Olympics: Team Latvia 2022

[Namejs]

This Latvia 22' team could potentially be the best team ever iced in the history of Latvian ice hockey. We've got NHL goaltending, solid forward depth, some decent puck-moving defencemen as well as some large-bodied crease-clearing guys like Rubins or Cukste.

Now, that might not be saying a lot, but this squad actually does have the potential of an upset win against pretty much any opponent. You're not going to see any blowout losses. This team is extremely well-disciplined, gritty and highly motivated in what is probably the last major tournament for several of the leading players.

For those who remember the Sochi 1-2 game vs. Canada, this Latvian team is likely going to be more talented in every single department.

Goalies:
Elvis Merzlikins (career 0.920 SVS% in NHL)
Janis Kalnins (career 0.920 SVS% in KHL)
Punnenovs/Silovs/Mitens

F:
Kenins - Abols - Balcers
Daugavins - Blueger - Ri. Bukarts
Indrasis - Dzerins - Darzins
Tralmaks - Girgensons - Krastenbergs (shutdown line)
Ro. Bukarts, Smirnovs

D:
Rubins - Balinskis
Cibulskis - Jaks
Sotnieks - Freibergs
Cukste/Zile or some kid with a breakout season (Smons/Sejejs)

The big question marks are some of the older players. Karsums seems to be on an increasingly downward slope, Kulda has been pretty unimpressive recently too, so I didn't include the both of them. What about Darzins or, say, Bukarts though? Both are soft/skilled type of players. I liked the Vitolins idea of putting Girgensons between Darzins and Indrasis, as he provides that needed hustle and puck retrieval/puck possession , which alleviates the softness of Darzins/Indrasis. Then again, how do we structure and piece together a shutdown line without Girgensons?

Now, if my bet on Tralmaks having a breakout year does go through, I don't really see a roster spot for Roberts Bukarts here except for the Slovakia game(s). Pretty much the same goes for Dzierkals, as I don't see him on the shutdown line.

There are also some younger players with the potential of making the extra F or D spot if they have a really good rookie season. Vitolins seems to be very well aware of our prospects in Switzerland, so that is definitely not ruled out. Then there's guys like Egle, first real full-time pro season in AHL, you don't really know what to expect of him.

In any case, this is going to be a decent, well-coached team and I hope none of our key players get injured.

Personally, this is one of the biggest hockey treats in waiting for me ever since watching my first World Championship in 1997. You might call me biased, but there's something about this Latvian team that I have never seen before in 25 years.

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[moropanov]

This Latvia 22' team could potentially be the best team ever iced in the history of Latvian ice hockey. We've got NHL goaltending, solid forward depth, some decent puck-moving defencemen as well as some large-bodied crease-clearing guys like Rubins or Cukste.

Now, that might not be saying a lot, but this squad actually does have the potential of an upset win against pretty much any opponent. You're not going to see any blowout losses. This team is extremely well-disciplined, gritty and highly motivated in what is probably the last major tournament for several of the leading players.

For those who remember the Sochi 1-2 game vs. Canada, this Latvian team is likely going to be more talented in every single department.

Goalies:
Elvis Merzlikins (career 0.920 SVS% in NHL)
Janis Kalnins (career 0.920 SVS% in KHL)
Punnenovs/Silovs/Mitens

F:
Kenins - Abols - Balcers
Daugavins - Blueger - Ri. Bukarts
Indrasis - Dzerins - Darzins
Tralmaks - Girgensons - Krastenbergs (shutdown line)
Ro. Bukarts, Smirnovs

D:
Rubins - Balinskis
Cibulskis - Jaks
Sotnieks - Freibergs
Cukste/Zile or some kid with a breakout season (Smons/Sejejs)

The big question marks are some of the older players. Karsums seems to be on an increasingly downward slope, Kulda has been pretty unimpressive recently too, so I didn't include the both of them. What about Darzins or, say, Bukarts though? Both are soft/skilled type of players. I liked the Vitolins idea of putting Girgensons between Darzins and Indrasis, as he provides that needed hustle and puck retrieval/puck possession , which alleviates the softness of Darzins/Indrasis. Then again, how do we structure and piece together a shutdown line without Girgensons?

