before i start this article, i'd like to say thanks to everyone who gave me their feedback about the first part; as long as there will be at least those few people who read this, i'll know that there is a point to write this. :D :)
again, nothing changes - if you'll click on players' names, it will bring you to pictures of them, and their stats are here. :)
here is the part 1 of these series, if you missed it.
again, nothing changes - if you'll click on players' names, it will bring you to pictures of them, and their stats are here. :)
here is the part 1 of these series, if you missed it.
- Jānis Andersons (07.10.1986.) is one of the d-men who are always near to the national team. he's played in U18 (2003, 2004) and U20 (2005, 2006) teams, played in an Olympic qualification in 2009 and didn't miss any World championships from 2010-2013. i am not 100% sure but i think he didn't play in the World championships 2014 because of an injury. he hasn't been drafted, he has played only in Europe -- in, of course, Latvia (Prizma Riga [Latvian championship, EEHL B], HK Riga 2000 [Latvian championship, EEHL], Dinamo Riga [KHL]), in Sweden (Stocksunds IF J18 [J18 Allsvenskan], AIK & AIK J20 [Division 1 & SuperElit], Almtuna & Almtuna J20 [Allsvenskan & SuperElit]), in Belorussian championship (Metalurgs Liepaja) and he spent 3,5 seasons in the Czech Republic (HC Vsetin, HC Trinec, HC Prostejov (2nd league), HC Havirov (2nd league), HC Dukla Jihlava (2nd league), HC Sumperk (2nd league)). he spent the 2012/2013 hockey season in Ukraine -- in Kompanion Kiev. and in 2013/2014 season he played in Germany's DEL 2 league (2nd best league there), for Heilbronner Falken.
- Oskars Bārtulis (21.01.1987.) is a player with a very good slapshot. he's an all-around d-man with good stickhandling. he started his career in Latvia, in Prizma Riga, Vilki Riga. he played the 2003/2004 hockey season in Russia's 3rd league, in CSKA Moscow-2. after the season, he went to North America and played 2 seasons in QMJHL's Moncton Wildcats. in his 2nd season with them, the Moncton Wildcats became the champions of QMJHL. some of you might know him because he got drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2005, #91 overall. after that he spent another season in QMJHL, this time in Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and then he moved to AHL, to Philadelphia Phantoms and after two seasons he made his debut in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers. in that season's playoffs, the Flyers got into the Stanley Cup finals where they faced the Chicago Blackhawks. the Flyers lost to the Blackhawks with 2-4 in the series. after that, his career in North America didn't go that well -- a Phoenix Coyote's player injured him badly and soon Bārtulis had to return to AHL. after 2011/2012 season he returned to Europe where he signed with a Ukrainian team called Donbass Donetsk and has played in there ever since. he still has a contract with them but, as you may know, Donbass can't play in the KHL in the 2014/2015 season because of the political situation in Ukraine. Donbass froze all of the signed players' contracts, which will come into force after the next season and the players can sign for a season with other teams. Bārtulis hasn't signed with any team yet.
- Ričards Birziņš (24.04.1989.) is not the biggest d-man (183 cm / 6'0") but he is really fast and can score goals and pass the puck. he also likes playing physically. he's also left-handed so he can be tricky for opponents. he is not the most well-known hockey player but he has been in team Latvia's (and Dinamo Riga's) training camps multiple times. he hasn't played in any official games though. except for Latvia's U18 team in 2006 and 2007. he has played in SK LSPA/Rīga and HK Riga 2000 (Latvian and Belorussian championships, 2005-2009), Dinamo Juniors Riga (Belorussian championships, 2009-2010), Beibarys Atyrau (Kazakhstan, 10 games in 2010), SK Saga (Latvian 2nd league, 2011), Metalurgs Liepaja (Belorussian and Latvian championships, 2011-2013). he played most of the last season in Norway, Tonsberg Vikings, but then the team had to fire its import players because of financial problems. after that he signed with a team in Italy, Cortina, and spent the rest of the season there.
