Latvia men's national ice hockey team

The Latvian men's national ice hockey team represents Latvia in international ice hockey. The team is ranked 11th in the world by IIHF as of 2022. The team is controlled by the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation. Their best ever finish at the World Championships was 7th place in 1997, 2004 and 2009. At the 2018 World Championship the team finished 8th. Latvia reached the quarterfinals at the 2014 Winter Olympics, losing 2–1 to Canada. Latvia has 7,898 registered players (0.43% of its population).

Latvia

Association	Latvian Ice Hockey Federation
General manager	Rūdolfs Kalvītis
Head coach	Harijs Vītoliņš
Assistants	Artis Ābols Lauris Dārziņš Artūrs Irbe Petteri Nummelin Raimonds Vilkoits
Captain	Kaspars Daugaviņš
Most games	Rodrigo Laviņš (230)
Top scorer	Leonīds Tambijevs (66)
Most points	Leonīds Tambijevs (150)
Home stadium	Arēna Rīga
Team colors
IIHF code	LAT
Ranking
Current IIHF	11 (29 September 2022)^[1]
Highest IIHF	9 (first in 2005)
Lowest IIHF	13 (first in 2018)
First international
Latvia  3–0  Lithuania (Riga, Latvia; 27 February 1932)^[2]
Biggest win
Latvia  32–0  Israel (Bled, Slovenia; 15 March 1993)^[2]
Biggest defeat
Canada  14–0  Latvia Davos, Switzerland; 20 January 1935)^[2]
IIHF World Championships
Appearances	34 (first in 1933)
Best result	7th (1997, 2004, 2009)
IIHF European Championships
Appearances	1
Best result	8th (1932)
Olympics
Appearances	6 (first in 1936)
International record (W–L–T)
278–283–28

Overview

Rank	Olympics	World Championships	European Championships
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th		1997, 2004, 2009
8th	2014	2000, 2018	1932
9th	2002	1998, 2003, 2005
10th		1933, 1938, 1939, 2006, 2012, 2017, 2019, 2022
11th	2022	1999, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2021
12th	2006, 2010
13th	1936	1935, 1996 (1.B)↑, 2001, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2016
14th		1994 (2.B), 1995 (2.B)
15th
16th
↑: promoted, ↓: relegated, (3.B): (rank.pool)

Tournament record

Olympic Games

Games	GP	W	T		L	GF	GA	Coach	Captain	Finish
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	3	0	0		3	3	27	Arvīds Jurgens	Leonīds Vedējs	13
1953–1991	As part of   Soviet Union
1994 Lillehammer	did not qualify
1998 Nagano
2002 Salt Lake City	4	2	1		1	20	14	Curt Lindström	Harijs Vītoliņš	9
2006 Turin	5	0	1		4	11	29	Leonīds Beresņevs	Kārlis Skrastiņš	12
Games	GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	Coach	Captain	Finish
2010 Vancouver	4	0	0	1	3	6	22	Oļegs Znaroks	Kārlis Skrastiņš	12
2014 Sochi	5	1	0	0	4	9	14	Ted Nolan	Sandis Ozoliņš	8
2018 Pyeongchang	did not qualify
2022 Beijing	4	0	0	0	4	7	14	Harijs Vītoliņš	Lauris Dārziņš	11
2026 Milan/Cortina	TBA

World Championship

 

Graph shows Latvian results in IIHF World Championship since 1993.

