Friday’s test match against Switzerland for Kristofer Bindul ended in the middle of the first period, when home striker Mark Marchon earned 5+20 penalty minutes for pushing him on the sideline. Bindulis, who was registered in the third pair of defenders, managed to spend only three and a half minutes on the ice.
For 28-year-old Bindul, the fight for a place in the team is over, the head coach of the Latvian national team, Harijs Vītoliņš, revealed: “Broken arm. Unfortunately, a serious injury – he will not be able to play for at least half a year. I wish him health. Very unfortunate, but – that’s sport.”
Bindulis joined the national team camp only a week before the test match in Switzerland. The defender spent the season in the Slovak Ekstraliga, being a teammate of Kaspars Daugavinas in the ranks of Mihalovce “Dukla”. In 32 games of the regular season, Bindulis had seven points, but in 11 playoff games he scored 1+3.
The defender participated in one world championship, appearing in five matches in 2017. At one time, Binduli was signed by the NHL club Washington “Capitals”, but in three seasons he played only 16 games in the farm club, playing more in the ECHL.
Although Jānis Jaks also went to Switzerland, he did not participate in any of the test matches and did not go to the ice in Tuesday’s training either. “He got sick in Switzerland. It’s hard to say what’s wrong – cough, runny nose, difficulty breathing, temperature. It was expected that he would go on the ice today, but we decided to go spin the wheel anyway – to sweat. The doctors are looking at it. As the doctor from morning fairy tale, that’s how we act,” said Vītoliņš.
The coach of the Latvian national team had to raise his voice and stop the exercises several times during the hour and a half lesson. “It was necessary to set it up a bit. You can see that there was a crossing, that there was a holiday. We want to see the quality and speed. The effort was there, but we can do better,” concluded Vītoliņš.
On May 3 and 4, the Latvian national team will compete against the Norwegians in Riga, while the world championship will begin on May 11 with a duel against the Polish national team.
Latvian national team candidates
| Position | Player | Year | Club | Statistics | PS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Kristers Gudlevsky | 1992 | Bremerhaven (Germany) | 45; 91.4% | 5 |
| Elvis Merzlikin | 1994 | Blue Jackets (NHL) | 41; 89.7% | 5 | |
| Ivars Punnenov | 1994 | Lakers (Switzerland) | 6; 90.3% | 4 | |
| Eric Vitols | 2001 | KeuPa (Finland-2) | 33; 90.4% | ||
| Defender | Oskars Cibulskis | 1988 | Blue Fox (Denmark) | 38; 2+11 | 9 |
| Ralf Freiberg | 1991 | Mountfield (Czech Republic) | 52; 1+8 | 7 | |
| Jānis Yaks | 1995 | Litvinov (Czech Republic) | 44; 4+25 | 6 | |
| Kristaps Zile | 1997 | Litvinov (Czech Republic) | 50; 4+7 | 5 | |
| Robert Mamcic | 1995 | Nove Zamky (Slovakia) | 45; 7+19 | 2 | |
| Karl Chukste | 1997 | Brynas (Sweden-2) | 49; 0+13 | 2 | |
| Arvil Bergmanis | 1999 | Alaska Fairbanks (NCAA) | 31; 2+17 | 2 | |
| Sandis Smons | 1999 | La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland-2) | 8; 1+0 | 1 | |
| Marcus Komulus | 1998 | Trois-Rivieres (ECHL) | 48; 2+5 | ||
| Robert Kalkis | 1998 | Marseille (France) | 43; 1+10 | ||
| Attacker | Andris Džeriņš | 1988 | Blue Fox (Denmark) | 31; 5+14 | 12 |
| Kaspars Daugavins | 1988 | Michalovce (Slovakia) | 47; 11+43 | 11 | |
| Robert Buckart | 1990 | Vitkovice (Czech Republic) | 51; 14+7 | 10 | |
| Mick Indrasis | 1990 | Brynas (Sweden-2) | 52; 26+32 | 10 | |
| Richard Buckart | 1995 | Vitkovice (Czech Republic) | 18; 7+4 | 6 | |
| Oskar Batnia | 1995 | Jukurit (Finland) | 59; 20+18 | 4 | |
| Rihards Marenis | 1993 | Nybro (Sweden-2) | 45; 13+20 | 3 | |
| Renard Krastenberg | 1998 | 99ers (Austria) | 30; 13+9 | 3 | |
| Tom Anderson | 1993 | La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland-2) | 45; 18+32 | 1 | |
| Dan Lochmelis | 2004 | UMass (NCAA) | 30; 7+7 | 1 | |
| Harald Egle | 1996 | Liptovsky Mikulas (Slovakia) | 49; 11+28 | ||
| Filip Buncis | 1997 | Vastervik (Sweden-2) | 52; 9+8 | ||
| Eduard Tralmak | 1997 | Rytiri Kladno (Czech Republic) | 52; 21+11 | ||
| Oskar Lapinski | 2002 | Tigers (Switzerland) | 52; 3+1 | ||
| Felix Gavar | 2002 | St. Lawrence (NCAA) | 39; 13+12 | ||
| Raivis Anson | 2002 | Penguins (AHL) | 34; 2+5 | ||
| Martins Lavins | 2003 | New Hampshire (NCAA) | 35; 5+9 |
Latvian national team test match calendar
| The date | The game | The result |
|---|---|---|
| April 4 | Latvia – Austria | 3:2 PM |
| April 5 | Latvia – Austria | 3:2 PM |
| April 10 | Latvia – Finland | 2:3 p.m |
| April 11 | Latvia – Finland | 2:3 |
| April 26 | Switzerland – Latvia | 5:1 |
| April 27 | Switzerland – Latvia | 4:0 |
| May 3 | Latvia – Norway | |
| May 4 | Latvia – Norway |
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