- Oskars Cibuļskis (09.04.1988.) can play a physical game and can score and earn points but could do it more often. he's played in SK LSPA/Riga (Latvia, 2004-2008), he played 2 games in HK Riga 2000 (Belarus, 2006), spent the 2008/2009 season in Austria, in EC Salzburg and then signed with Dinamo Riga (KHL). he played only 12 regular season games and 3 playoff games for Dinamo in the first season though, he spent most of the season in Dinamo Juniors Riga (Latvia). but after that he's regularly been in Dinamo Riga's roster. Cibuļskis has played in Latvia's U18 team (2005, 2006), in U20 team (2007, 2008) and in 2011 and 2012 he made it to the men's team's roster for the World championships. speaking of last season, it was quite empty for him. in his 12th game of the season Salavat Yulaev Ufa's player fell on his leg and Cibuļskis injured his knee badly and was out for the rest of the season. he still has a contract with Dinamo Riga for the next season.
- Ralfs Freibergs (17.05.1991.) is a d-man that plays a physical game, he also scores a lot of points and will always stand up for his teammates and himself. he started his career in Latvian U18 and Latvian 2nd leagues' team Prizma Riga, he spent two seasons there. he's also played for HS Prizma/Hanza Riga (Latvia, 2008-2009), for Dinamo Juniors Riga (Belorussian championships, 2009-2010), for Texas Tornado (NAHL, 2010-2011) and Lincoln Stars (USHL, 2011-2012). ever since the autumn (fall) 2012 he's played in Bowling Green State University (NCAA). today (when this post was published) i read a recent article where he confirmed he's signed a two-way contract with an AHL team, he didn't say which one because the team hasn't officially announced it yet. he played only 8 games in his first season with the university's team though, it's because he had had a professional contract before that. in summer 2014 he went to Winnipeg Jets' development camp. he was discovered in 2013 when Ted Nolan, who was team Latvia's coach at the time, invited him to team Latvia's training camp. in his own words, he didn't expect it and was really happy when he got the call. he played in Latvia's U18 team (2008, 2009) and in Latvia's U20 team (2009, 2010, 2011). in 2013 he debuted in the World championships and in 2014 he played in his first Olympic games. he actually was doping positive there, but no one has made public which substance was found in his analysis, he hasn't been penalized, besides there's a lot of ambiguities. for example, every player, including him, was tested before going to Sochi. he wasn't doping positive then, although the substance is quite serious, as we've been told, and something should have appeared.
- Guntis Galviņš (25.01.1986.) plays a physical game and he can score a lot of points. he played in Latvia's U18 team (2003, 2004), U20 team (2005, 2006) and he didn't miss any men's World championships from 2005-2010 and also played another championships in 2012. his career has been going quite downhill the last two seasons though. he signed a contract with Dinamo Riga in 2008 and he slowly really improved his game. his best season in the KHL was the 2011/2012 hockey season, he even got named february's best defenseman in the league. in 2013 the team's head coach at that time -- Pekka Rautakallio -- named him the captain of the team. it was obviously too much for him because the atmosphere in the locker room became really bad -- and the many losses didn't help. in the middle of the season the letter C went from Galviņš' jersey to Mārtiņš Karsums'. Galviņš played 'till the end of Dinamo Riga's season in 2012/2013 but, in his own words, the season just turned out as a nightmare. he signed with another KHL team for the 2013/2014 season -- Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk -- but played only 10 games there. then he signed with Sweden's best league's team AIK but spent only 15 games there. people were talking a lot about how his attitude wasn't the best. but he ended up going to World championships 2014. when Ted Nolan chose players to go to/play in tournaments, he always wanted the atmosphere in the locker room to be really good. apparently Galviņš has improved his attitude, some fans who met him after they returned to Latvia from Minsk, said that he was really nice, even though the fans really disliked him before. i honestly hope that he is gonna sign with a good team soon and will just continue to improve because he really is an amazing player when he plays his best.