Now, if my bet on Tralmaks having a breakout year does go through, I don't really see a roster spot for Roberts Bukarts here except for the Slovakia game(s). Pretty much the same goes for Dzierkals, as I don't see him on the shutdown line.

There are also some younger players with the potential of making the extra F or D spot if they have a really good rookie season. Vitolins seems to be very well aware of our prospects in Switzerland, so that is definitely not ruled out. Then there's guys like Egle, first real full-time pro season in AHL, you don't really know what to expect of him.

In any case, this is going to be a decent, well-coached team and I hope none of our key players get injured.

Personally, this is one of the biggest hockey treats in waiting for me ever since watching my first World Championship in 1997. You might call me biased, but there's something about this Latvian team that I have never seen before in 25 years.

Hmm Latvia is decent, but is there still any worse line up in tournament than China? Denmark and Slovakia are maybe evenly matched as Latvia Germany is better i suppose

 

[Namejs]

Hmm Latvia is decent, but is there still any worse line up in tournament than China? Denmark and Slovakia are maybe evenly matched as Latvia Germany is better i suppose

I think you're missing the point entirely. I'm not painting Latvia as a medal contender here.

The Slovakian roster is very similar in overall talent on paper, which is going to make an exciting fight for that play-off spot.

And, yes, all 4 of these teams form a largely overlapping cluster that also partially overlaps with Switzerland and the Czech Rep. Which is sort of my point - there's no whipping boy amongst them. It is an unusual and a long-waited sight in international hockey.

 

[Dofs]

This Latvia 22' team could potentially be the best team ever iced in the history of Latvian ice hockey. We've got NHL goaltending, solid forward depth, some decent puck-moving defencemen as well as some large-bodied crease-clearing guys like Rubins or Cukste.

Now, that might not be saying a lot, but this squad actually does have the potential of an upset win against pretty much any opponent. You're not going to see any blowout losses. This team is extremely well-disciplined, gritty and highly motivated in what is probably the last major tournament for several of the leading players.

For those who remember the Sochi 1-2 game vs. Canada, this Latvian team is likely going to be more talented in every single department.

Goalies:
Elvis Merzlikins (career 0.920 SVS% in NHL)
Janis Kalnins (career 0.920 SVS% in KHL)
Punnenovs/Silovs/Mitens

F:
Kenins - Abols - Balcers
Daugavins - Blueger - Ri. Bukarts
Indrasis - Dzerins - Darzins
Tralmaks - Girgensons - Krastenbergs (shutdown line)
Ro. Bukarts, Smirnovs

D:
Rubins - Balinskis
Cibulskis - Jaks
Sotnieks - Freibergs
Cukste/Zile or some kid with a breakout season (Smons/Sejejs)

The big question marks are some of the older players. Karsums seems to be on an increasingly downward slope, Kulda has been pretty unimpressive recently too, so I didn't include the both of them. What about Darzins or, say, Bukarts though? Both are soft/skilled type of players. I liked the Vitolins idea of putting Girgensons between Darzins and Indrasis, as he provides that needed hustle and puck retrieval/puck possession , which alleviates the softness of Darzins/Indrasis. Then again, how do we structure and piece together a shutdown line without Girgensons?

Now, if my bet on Tralmaks having a breakout year does go through, I don't really see a roster spot for Roberts Bukarts here except for the Slovakia game(s). Pretty much the same goes for Dzierkals, as I don't see him on the shutdown line.

There are also some younger players with the potential of making the extra F or D spot if they have a really good rookie season. Vitolins seems to be very well aware of our prospects in Switzerland, so that is definitely not ruled out. Then there's guys like Egle, first real full-time pro season in AHL, you don't really know what to expect of him.