Championships	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA	Coach	Captain	Finish
1933 Prague	4	1	0	3	3	9	–	Arvīds Jurgens	Finished in 10th place
1935 Davos	5	1	0	4	11	25	–	Leonīds Vedējs	Finished in 13th place
1938 Prague	4	1	0	3	4	8	Arvīds Jurgens	Leonīds Vedējs	Finished tied in 10th place
1939 Zürich/Basel	3	1	0	2	6	21	Larry Marsh	Leonīds Vedējs	Finished in 10th place
1993 Bled/Ljubljana (Group C)	7	6	1	0	101	9	Helmuts Balderis	–	Finished in 21st place (Won Group C)
1994 Copenhagen/Aalborg (Group B)	7	6	0	1	61	9	Helmuts Balderis	Konstantīns Grigorjevs	Finished in 14th place (2nd in Group B)
1995 Bratislava (Group B)	7	6	0	1	65	16	Ēvalds Grabovskis	Aleksandrs Beļavskis	Finished in 14th place (2nd in Group B)
1996 Eindhoven (Group B)	7	6	1	0	41	16	Leonīds Beresņevs	Oleg Znarok	Finished in 13th place (Won Group B)
1997 Helsinki/Tampere/Turku	8	4	2	2	37	23	Leonīds Beresņevs	Normunds Sējējs	Finished in 7th place
1998 Zürich/Basel	6	3	1	2	21	18	Leonīds Beresņevs	Oleg Znarok	Finished in 9th place
1999 Oslo/Hamar/Lillehammer	6	2	0	4	24	22	Leonīds Beresņevs	Oleg Znarok	Finished in 11th place
2000 Saint Petersburg	7	3	1	3	15	17	Haralds Vasiļjevs	Harijs Vītoliņš	Finished in 8th place
2001 Nuremberg/Cologne/Hanover	6	3	1	2	19	13	Haralds Vasiļjevs	Harijs Vītoliņš	Finished in 13th place
2002 Gothenburg/Karlstad/Jönköping	6	1	0	5	11	18	Curt Lindström	Harijs Vītoliņš	Finished in 11th place
2003 Helsinki/Tampere/Turku	6	3	0	3	14	16	Curt Lindström	Harijs Vītoliņš	Finished in 9th place
2004 Prague/Ostrava	7	2	2	3	12	14	Curt Lindström	Sergejs Žoltoks	Finished in 7th place
2005 Vienna/Innsbruck	6	2	1	3	10	21	Leonīds Beresņevs	Kārlis Skrastiņš	Finished in 9th place
2006 Riga	6	2	1	3	12	24	Petr Vorobiev	Aleksandrs Semjonovs	Finished in 10th place

Championships	GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	Coach	Captain	Finish
2007 Moscow	6	2	0	1	3	20	22	Oleg Znarok	Rodrigo Laviņš	Finished in 13th place
2008 Halifax/Quebec City	6	2	0	0	4	11	19	Oleg Znarok	Rodrigo Laviņš	Finished in 11th place
2009 Bern/Kloten	7	2	2	0	3	15	23	Oleg Znarok	Kārlis Skrastiņš	Finished in 7th place
2010 Cologne/Mannheim/Gelsenkirchen	6	2	0	0	4	15	18	Oleg Znarok	Herberts Vasiļjevs	Finished in 11th place
2011 Bratislava/Košice	6	2	0	2	2	18	19	Oleg Znarok	Herberts Vasiļjevs	Finished in 13th place
2012 Helsinki/Stockholm	7	2	0	0	5	11	19	Ted Nolan	Jānis Sprukts	Finished in 10th place
2013 Stockholm/Helsinki	7	2	0	1	4	14	25	Ted Nolan	Lauris Dārziņš	Finished in 11th place
2014 Minsk	7	3	0	0	4	20	24	Ted Nolan	Herberts Vasiļjevs	Finished in 11th place
2015 Prague/Ostrava	7	0	2	1	4	11	25	Aleksandrs Beļavskis	Kaspars Daugaviņš	Finished in 13th place
2016 Moscow/Saint Petersburg	7	1	0	3	3	13	22	Leonīds Beresņevs	Kaspars Daugaviņš	Finished in 13th place
2017 Cologne/Paris	7	3	0	1	3	14	18	Bob Hartley	Kaspars Daugaviņš	Finished in 10th place
2018 Copenhagen/Herning	8	3	1	2	2	18	19	Bob Hartley	Roberts Bukarts	Finished in 8th place
2019 Bratislava/Košice	7	3	0	0	4	21	20	Bob Hartley	Lauris Dārziņš	Finished in 10th place
2020 Zürich/Lausanne	Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic^[3]
2021 Riga	7	2	0	3	2	15	16	Bob Hartley	Lauris Dārziņš	Finished in 11th place
2022 Helsinki/Tampere	7	2	1	0	4	14	20	Harijs Vītoliņš	Rodrigo Ābols	Finished in 10th place
2023 Tampere/Riga^[4]^[5]								Harijs Vītoliņš	Kaspars Daugaviņš
2024 Czech Republic
2025 Sweden/Denmark
2026 Zürich/Lausanne

