WC: Latvia Roster Talk 2022

[SoundAndFury]

Very strange.

So you think leaving mid-game and taking the bus home is less strange or what's your point?

Ok, need to score here.

 

[SoundAndFury]

For his own sake Jaks should have just eaten it instead of trying this jump-around... Like announcers say, hardly a penalty here at all..

 

[BritainStix]

The reffing against GB in this game has been disgusting.

 

[BigBadBoar]

Sorry but the last call was pathetic. Clean hip check, no foul.

 

[BritainStix]

f*** it. I can't watch this level of bullshit anymore.

Refs picked a f***ing team from the start. Feel for the boys. Latvia has gotten away with murder all f***ing game, and they have called some of the most pathetic penalties I've ever seen against GB.

Get f***ed IIHF

 

[SoundAndFury]

Cukste-Bukarts-Bukarts-Dzerins-Dzierkals, the juggernaut PP unit, comes through again.

 

[Fatass]

So you think leaving mid-game and taking the bus home is less strange or what's your point?

Ok, need to score here.

Why did Elvis leave his teammates?
Seems like he’s done and has quit.
I didn’t see any injury. And the TV announcers haven’t reported one.

 

[SoundAndFury]

f*** it. I can't watch this level of bullshit anymore.

Refs picked a f***ing team from the start. Feel for the boys. Latvia has gotten away with murder all f***ing game, and they have called some of the most pathetic penalties I've ever seen against GB.

Get f***ed IIHF

Why are you so mad? You will get to play at the level where you belong next year and the refs won't be picking on you no more

Seems like he’s done and has quit.

Seems like you really want to see it that way.

 

[kabidjan18]

It's a bad call, but GB's terrible PK is what put them in this position in the first place. You can't kill 2 of 5 penalties, A PK is supposed to be around 80%, not 40%.

 

[Fatass]

f*** it. I can't watch this level of bullshit anymore.

Refs picked a f***ing team from the start. Feel for the boys. Latvia has gotten away with murder all f***ing game, and they have called some of the most pathetic penalties I've ever seen against GB.

Get f***ed IIHF

The British player just ran Silovs. No call.

Why are you so mad? You will get to play at the level where you belong next year and the refs won't be picking on you no more


Seems like you really want to see it that way.

Okay. TV guys saying they assume an injury.

 

[FreshBlood]

f*** it. I can't watch this level of bullshit anymore.

Refs picked a f***ing team from the start. Feel for the boys. Latvia has gotten away with murder all f***ing game, and they have called some of the most pathetic penalties I've ever seen against GB.

Get f***ed IIHF

Not true. Bad calls against latvia as well.

 

[SoundAndFury]

It's a bad call, but GB's terrible PK is what put them in this position in the first place. You can't kill 2 of 5 penalties, A PK is supposed to be around 80%, not 40%.

It's 3/5, actually. So yeah, they kinda have themselves to blame. But it also makes sense, I mean they just don't belong to this level. Good teams find ways to win, bad teams find ways to lose.

Okay. TV guys saying they assume an injury.

I mean it's just common sense, no one is going to say "ok Elvis just go home, we are gonna call this Grigals guy". He is professional hockey player, not a 5 year old child.

 

[kabidjan18]

It's 3/5, actually. So yeah, they kinda have themselves to blame. But it also makes sense, I mean they just don't belong to this level. Good teams find ways to win, bad teams find ways to lose.

I meant they successfully killed only 2 penalties. They were scored on 3 times. Just not good enough.

Unfortunate that the last penalty was controversial, but there were a dozen other penalties on both teams that could have been called, and if they had been called, they should be prepared to kill it off. That did not happen.

And really, that is in a nutshell the Austrian experience every year prior to this WC haha

 

[LKI]

Why did he start if he’s injured? He got pulled after a very weak goal, and then left. Very strange. Didn’t appear to be injured.

Imma ask him next time I meet him for the first time.
Either way he came back with an ice pack around his right ankle.

f*** it. I can't watch this level of bullshit anymore.

Refs picked a f***ing team from the start. Feel for the boys. Latvia has gotten away with murder all f***ing game, and they have called some of the most pathetic penalties I've ever seen against GB.

Get f***ed IIHF

What about the Dzierkals call though? Any comment ?

 

[SoundAndFury]

Also it's not that wild to assume player wanted to play through the minor injury in a must-win game. Since he got pulled, it didn't matter.

 

[Vikz]

What about the Dzierkals call though? Any comment ?

Dont forget the football goal.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

LOL. There's not even GDT.

 

[SoundAndFury]

LOL. There's not even GDT.