In any case, this is going to be a decent, well-coached team and I hope none of our key players get injured.

Personally, this is one of the biggest hockey treats in waiting for me ever since watching my first World Championship in 1997. You might call me biased, but there's something about this Latvian team that I have never seen before in 25 years.

I definitely agree that Latvia is at its strongest yet, though I am still not that excited for the Olympics, the gap is still pretty big, though I do expect tighter games, that's for sure.

What I am excited for though is the next World Championship because Latvian roster is getting pretty damn good for its level, especially if another breakout season happens for one or two players this year.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Is Blueger expected to play an offensive role or a shutdown role for Latvia?

He's a great defensive center for the Pens, but I also think he's got some untapped offensive potential if he's played in more offensive situations.

 

[garbageteam]

Would Kivlenieks have made the team as a backup G? Still awful what happened to him and the nice goalie pool Latvia seemed to have been developing.

 

[Dofs]

Is Blueger expected to play an offensive role or a shutdown role for Latvia?

He's a great defensive center for the Pens, but I also think he's got some untapped offensive potential if he's played in more offensive situations.

Definitely offensive. He is an NHL player, after all, which makes him one of the best players on Latvian roster almost by definition.

Would Kivlenieks have made the team as a backup G? Still awful what happened to him and the nice goalie pool Latvia seemed to have been developing.

Hard to tell, I guess depends if he would had gotten some solid NHL practise this year leading up to the Olympics. Because there are two solid Latvian goalies (I would say AHL level at least) playing in Europe and in the last World Championship where those two and Kivlenieks played, I wouldn't really say he showed to better than them. And the Latvian team head coach Bob Heartley who seemed to trust him a lot due to him playing in NA is not the coach anymore too. So yeah, I say it would had depended on this season.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Would Kivlenieks have made the team as a backup G? Still awful what happened to him and the nice goalie pool Latvia seemed to have been developing.

Feels awful to talk about such tragedy this way but he isn't a huge loss to the Latvian goalie pool. He was more or less on the same level with Punnenovs and Kalnins and almost the same age as Elvis who is a clear starter for years to come so having him in the fold made only a marginal difference to NT's chances in both short and long terms.

 

[Namejs]

Is Blueger expected to play an offensive role or a shutdown role for Latvia?

He's a great defensive center for the Pens, but I also think he's got some untapped offensive potential if he's played in more offensive situations.

He does all the right things and just doesn't seem to make any mistakes ever. He's got a very high hockey IQ and while he's not huge and doesn't really have a dominating presence on the ice, he's always at the right place and the right time and just seems to make crisp passes with great timing at will.

So he really does look like the type of a player who could rise to the level of his linemates and compliment them. I think he could be very productive for the Pens in the top 6 and on the PP.

Blueger's also used on the PK for Team Latvia in part due to his excellent face-off skills.

So he's an all-around guy and obviously one of our key players.

 

[Namejs]

Feels awful to talk about such tragedy this way but he isn't a huge loss to the Latvian goalie pool. He was more or less on the same level with Punnenovs and Kalnins and almost the same age as Elvis who is a clear starter for years to come so having him in the fold made only a marginal difference to NT's chances in both short and long terms.

Yeah, this is probably not in good taste, but we really do have a couple of other AHL/NHL goalie prospects and 2 established goalies in Merzlikins and Kalnins and a couple of other 1st goalies in Euro leagues.

An unusual amount of goalie depth.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Latvia is always tough to face. I would say 2-1 win to Sweden and Finland is what will happen and Latvia win over Slovakia with like 1-0.

Thought, with that shit coach we have we will probaly loose all 3 games.

 

[Namejs]

As someone who doesn't watch any KHL games, what's up with Darzins? Is it injury/usage related or is he really a goner like Karsums?

Jelisejevs seems to be scoring at a way higher rate than expected, but his SHG% is ridiculously high and his production rate should drop off substantially. Although he seems to be really capitalizing on those 1st line minutes and PP time. It's going to be interesting to see if he gets called up to the camp if he keeps this up.