European Championship

Games	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA	Coach	Captain	Finish	Rank
1932 Berlin	4	1	0	3	5	13	–	Arvīds Jurgens	Consolation Round	8th

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2023 IIHF World Championship.^[6][7]

Head coach: Harijs Vītoliņš

No.	Pos.	Name	Height	Weight	Birthdate	Team
2	D	Kārlis Čukste	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	98 kg (216 lb)	(1997-06-17) 17 June 1997 (age 25)	HC Oceláři Třinec
9	F	Renārs Krastenbergs	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1998-12-26) 26 December 1998 (age 24)	AIK IF
13	F	Rihards Bukarts	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1995-12-31) 31 December 1995 (age 27)	EC KAC
16	F	Kaspars Daugaviņš – C	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	99 kg (218 lb)	(1988-05-18) 18 May 1988 (age 35)	Iserlohn Roosters
17	F	Mārtiņš Dzierkals	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1997-04-04) 4 April 1997 (age 26)	Motor České Budějovice
18	F	Rodrigo Ābols – A	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	(1996-01-05) 5 January 1996 (age 27)	Rögle BK
21	F	Rūdolfs Balcers	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	79 kg (174 lb)	(1997-04-08) 8 April 1997 (age 26)	Syracuse Crunch
22	F	Toms Andersons	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	(1993-11-25) 25 November 1993 (age 29)	HC La Chaux-de-Fonds
25	F	Andris Džeriņš	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	87 kg (192 lb)	(1988-02-14) 14 February 1988 (age 35)	Herning Blue Fox
26	D	Uvis Balinskis	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	(1996-08-01) 1 August 1996 (age 26)	HC Bílí Tygři Liberec
27	D	Oskars Cibuļskis	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	96 kg (212 lb)	(1988-04-09) 9 April 1988 (age 35)	Rytíři Kladno
29	D	Ralfs Freibergs	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1991-05-17) 17 May 1991 (age 32)	HC Litvínov
31	G	Artūrs Šilovs	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	88 kg (194 lb)	(2001-03-22) 22 March 2001 (age 22)	Abbotsford Canucks
50	G	Kristers Gudļevskis	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	97 kg (214 lb)	(1992-07-31) 31 July 1992 (age 30)	Modo Hockey
55	D	Roberts Mamčics	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	105 kg (231 lb)	(1995-04-06) 6 April 1995 (age 28)	HC Nové Zámky
65	D	Arvils Bergmanis	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)	79 kg (174 lb)	(1999-12-29) 29 December 1999 (age 23)	Alaska Nanooks
70	F	Miks Indrašis	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	(1990-09-30) 30 September 1990 (age 32)	Schwenninger Wild Wings
71	F	Roberts Bukarts – A	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1990-06-27) 27 June 1990 (age 32)	HC Vítkovice Ridera
72	D	Jānis Jaks	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	(1995-08-22) 22 August 1995 (age 27)	HC Litvínov
73	F	Deniss Smirnovs	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)	80 kg (180 lb)	(1999-03-07) 7 March 1999 (age 24)	Genève-Servette HC
74	G	Ivars Punnenovs	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(1994-05-30) 30 May 1994 (age 28)	SCL Tigers
77	D	Kristaps Zīle	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	(1997-12-24) 24 December 1997 (age 25)	HC Litvínov
85	F	Dans Ločmelis	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)	77 kg (170 lb)	(2004-01-21) 21 January 2004 (age 19)	Luleå HF
91	F	Ronalds Ķēniņš	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(1991-02-28) 28 February 1991 (age 32)	Lausanne HC
95	F	Oskars Batņa	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	106 kg (234 lb)	(1995-05-07) 7 May 1995 (age 28)	Mikkelin Jukurit

Retired numbers

• 1 – Artūrs Irbe
• 7 – Kārlis Skrastiņš
• 19 – Helmuts Balderis
• 33 – Sergejs Žoltoks^[8]

