Latvia men's national ice hockey team

Latvia
AssociationLatvian Ice Hockey Federation
General managerRūdolfs Kalvītis
Head coachHarijs Vītoliņš
AssistantsLauris Dārziņš
Artūrs Irbe
Petteri Nummelin
Raimonds Vilkoits
CaptainKaspars Daugaviņš
Most gamesRodrigo Laviņš (230)
Top scorerLeonīds Tambijevs (66)
Most pointsLeonīds Tambijevs (150)
Home stadiumXiaomi Arēna
Team colors   
IIHF codeLAT
Ranking
Current IIHF10 1 (26 May 2025)[1]
Highest IIHF9 (2005–06, 2014)
Lowest IIHF13 (2018)
First international
  3–0  Lithuania
(Riga, Latvia; 27 February 1932)[2]
Biggest win
  32–0  Israel
(Bled, Slovenia; 15 March 1993)[2]
Biggest defeat
Canada  14–0  
(Davos, Switzerland; 20 January 1935)[2]
Olympics
Appearances6 (first in 1936)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances36 (first in 1933)
Best result Bronze: (2023)
IIHF European Championships
Appearances1
International record (W–L–T)
303–295–28 [3]
Medal record
World Championship
2023 Finland/Latvia

The Latvian men's national ice hockey team represents Latvia in international ice hockey. The team is ranked 10th in the world by IIHF as of 2023. The team is controlled by the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation. Their best ever finish at the World Championships was in 2023, when they won the bronze medal. 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 has hosted three World Championships. In 2006, 2021 and 2023.

Overview

Rank Olympics World Championships European Championships
1st
2nd
3rd 2023
4th
5th
6th
7th 1997, 2004, 2009
8th 2014 2000, 2018 1932
9th 2002 1998, 2003, 2005, 2024
10th 1933, 1938, 1939, 2006, 2012, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2025
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
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 qualified

World Championship

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 Konstantīns Grigorjevs 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 Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic[4]
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[5][6] 10 4 3 0 3 30 25 Harijs Vītoliņš Kaspars Daugaviņš Finished in 3rd place
2024 Prague/Ostrava 7 1 3 0 3 19 29 Harijs Vītoliņš Kaspars Daugaviņš Finished in 9th place
2025 Stockholm/Herning 7 3 0 0 4 17 25 Harijs Vītoliņš Kaspars Daugaviņš Finished in 10th place
2026 Zurich/Fribourg Harijs Vītoliņš

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 2025 IIHF World Championship.[7][8]

Head coach: Harijs Vītoliņš

No. Pos. Name Height Weight Birthdate Team
6 D Markuss Komuls 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 84 kg (185 lb) (1998-01-04) 4 January 1998 Rytíři Kladno
11 F Dans Ločmelis 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 81 kg (179 lb) (2004-01-21) 21 January 2004 Providence Bruins
12 F Gļebs Prohorenkovs 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 80 kg (180 lb) (2001-11-12) 12 November 2001 Niagara Purple Eagles
13 F Rihards Bukarts 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 84 kg (185 lb) (1995-12-31) 31 December 1995 Vítkovice Ridera
16 F Kaspars Daugaviņš – C 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 101 kg (223 lb) (1988-05-18) 18 May 1988 Latvia
17 F Mārtiņš Dzierkals 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 84 kg (185 lb) (1997-04-04) 4 April 1997 Skellefteå AIK
18 F Rodrigo Ābols 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 93 kg (205 lb) (1996-01-05) 5 January 1996 Philadelphia Flyers
21 F Rūdolfs Balcers 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 79 kg (174 lb) (1997-04-08) 8 April 1997 ZSC Lions
22 F Toms Andersons 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 86 kg (190 lb) (1993-11-25) 25 November 1993 HC La Chaux-de-Fonds
27 D Oskars Cibuļskis 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 96 kg (212 lb) (1988-04-09) 9 April 1988 Herning Blue Fox
29 D Ralfs Freibergs 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) 84 kg (185 lb) (1991-05-17) 17 May 1991 Mountfield HK
34 F Eduards Tralmaks 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 85 kg (187 lb) (1997-02-17) 17 February 1997 Rytíři Kladno
36 F Martins Laviņš 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 84 kg (185 lb) (2003-01-15) 15 January 2003 New Hampshire Wildcats
40 G Mareks Mitens 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 80 kg (180 lb) (1998-01-29) 29 January 1998 Spišská Nová Ves
42 D Miks Tumānovs 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 83 kg (183 lb) (2001-08-07) 7 August 2001 JYP Jyväskylä
43 F Anrī Ravinskis 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 86 kg (190 lb) (2003-01-02) 2 January 2003 HPK
50 G Kristers Gudļevskis 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 97 kg (214 lb) (1992-07-31) 31 July 1992 Fischtown Pinguins
55 D Roberts Mamčics 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 105 kg (231 lb) (1995-04-06) 6 April 1995 Energie Karlovy Vary
72 D Jānis Jaks 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 86 kg (190 lb) (1995-08-22) 22 August 1995 Energie Karlovy Vary
77 D Kristaps Zīle – A 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 86 kg (190 lb) (1997-12-24) 24 December 1997 HC Litvínov
88 G Gustavs Grigals 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 89 kg (196 lb) (1998-07-22) 22 July 1998 Dukla Trenčín
89 F Filips Buncis 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 93 kg (205 lb) (1997-06-12) 12 June 1997 Odense Bulldogs
94 D Kristiāns Rubīns – A 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 96 kg (212 lb) (1997-12-11) 11 December 1997 Škoda Plzeň
95 F Oskars Batņa 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 106 kg (234 lb) (1995-05-07) 7 May 1995 Mountfield HK
97 F Haralds Egle 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 95 kg (209 lb) (1996-05-11) 11 May 1996 HK 32 Liptovský Mikuláš