 

[SoundAndFury]

As someone who doesn't watch any KHL games, what's up with Darzins? Is it injury/usage related or is he really a goner like Karsums?

All of the above. He was injured and nobody but Jelisejevs is having an easy time scoring on that team but at the same time, one could see he is slowing down significantly last year already. He is turning 37 in a few months so that is to be expected but yeah, the Darzins era is rapidly coming to an end.

 

[Namejs]

All of the above. He was injured and nobody but Jelisejevs is having an easy time scoring on that team but at the same time, one could see he is slowing down significantly last year already. He is turning 37 in a few months so that is to be expected but yeah, the Darzins era is rapidly coming to an end.

Well, that's sad to see. Not exactly unexpected, but still kind of sad. I'm sure he will pick up the pace somewhat a bit later in the season, though.

He's the leading goal scorer and has the most points scored in OG/Pool A World Champs in the history of Latvian hockey, and it would be a sorry sight if Vitolins was forced to leave him off the roster and rob him of the chance of retiring with grace.

Sure, he was a little slower in the World Champs, but he's still got those soft hands and we can definitely use him in a more sheltered role on the PP, etc. I do worry about what his lack of speed means for his two-way game, which never was very good to begin with. Especially in a best-on-best tournament against Sweden and Finland.

It's going to be interesting to see if we're going to use our increased depth to tailor our forward lines to the opponents we're facing.

 

[SoundAndFury]

For sure he should get a spot for shootout skills alone. And can rotate him out of the lineup against the toughest teams when it's pure defensive effort and very low likelihood of ties anyway.

 

[Dofs]

I would hold off any judgement about Darzinsh for now as the entire team can't score and can't seem to create anything in the offensive zone. There are some major problems in how the offense is organised at the moment and even most Jelisejevs goals are more of a result of his individual skill than of any thoughtful team play. So I wouldn't really blame Darzinsh's ability to play for his lack of points just yet, especially considering that he still looks like the smartest player in the team, imo.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Probably the best player on the ice today so yeah, definitely not completely done yet. At least not as far as the Latvian NT is concerned.

 

[iginlafan77]

First 3 players named: Girgensons, Rubins, Balcers

 

[v-man]

Weird, the head of the Latvian Hockey Federation says he doesn't know how these three were chosen ahead of guys like Merzlikins and Blueger. He said they only handed in their long list, and they were never asked for the 3 by the NHLPA/NHL/IIHF etc.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Yeah I mean who in their right mind think Rubins is the best guy to choose

 

[iginlafan77]

Yeah I mean who in their right mind think Rubins is the best guy to choose

It might make a little bit of sense if teams were required to include at least one defenseman, but Sweden and Czechs didn't, so obviously not

 

[Namejs]

Yeah, with all due respect to Rubins, if he wasn't as big as he is, he wouldn't even be on the team. He's more of a role player than a star of the team.

In fact, Girgensons shouldn't be there either.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Well, Girgensons at least brings some recognizability which is really all that's this "3 player announcement" thing is all about. It's very likely more people know/have heard of him than Blugers or Balcers. He has been around for a long time.

Which is kinda crazy considering he and Blugers are the same age.

 

[Stewie Griffin]

Well, Girgensons at least brings some recognizability which is really all that's this "3 player announcement" thing is all about. It's very likely more people know/have heard of him than Blugers or Balcers. He has been around for a long time.

While true, Balcers has atleast been a favourite of sorts in San Jose for a while and I know Ottawa fans liked him too. He might be the most talented of the 3 at this point.

 

[Namejs]

While true, Balcers has atleast been a favourite of sorts in San Jose for a while and I know Ottawa fans liked him too. He might be the most talented of the 3 at this point.

Yup.

It should be Merzlikins, Balcers and Blueger.

Girgensons is our 3rd/4th-line C.