The captain of the U18 hockey team for 60 games in a season, the silent Finns and NHL scouts in the stands

Krists Retenais | Photo: IIHF

Captain of the Latvian U18 hockey team Christ the Rare in a conversation with “Sportazinas.com”, he commented on the first game of this year’s world championship, and also shared his impressions of the stressful season.

It has already been announced that yesterday the Latvian team lost 1:3 to their Finnish peers in the U18 World Championship in Espoo. Retanais spent 16 minutes and 41 seconds on the field, finishing the match with a negative utility of -1. “Relatively high-quality game. At first there were mistakes, maybe on the background of excitement. A big plus was our iron defense in front of the goal. We made some mistakes and the discipline stuck, which we need to fix. With so many penalty minutes, it’s hard to score more than one goal,” the defender emphasized.

“Somewhere the guys didn’t work with their feet to the end, somewhere they raised the stick, hit it unintentionally. Clearly they didn’t want it, we all talked about it. But it happens. To be honest, the minority was also at a good level, which we also saw in the test matches,” said the hockey player.

Before the shot that led to the first goal conceded, Retenais discussed something with his teammates for a long time, but already three seconds after the winning shot the Finns opened the score. “We didn’t divide the opposing players a bit, and, of course, an accurate bag shot. Also at the beginning of the third period, with the result being 0:2, the Finns fared better. In the second period we had some good chances, we could have scored. We came out of the third period motivated.”

The first goal conceded by the Latvian national team

“Finland is a good skating team and, of course, maybe at the beginning with full stands they had more energy, but overall in the game we were not behind them. Before the game, I cheered the boys on, the bench was alive during the match as well, good fight, good fighting spirit. The emotions of playing in front of full stands were great, after the first throw everything was fine. I enjoyed the atmosphere, but yes, the Finns were not that loud. In the first U18 WC, the emotions were fresher, but this is a new tournament, a new country. I am also the captain, which gives even more positive emotions,” says the 17-year-old player about the atmosphere.

Retenais has participated in 59 matches in various tournaments this season as part of HS “Rīga”, while together with the national team’s test matches, this number has exceeded 60. “I love hockey, the passion is great, I get excited every time and I play very adventurously,” the defenseman will answer the question about the need for rest.

“The guys also know themselves that the National Hockey League (NHL) scouts visit the U18 World Championship, and we play not only for Latvia, but also for ourselves, for our surname. However, in general, teamwork is the main thing,” said the national team captain.

“There is fatigue, but we will pay attention to that, sleep well and go to the field. What must be done to beat Slovakia? Discipline, minimize rejections and score more goals because the defense was at a good level today.”

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