Jānis Jaks (22.08.1995.) isn't the biggest defenseman (180 cm / 5'11") but he always plays a physical game and usually is a stay-at-home d-man, he isn't afraid to be offensive if he has a chance though. his first team was SK Riga 18 (Latvian and Belorussian under-18 championships, 2009-2010), then he played 22 games in SK Saga (Latvian 2nd league, 2010-2011). he spent the 2011-2012 season in SK Riga 17 (Latvian championships), and in 2012 signed with HK Riga (MHL). in 2012/2013 season he also played in HK Juniors Riga (MHL B, Latvian championships), he also wore U18 team Latvia's jersey in the end of the season. (the championships weren't too good for team Latvia though, they lost all the games and lost their place in the Elite.) in the last season, he continued to play for HK Riga. maybe his stats won't tell you this but the 2013/2014 season went very well for him. when a d-man that should've gone with the U20 team to the championships broke his leg in a practice, the team's head coach decided he'd take Jaks to replace the injured player. yes, if the other player was healthy, Jaks would've had to stay at home. but Jaks ended up having a very good championships and then, in the spring, Ted Nolan invited him to team Latvia's camp. Jaks made it to the final roster and went to the men's World championships. he'll go across the ocean for the next season -- he signed with USHL's team Fargo Force. - Māris Jass (18.01.1985.) is a defenseman who can play quite a physical game and is valuable on power plays because of his heavy slap-shot. in his career he's played in Stalkers Juniors Daugavpils (Latvia), Dynamo Moscow-2 (Russia's 3rd league), Metalurgs Liepaja (EEHL, Latvia, Belarus), HC Slavia Praha (Czech hockey league), HK Nitra, HK 36 Skalica, HC Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia), Hannover Scorpions (DEL (Germany)), Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (KHL). he changed teams 3 times last season, he started the season in VHL (basically the 2nd best Russian league), Buran Voronezh, then he went to Italy's best league, to a team called Fassa and played 3 games there. he ended his 2013/2014 season in the Czech hockey league, in KLH Chomutov. he's signed a try-out contract with a KHL team Lada Togliatti now, he's also played in this team before the KHL was founded. speaking of the national teams, he played in the U18 team (2002), the U20 team (2003, 2005) and he's played in the men's national team in World championships which happened in the years 2006, 2010, 2013, 2014.
Artūrs Kulda (25.07.1988.) is definitely one of the best Latvia's hockey defensemen at the moment. he's a stay-at-home d-man who plays a physical game but can also score some points. quoting what's written on eliteprospects -- "he can hit hard, but also skates well. owns a hard slapshot from the powerplay point". he started his career in Prizma Riga (Latvia) and after a season he joined CSKA Moscow-2 (Russia's 3rd hockey league) where he spent 2 seasons. then, in 2006 he got drafted #200 overall by the Atlanta Trashers and went across the ocean to OHL's Peterborough Petes. after a little bit less than 2 seasons he moved up to AHL, to Chicago Wolves. he did have his debut in the NHL, -- it happened on february 13, 2010. but he never actually stayed in the NHL team's roster, even when the Trashers moved to Winnipeg and changed their name to the Winnipeg Jets. he's played 15 games in the NHL (so far). after the 2011/2012 season, which he spent in St. John's IceCaps, he came back from North America and he KHL's team Sibir Novosibirsk. he did sign with the Winnipeg Jets in the end of the 2012/2013 season though, he went back there but he didn't play any games. he spent the 2013/2014 season in Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL). this summer, Salavat Yulaev extended his contract 'till the end of the 2016/2017 season. speaking of the national teams, he's rarely missed any championships. he played in the U18 team in 2004 (he was 15 in his first championships!), 2005 and 2006, he played in the U20 team in 2006, 2007 and 2008. he made his official debut in the men's team in 2010's World championships, he played World championships in 2011 too, then he missed one championships. and in 2013 he played in the qualification for the Sochi Olympic games' hockey tournament and in the World championships, and in 2014 he played in both -- the Olympic games and the World championships.
