.
I'm sorry, but how are recent senior results relevant when talking about the future? Maybe some people are overrating Slovakia a bit when it comes to the potential ability to compete for medals at the senior level in the future, but there is no doubt the 2004 and 2005 born players are a very strong group. It remains to be seen how many of those guys fulfill their potential at the senior level and how much depth will the later classes add.
Czechs have 3 straight semifinal appearances at the WJC, one bronze and one silver medal, also silver from last HGC. Both Czech and Slovak top leagues are better, especially the Czech one is on a completely different level.
I feel like this has to be trolling tbh.
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Saying that Latvia's future is bright is a bit of an overstatement, I would say that it's not murky though. Not that long ago there were always questions and fears or what happens when the top players at the time retire, now the player replacement in the national team is much more even and natural, the goalie position is no longer problematic, and the third-fourth line players are now playing in much higher leagues than before.
I don't see any players that can make Latvia a tier or at least half a tier higher any time soon, but at its current spot the team is in much more stable position. Depth-wise the improvement is significant.
I don't see any players that can make Latvia a tier or at least half a tier higher any time soon, but at its current spot the team is in much more stable position. Depth-wise the improvement is significant.
Jup - Vilmanis will replace Daugavins, and Fenenko will replace Cibulskis as time goes on, the level of the team will stay the same imo, Latvia has 1,9 m people, and hockey is expensive, hard to progress fastSorry but what a nothing-burger of a thread
Some good players are going to retire, some good players are going to come up. Nobody on either side of this equation is a game-changer unless you count Murnieks who is currently 15 and is at least 5 years away from making an impact.
You added someone like Krastenbergs to the list who, if the Latvian hockey was really to improve significantly, shouldn't even be on the team and someone like Hodass whose pro future is really kinda murky and he might just become a depth defenseman akin to guys like Cukste or Bindulis. Fenenko or Bulans are similar cases although being 2 years younger they have more room to grow.
Who is RoBalcers from the WHL I have no idea at all. Some kind of mixture of Balcers and Roberts Bukarts who travelled back in time to Rihards Bukarts' WHL days?
SoundAndFury
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He probably means Zemgale playing in Mestis last year, Riga and Liepaja having teams in U18 Mestis, Finns being on the NT coaching staff, etc. Unquestionably cooperation has intensified somewhat with the fall of the KHL structure in Latvia but that's not necessarily something major.
Excuse me, Krastenbergs (25) has never played in NL, and he is a bottom 6 player for Latvia.
What player are you referring to?
Yeah I kind of guessed that, but it was such a bold statement that I did not know how that really shows already. Especially when I don´t think any of the players had really much to do with Finnish hockey.
If that Zemgales year visit to Mestis helped thats nice. I was myself wondering was it really beneficial for anyone.
Roughly dozen of players from HK riga U18 championship series played in U18 Latvia NT in the current championships. But I still feel it is kind of bold statement (and bit high and mighty) to call it really shows in Latvian hockey already.
SoundAndFury
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The OP is mostly trolling.. This is an old troll account but with "rebranding" on these boards possible it's hard to keep track sometimes
Regarding Zemgale, it was nice to have. Always good to have a team at higher level where guys can play and grow. I read an interview with some player (Brants maybe?) where he said he would have stayed at Zemgale for sure had they kept their place in Mestis. So it does make some difference but of course it's pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.
Latvia has improved, but its capacity of improving is severely limited.
We have been unlucky in terms of developing high-end NHL talent. We should have squeezed someone out by now.
Other than maybe having a top 6 forward or a top 4 D in the NHL once in a decade, there's not much room for major improvements, really.
The depth has increased, the system is very efficient, our junior teams are a lot more competent and deeper than before, we are already close to our ceiling.
It still won't turn us into a top 8 nation.
We have been unlucky in terms of developing high-end NHL talent. We should have squeezed someone out by now.
Other than maybe having a top 6 forward or a top 4 D in the NHL once in a decade, there's not much room for major improvements, really.
The depth has increased, the system is very efficient, our junior teams are a lot more competent and deeper than before, we are already close to our ceiling.
It still won't turn us into a top 8 nation.
therealdeal
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Without getting into politics (gross), how is Latvia doing as a state? Growing economy, united people, etc? Hockey is so expensive, I always think the health of the nation will be reflected in their sports program.
Either way, I hope Latvia does rise the hockey ranks, the fans are awesome and the players always play their hearts out.
Either way, I hope Latvia does rise the hockey ranks, the fans are awesome and the players always play their hearts out.
LeProspector
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Not even a mention of Murineks which is how you know OP doesn’t know what he’s/she’s talking about
SoundAndFury
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LeProspector
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WarriorofTime
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They're doing well in my opinion relative to their size, but their population will always limit their ceiling.
For reference
Population of Minnesota = 5.717 million
Population of Latvia = 1.879 million
That's 3X less population than just one state in the U.S. that likes hockey a lot. I'm not sure how realistic it is for them to climb given that.
For reference
Population of Minnesota = 5.717 million
Population of Latvia = 1.879 million
That's 3X less population than just one state in the U.S. that likes hockey a lot. I'm not sure how realistic it is for them to climb given that.
Well, Finland has 5.6 million and look at them.
And I mean, there are obvious limitations in terms of population size, that's undeniable. But I disagree that we are close to the ceiling. There is one massive issue in Latvian hockey which is transitioning from a decent junior level to a decent professional level. There is essentially no natural way for a Latvian to do it because the level of the local Latvian league is simply way too low.
So a promising young kid has to find a way to transition to a professional level abroad, but in Europe in other leagues there are foreigner quotas that mean they don't want to give young Latvian players with potential a chance, they would better sign an established foreigner instead for obvious reasons. So even finding a place to play is hard, but even if a player lucks out and gets a chance in a decent league, he has to show himself immediately, if he doesn't, he is out and his career is more or less over.
Transitioning from a junior level to a professional is incredibly hard for a Latvian and I am 100% sure we have lost plenty of national team level players because of this issue.
Last year with Zemgale playing in Finnish Mestis showed that nicely. The team was essentially assembled at the last minute from the local Latvian league and former junior hockey players, and hence struggled initially in the first half of the season, but over time its play significantly improved, the younger players actually started to grow, the goalies started to play better, some of the players of that team actually found places to play in semi-decent leagues, at least in much better ones than Latvian one. And that's just one year, now Zemgale isn't playing in Finland anymore unfortunately.
But Latvian hockey desperately needs a place where Latvian players can freely play at least on a Mestis level. A place where they can grow from junior into professional players on constant basis. We need a team or two in Mestis, or, ideally, the Latvian league should at least grow to the Mestis level, which I think is possible. That's your room for growth that would, imo, help to move Latvian hockey into a higher level.
kudla
Registered User
Doing pretty good. The quality of life in the Riga metro area as measured by Human Development Index is actually higher than in the US on average. Wages are growing fast, and more people are able to afford sending their kids to hockey.
What's lacking is more rinks in smaller towns and more rinks in general. Untapped resources there. Basketball is dominating in the smaller towns.