Coaching history

	Coach	GP	W	T	L	GD	P-ts
1939	Larry Marsh^[9]^[10]	3	1	0	2	6:21	n/a
1992–1994	Helmuts Balderis	--	--	-	--	---	--
1995	Ēvalds Grabovskis	--	--	-	--	---	--
1996–1999	Leonīds Beresņevs	56	36	7	13	275:143	79
1999–2001	Haralds Vasiļjevs	32	12	8	12	81:76	32
2001–2004	Curt Lindström	65	32	8	25	202:161	72
2005–2006	Leonīds Beresņevs	32	25	3	14	112:113	53
2006	Petr Vorobiev	11	4	16	25:35	9
2007–2011	Oļegs Znaroks	37	15	0	22	98:126	41
2011–2014	Ted Nolan	26	11	0	15	57:65	35
2015	Aleksandrs Beļavskis	7	0	2	5	11:25	5
2016	Leonīds Beresņevs	7	1	3	3	13:22	6
2016	Haralds Vasiļjevs	3	2	0	1	13:5	6
2017-2021	Bob Hartley	15	6	4	5	32:37	23
2021-	Harijs Vītoliņš	7	3	0	4	24:15	9

All-time record

As of 17 May 2023.^[11]

Opponent	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD
Austria	23	19	0	4	92	52	+40
Belarus	40	19	3	18	106	97	+9
Belgium	2	2	0	0	31	4	+27
Canada	22	1	1	20	26	115	-89
China	1	1	0	0	22	0	+22
Czech Republic	19	1	1	17	34	66	−32
Czechoslovakia	2	0	0	2	0	16	−16
Denmark	36	23	0	13	124	87	+37
Estonia	5	5	0	0	32	6	+26
Finland	31	4	2	25	57	122	−65
France	52	32	4	16	176	108	+68
Germany	40	13	4	23	90	103	-13
Great Britain	11	6	1	4	44	39	+5
Hungary	6	4	1	1	31	12	+19
Israel	1	1	0	0	32	0	+32
Italy	19	14	1	4	71	30	+41
Japan	13	12	0	1	79	26	+53
Kazakhstan	13	8	0	5	45	31	+6
Lithuania	5	5	0	0	45	2	+43
Netherlands	6	6	0	0	45	6	+39
North Korea	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4
Norway	40	24	0	16	130	108	+22
Poland	20	15	0	5	67	46	+21
Romania	8	6	0	2	49	7	+42
Russia	22	6	1	15	38	83	−45
Slovakia	34	10	2	22	71	114	-43
Slovenia	11	9	0	2	37	19	+18
South Korea	3	3	0	0	38	2	+36
Sweden	27	2	1	24	45	112	−67
Switzerland	38	8	3	27	68	116	-48
Ukraine	19	13	1	5	62	48	+14
United States	17	3	2	12	35	55	−20
Yugoslavia	2	2	0	0	10	0	+10
Total	589	278	28	283	1 836	1 632	+204

Uniform evolution

• National team jerseys
•  

  1996-2005 IIHF jerseys

•  

  former IIHF jerseys

•  

  2014 Winter Olympics

•  

  2018–2021 IIHF jerseys

•  

  2022– Winter Olympics and IIHF

References

1. "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 29 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
2. Includes Olympics, World Championships, World Cups, Canada Cups and Summit Series.
3. Steiss, Adam. "2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship cancelled". iihf.com. IIHF. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
4. "IIHF to move 2023 World Championship". iihf.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
5. Merk, Martin. "Tampere/Riga candidate for 2023". IIHF. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
6. "Otrdien, 9. maijā tika paziņots Latvijas nacionālās hokeja valstsvienības sastāvs gaidāmajam Pasaules čempionātam Rīgā un Tamperē" (in Latvian). lhf.lv. 9 May 2023.
7. "Team Roster Latvia" (PDF). iihf.com. 12 May 2023.
8. "LHF iemūžina Žoltoka 33. Numuru un godina viņa piemiņu". 24 April 2019.
9. "Ted Nolan to coach Latvia". webarchive.iihf.com. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
10. Zariņš, Viesturs (4 May 2006). "Latvia's hockey history spans a century". Latvians Online. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
11. "Latvia - National Teams of Ice Hockey". nationalteamsoficehockey.com. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2023.

External links

• Official website  
• IIHF profile
• National Teams of Ice Hockey