- Rodrigo Laviņš (03.08.1974.) - his career is obviously coming to an end but he was once a very good, probably one of the best Latvia's d-men. in the first two seasons of his career he played in Pardaugava Riga. then he went to the ECHL and played for Raleigh IceCats, Tallahassee Tiger Sharks. he also played in CoHL, for Muskegon Lumberjacks and in IHL, for Las Vegas Thunder. then he came back to Europe and spent 1,5 seasons in Finland's best hockey league (a.k.a. Liiga), he played for Jokerit, Ilves and HPK. in the other half of 1998/1999 season he played 15 games for Sweden's hockey league's (a.k.a. SHL) team AIK. in 2000, he went to Germany's DEL league and spent a season playing for Augsburger Panther. after that he spent 2 seasons in Russia's 1st league at that time, he spent a season in each -- Molot-Prikamie Perm and Dynamo Moscow -- but then returned to Latvia, where he spent two seasons in HK Riga 2000. then he joined SHL's team Brynäs, and then went back to HK Riga 2000, and then back to Brynäs. in 2007 he played 13 games for Russia's Metallurg Novokuznetsk and then spent the rest of the season in SHL's Södertälje. in 2008 he signed with Dinamo Rīga and spent the next 6 seasons there, only going to Metalurgs Liepāja for 9 games in the beginning of 2012/2013 hockey season. after last season he actually said he's probably gonna retire, if Dinamo Riga won't want him to play for them, but he's signed with the Latvian championships' team HK Kurbads. he's played a lot of games internationally, if i'm not mistaken, he's the only player who was in the team Latvia's roster that got us in the hockey elite in 1996, of those who haven't retired. he also played in Latvia's first World championships (in 1993) after Latvia restored its independence. he played in Latvia's U20 team (1994), in Latvia's first World championships in the hockey elite in 1997, after that he was in the men's team's roster in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005-2010, 2012 and 2014. he's always played physically and his hipchecks are well known (at least for Latvian fans), you can see one of them from the 2013/2014 season here. (fun fact: KHL posts videos of top 10 goals, saves and hits every week in the regular season and, guess what, they didn't include this hipcheck in any of the hit top10s.)
- Mārtiņš Porejs (06.07.1991.) might be another Latvia's hockey's future hope, speaking of d-men.. he hasn't actually played outside of Latvia, he started in SK Riga 18, then moved to SK LSPA/Riga, then Dinamo Juniors Riga. then he went to HK Riga, where in 2011/2012 season he wore the letter C. in 2012/2013 he played in 4 different teams but they all are (were, if we speak about Metalurgs Liepaja) in Dinamo Riga's system. he kind of surprised everyone in his first games with Dinamo, he played really well, if i'm not mistaken, scored like 4 points in 5 games, and wasn't afraid of playing physically. he never is, actually. he made some great hits, he even wasn't afraid of hitting Niklas Backstrom, who, just like in Washington, was a leader of the team (Dynamo Moscow). looked up for some videos of his hits and here's one vs Mikhail Varnakov.. the 2013/2014 season wasn't that great for him though. while Dinamo Riga was having their best season (so far), winning games and breaking their own records in KHL, Porejs couldn't exactly make it to the roster. he did play 3 games but he was either nervous or has lost his confidence but he made some mistakes and didn't seem to have good luck while playing for them.. he did play 14 games in Latvian championships' team Dinamo Juniors Riga though. speaking of international tournaments, he played in U18 team (2008, 2009) and in U20 team (2011). he hasn't played in any official men's teams' tournaments but he regularly goes to the 'big team's' training camps.
