The first Swedish champion from Latvia, Mārtiņš Dzierkals, will arrive in Riga tonight, but tomorrow he will hold the first training session together with the national team, national team general manager Rūdolfs Kalvītis revealed to the Sportacentrs.com portal. The decision to participate in one of the test matches against Norway will rest on the shoulders of the coaches.
On the other hand, Swedish vice-champion Rodrigo Ābola is expected to join the Latvian national team on Monday, Kalvītis said. The hockey players will have ice training on Monday and Tuesday, a day off is planned for Wednesday, and the team will leave for the Czech Republic on Thursday. The opening match of the World Championship is scheduled for Saturday against the Polish national team.
The 27-year-old Dzierkals joined “Skelleftea” before the season and became the first Latvian to win the Swedish gold. The forward scored three points in 45 regular season games and managed to repeat the feat in 16 playoff games. In the semi-final series against “Frolunda”, it was Dzierkals who scored the winning goal of the seventh game.
28-year-old Abols joined a new team in the off-season. The center forward was the most productive player of the silver medalist “Rogle” in the playoffs – 5+7 in 15 games. Playoffs only “Frolund’s” Finn Jere Innala (11+4) was more productive than him.
The Latvian national team will play the last test matches on May 3 and 4, hosting Norway in Riga.
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 | |
| 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 | |
| Rodrigo Abol | 1996 | Rogle (Sweden) | 50; 14+12 | 7 | |
| Richard Buckart | 1995 | Vitkovice (Czech Republic) | 18; 7+4 | 6 | |
| Oskar Batnia | 1995 | Jukurit (Finland) | 59; 20+18 | 4 | |
| Mārtiņš Dzierkals | 1997 | Skelleftea (Sweden) | 45; 2+1 | 4 | |
| Rihards Marenis | 1993 | Nybro (Sweden-2) | 45; 13+20 | 3 | |
| Renard Krastenberg | 1998 | 99ers (Austria) | 30; 13+9 | 3 | |
| 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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