Retired numbers

Coaching history

Coach GP W T L GD P-ts
1939 Larry Marsh[10][11] 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 1 6 25:35 9
2007–2011 Oleg Znarok 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 29 11 7 11 68:73 41
2021–present Harijs Vītoliņš 31 10 7 14 90:94 45

All-time record

As of 20 May 2025.[12]
Opponent Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD
 Austria 28 23 0 5 106 65 +41
 Belarus 40 19 3 18 106 97 +9
 Belgium 2 2 0 0 31 4 +27
 Canada 24 1 1 22 29 126 -97
 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 38 24 0 14 131 93 +38
 Estonia 5 5 0 0 32 6 +26
 Finland 36 5 2 29 66 136 −70
 France 57 37 4 16 195 115 +80
 Germany 41 13 4 24 91 111 -20
 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 15 10 0 5 54 31 +23
 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 45 27 0 18 144 112 +30
 Poland 21 16 0 5 72 50 +22
 Romania 8 6 0 2 49 7 +42
 Russia 22 6 1 15 38 83 −45
 Slovakia 37 12 2 23 79 119 -40
 Slovenia 14 13 0 2 49 25 +24
 South Korea 3 3 0 0 38 2 +36
 Sweden 30 3 1 26 50 126 −76
  Switzerland 43 10 3 30 78 134 -56
 Ukraine 20 14 1 5 67 49 +18
 United States 19 4 2 13 38 61 −23
 Yugoslavia 2 2 0 0 10 0 +10
Total 615 295 28 292 1 908 1 691 +217

Uniform evolution

  • National team jerseys
  • 1996-2005 IIHF jerseys
  • 2006-2013 IIHF jerseys
  • 2014-2017 Winter Olympics and IIHF
  • 2018–2021 IIHF jerseys
  • 2022– Winter Olympics and IIHF

References

  1. ^ "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 26 May 2025. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Includes Olympics, World Championships, World Cups, Canada Cups and Summit Series.
  3. ^ "Latvia". National Teams of Ice Hockey. National Teams of Ice Hockey. Retrieved 24 May 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Steiss, Adam. "2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship cancelled". iihf.com. IIHF. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  5. ^ "IIHF to move 2023 World Championship". iihf.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  6. ^ Merk, Martin. "Tampere/Riga candidate for 2023". IIHF. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Paziņots Latvijas hokeja izlases sastāvs pasaules čempionātam". lhf.lv (in Latvian). 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  8. ^ "Team roster: Latvia" (PDF). iihf.com. 10 May 2025.
  9. ^ "LHF iemūžina Žoltoka 33. Numuru un godina viņa piemiņu". 24 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Ted Nolan to coach Latvia". webarchive.iihf.com. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  11. ^ Zariņš, Viesturs (4 May 2006). "Latvia's hockey history spans a century". Latvians Online. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  12. ^ "Latvia - National Teams of Ice Hockey". nationalteamsoficehockey.com. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
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