- Georgijs Pujacs (11.06.1981.) is one of Latvia's most experienced players, who regularly play in the men's national team. he played in U18 team (1997-1999), U20 team (2000) and he's played in every single World championships since 2006. he's also played in Olympic games 2006 (Turin), 2010 (Vancouver) and 2014 (Sochi). he played in the qualification for Turin's and Sochi Olympic games. in his career, he's played in HK Riga 2000 (Latvia, EEHL, Belarus), Dinamo Riga'81 (Latvia), Rochester Mustangs (USHL), Anchorage Aces (WCHL), Metalurgs Liepaja (EEHL, Latvia), Vilki Riga (Latvia), Örebro (Allsvenskan -- Sweden), Elmira Jackals (UHL), Khimik Mytischy (Russia), Khimik Mytischy-2 (Russian 3rd league), Lada Togliatti (Russia, KHL), Dinamo Minsk (Belarus), Sibir Novosibirsk (KHL; wore the letter C in 2012), Avangard Omsk (KHL). he also played 12 games in Dinamo Riga in 2008/2009 season and he returned to Riga last season. by the way, Pujacs got drafted by the Bruins in 1999, #264 overall but he never played any games there. he is more of a stay-at-home defenseman, who likes playing physically and can bring leadership to his team.
- Arvīds Reķis (01.01.1979.) is a quite experienced hockey player now. he is an aggressive d-man, he will never be afraid to hit any of the opponents, he's got quite a good shot. he'll never be afraid to block a shot too, he does that quite often actually. in the beginning of his career he already went to the USHL and played for Dubuque Fighting Saints. he did play a game in Essamika Ogre, which played in the Latvian championships. he spent 4 seasons in OHL's Erie Otters and after that -- 3 seasons in ECHL's Peoria Rivermen and 18 games AHL's Worcester IceCats. after that, he returned to Europe and spent the next 7 seasons in Germany's DEL league, in Augsburger Panther and in Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg. in 2006 he also played 5 games in Belorussian championships, in HK Riga 2000. in 2010 he signed with Dinamo Riga and has played there ever since. speaking of his international career, he played in Latvian U18 team in 1995 and 1996, and in Latvian U20 team in 1999. he debuted in the men's team in 2003. after that he's missed only 4 World championships (mostly because of injuries). he's also played in the Olympic games' qualification in 2005, 2009 and 2013 and he played in Olympic games 2006, 2010 and 2014.
- Jēkabs Rēdlihs (29.03.1982.) -- quite a big (187 cm / 6'2") d-man, who likes playing physically and can stand up for his teammates (seriously, you don't want to make him mad, even though (off the ice) he's like the world's nicest person), and he is more of a stay-at-home defenseman. in his own words, he's too lazy to go in offense. :D in the beginning of his career, he played in Metalurgs Liepaja (EEHL & Latvia) and Essamika/Juniors (EEHL B & Latvia). after that, he went across the ocean and spent a very good season in New York Apple Core, after which Columbus Blue Jackets drafted him #119 overall in the NHL draft 2002. then he spent the next 4 years playing in NCAA, while he was studying in Boston University. in the next 2 seasons he played in AHL's Syracuse Crunch, ECHL's Dayton Bombers and Elmira Jackals, and Latvia's HK Rīga 2000. in the end of the 2007/2008 season, he joined Czech hockey league's HC Plzen, played there 14 games and then the next season, too. in 2009 he signed with Dinamo Riga and played the most of the next 4 seasons there. in those four years, he also played 3 games with each Dinamo Juniors Riga and Metalurgs Liepaja in Belorussian championships. last season wasn't that great for him, he started his season later, in SHL's MoDo but played only 4 games there. in the middle of the season he signed with Dinamo Rīga again and was with them for the rest of the season. he's now signed a try-out level contract with Czech league's HC Karlovy Vary for the next season. he's played for Latvian U18 team (1999, 2000), U20 team (2002) and in men's World championships four times so far -- in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2014.
- Krišjānis Rēdlihs (15.01.1981.) eliteprospects have said about him: "a well-rounded defenseman. Redlihs is good at moving the puck and has a fine wrist shot. defensively, he is inconsistent." he was with Dinamo Riga'81 in the 1st season of his career, but apparently he didn't play any games there. he played the next 3 seasons in Metalurgs Liepāja (EEHL & Latvia), he also got drafted in the NHL draft 2002 and those were the New Jersey Devils who picked him #154 overall. after that he went to America and played the next 4 seasons in AHL's Albany River Rats but returned to Europe after that. in the next 2 seasons he changed his teams 4 times, he went from NLA's Gottéron to Russia's Amur Khabarovsk, to SHL's Linköping, to Germany's DEL league's Hamburg Freezers. in 2008 he signed with Dinamo Riga and has worn their jersey ever since, apart from 2 games in the 2008/2009 season and, of course, the national team. speaking of which, he played for the U18 team in 1999 and he's played in the men's World championships from 2001-2004 and then in 2008, 2009, 2011-2013. he's also played in Olympic games in 2006, 2010, 2014 and in Olympic games' qualification -- 2010 and 2013.
- Agris Saviels (15.01.1982.) "plays a well-rounded game. he skates well for a pretty large body (187 cm / 6'2"), but could use that size more to his advantage. has a nice first pass, but is more of a stay-at-home defenseman these days." Saviels played for Latvia's U18 team (1998, 2000), U20 team (1999, 2000). he's played 5 World championships for the men's team (2004-2008, 2013) and he played in Turin's Olympic games in 2006. he played his first 3 seasons with HK Lido Nafta Riga (Latvia) and then 8 games with HK Riga 2000 (EEHL), before going overseas. he played a season for each SJHL's Notre Dame Hounds and OHL's Owen Sound Platers before he got drafted in the NHL draft 2000 #63 overall by the Colorado Avalanche. everyone thought he'd make it to the NHL eventually. he then played for Owen Sound Attack (OHL) and Hershey Bears (AHL), and also played 8 games for Reading Royals (ECHL) but in his years in North America he got an injury, which was quite serious, so that ruined the hopes that he'd become an NHLer. after that he returned to Europe and played half of the first season he was back for HK Riga 2000 (Belarus) and the other half -- for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Russian 2nd league). then he went to Slovakia and spent a season playing for MsHK Zilina. in the next season he returned to HK Riga 2000 for 3 games, and then spent the rest of the season in Denmark -- in Herning and Odense. in 2008/2009 season he played 2 games for Dinamo Riga (KHL), returned to HK Riga 2000 again and then continued to play in Belorussian championship for the next season and a half, but now in Metallurg Zhlobin. he spent the whole 2010/2011 season in Italy, playing for Valpellice, in the next season he played for 3 teams -- HC Most (Czech 2nd hockey league), SMScredit.lv (Latvia) and Sterzing/Vipiteno (Italy). in 2012/2013 he played for Ukraine's Kompanion Kiev and in the last season he played for 2 teams -- HK Kurbads (Latvia) and Rødovre (Denmark).
- Edgars Siksna (15.01.1993.) might be one of team Latvia's future leaders. he really likes playing physically, he's got a very heavy slap-shot and he's worn the letter C for Latvia's U20 team in 2013 and for HK Rīga in the last season (when their other captain got into Dinamo Rīga's roster), so he can obviously bring leadership to his team. speaking of Latvia's national team, so far he's played for the U18 team (2010, 2011) and for the U20 team (2012, 2013). he played his first 4 seasons of his career in Metalurgs Liepaja (Latvia, Latvia U18, Belarus, MHL B) and in the last season he got into Dinamo Riga's system and mostly played for HK Riga (MHL) but also made his debut in the KHL and played 2 games for Dinamo Riga, he also played a game for Dinamo Juniors Riga (Latvia).
- Kristaps Sotnieks (29.01.1987.) has never played outside of Latvia. he played the first 4 seasons of his career for HK Riga 2000 (Latvia, Belarus) and, as a Latvian sports journalist wrote in an article, he probably would've ended his career, if Dinamo Riga wouldn't have been restored. he signed with them in 2008 and has played there ever since. he also played a game for Dinamo Juniors Riga in the 2009/2010 season. in his time with Dinamo Riga, he's really improved his game and has pretty much become a leader in Latvia's hockey. people say that Sandis Ozolinsh really helped him. but yes, now Sotnieks is a player that can bring leadership to his team, who plays physically and more of the stay-at-home game but he really can help forwards in offenses. he played for the U18 team in 2005 and for the U20 team in 2006 and 2007. he made his debut in the men's World championships in 2009 and hasn't missed any Worlds ever since, he's also played in the Olympic games' qualifications in 2009 and 2013, and he's played in Vancouver's and Sochi Olympic games. another thing about Sotnieks (which, not gonna lie, i really love about him), is that he's basically a hockey god himself, team Latvia's savior. :D why? well, someone made a top 3 of his saves. and, believe me, there has been more than those three saves, he did some amazing ones in the 2013/2014 season in Dinamo Rīga's games. so here's the save that was put in the 3rd place (from this year's Worlds), here's the save that's the 2nd (from the famous Latvia-Canada game in Sochi Olympics) and here's the save that's the best save by him (so far in his career) in the person's opinion. as Latvians joke -- there's a little goalie in every Sotnieks! :D
- Ēriks Ševčenko (28.04.1991.) could be another d-man that will possibly play in team Latvia regularly in the future. he's played official games in only Latvia's U20 team before -- in 2010 and 2011. but! before the World championships 2014 he was invited to team Latvia's training camp, he played really really well, he wasn't afraid to play physically and he wasn't afraid of being offensive, at the same time he was playing defense very well. he injured his knee in one of the pre-World championships' games, so he couldn't make an official debut in the men's team, but everyone was sure that he would've gone to Minsk, if he wasn't injured. in his first season he played for Metalurgs Liepaja U18 (Latvia U18) and then spent the next season playing for SK Riga 18 (Latvia U18 & Latvia-2), and then the next one -- in SK LSPA/Riga (Latvia (U20)). after that he got to Dinamo Riga's system, spent a season with Dinamo Juniors Riga (Belarus & Latvia) and then played the next two for HK Riga (MHL). in the end of 2011/2012 he moved to Metalurgs Liepaja, played 6 games and the next season for them. then the team bankrupted and he had to search for a new team again, even though the 2012/2013 season went quite well for him. so he started last season in Norway's Tonsberg Vikings, then they started having financial problems and terminated the contract with the most, if not all, of the import players. so at the end of the last season he tried to make his way into the ECHL, he didn't do too bad but for some reason he changed his teams three times -- from San Francisco Bulls to Florida Everblades, to Gwinnett Gladiators. he's at Dinamo Riga's training camp at the moment, but that doesn't mean anything because there's still not 100% belief that the team will be able to play in the KHL next season, because they're having financial problems.
- Maksims Širokovs (13.12.1982.) has spent quite a lot of his career playing for Metalurgs Liepaja (Latvia, EEHL, Belarus), this is where he started his career, this is where he's returned 3 times during it. he's also played in Prizma Riga (EEHL B), Zemgale (Latvia, EEHL B), HK Riga 2000 (Latvia, Belarus), Fort Wayne Comets (IHL), he's played a game in Dinamo Riga but starting from 2009/2010 season he's only played outside of Latvia, excluding 11 games in Metalurgs Liepaja in the same season. he went from HK Nitra (Slovakia), to Karlskrona (Division 1, Sweden), to Kazzinc-Torpedo (VHL), then he changed his teams 3 times in 2012/2013 season -- from Arlan Kokshetau (Kazakhstan), to Levy L’viv (Ukraine), Sierre (NLB -- Switzerland's 2nd best hockey league). in 2013/2014 he played for NLB's Red Ice and this summer Red Ice extended his contract 'till the end of the 2014/2015 season. he's played official national teams' games only when he was in the U20 team in 2002 but he's went to the men's team's training camps quite often, so maybe someday he will get to play in the men's team in official tournaments.