I'm on the record saying I'm not gonna create one for this D1A clash so what can you do

 

[Eye of Ra]

Come on, guys. @Eye of Ra, why do you hate your team so much? I mean, its one thing to be sceptical, but some of these claims are nonsence.

Latvia's first line is really good, might rival some of the top countries lines with an elite, by SHL standarts, C in Abols, middle-tier but offensively minded NHL winger in Balcers and Kenins, who somehow complements them really well. Then, there is a steep drop in quality with fairly average euro players and even guys from second tier leagues.
Defence is Jaks, then everyone else. Rubins is an improvement over everyone else, but he is no game changer.
Merzlikins is on the same tier as Ullmark, might be slightly better. But every goalie has a bad day, and you never know which day it will be.
Vitolins never had any great success as a HC, I actually consider his assistant Abols to be a better coach.

If hockey was played 6 on 6, we would have better chances. We need better production from out lower lines to be able make a push for the playoffs. Too bad for Blueger not comming, he would have made our second line much more dangerous. Still, any middle-tier SHLer is miles ahead of guys from Austria. I would agree with 80/20 or 85/15 in Swedens favour.

Conclusion: Need 3 points against Czechs and hope for something against Swedes. And also win the guys we must win. Going to be a rough one.

You are being to humble my friend. Latvia is gritty and have some skilled guys like Balcers and Abols etc.

Here is a take from a objective person (he is american, i checked his profile).

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

You are being to humble my friend. Latvia is gritty and have some skilled guys like Balcers and Abols etc.

Here is a take from a objective person (he is american, i checked his profile).

Man's a proper troll. He was commenting on YT some funny stuff.

 

[SoundAndFury]

I guess a perfect tournament for everyone at the end of the day.

Optimists will say finishing 5th in this kind of group is all you can realistically hope for and the games against Finland and Sweden were really close.

Pessimists will say 8 points from the games against weaker teams were really, really lucky. The team only won the possession battle against GB and the scoring was only there against GB + Balcers. Kenins, Abols with 2 points, Krastenbergs 0, etc.

At the end of the day, to me, it was nice to see that those mid-tier European guys could still handily outplay GB, that was good. Silovs was really good. Elvis really hurt the team, sadly. The defense was as expected, one-dimensional. And overall talent level is slipping at the moment, gone (for the time being) are the days when 5-8 Latvian players could have realistically aimed for import spots on the Russian teams.

 

[Vikz]

The tournament ended on a somewhat positive note.
What was good:

1. Silovs. Sweden game proved that he can be used not only in games we should be dominating, but also in crucial games against high level opponents. Glad to see that we continue producing high quality goalies every 3-4 years. Having one more goalie capable to fill in the Nr. 1 spot is great in case someone is not able to come. If only we produced centers at at least half this rate..

2. 1st line. Abols could be a little more productive, you always want more from the top generational offensive talent Balcers, but they still lead the team in points, showed up when they were needed, and were our only line that consistently generated chances and dominated the offensive zone.

3. Rihards Bukarts. The only forward on par with Balcers, despite playing on the other line. And the attitude you want to see from every other player on the team.

4. Jaks. He was supposed to be our top D, he was our top D. Was solid on D, was great with the puck.

4. Discipline. Staying out of the box in the more important moments is what allowed us to win important games. There are always some unneeded penalties, some in the offensive zone, some in crucial moments. But overall, I think we did a good job here.

What was average:

1. Coaching. A NT coach can not teach a player to play, but problems with readiness and motivations are definitely something they should be blamed for. We started solid only one out of seven games. We had enough time to prepare, including the lengthy camp. We should have looked like a team long before the last game, but we didn't. On the other hand, the changes in lines and tactics during the game usually worked. Vitolins gets a lot of hate due to his past in russia and average results as various clubs as a HC, but Im not going to blame a coach for achieving average results with an average team. We were in a difficult group and, should we play Switzerland and Slovakia instead of Czechs and Finns, the result might be different.

2. Special units. Statistically, we are even a bit higher in PP ranking than the spot we will finish the championship with. Yeah, we pumped those numbers up against Great Britain, but hey, we are not the only ones who played them. PK was bad, but, as mentioned before, we neutralized this by just rarely playing it.

3. Most other players. Dzierkals showed flashes during the GB game and had the best opportunity that he himself created in the SWE game. But he should be able to produce against everyone, not just the biggest outsider. Against all others - nice stickhandling and puck holding, 0 result. Cukste quietly became best in points out of our D's, but was mostly lucky with his passes. Roberts Bukarts once again with some points, an important goal, but I just hate him and his style of play. Dont know what he needs to do to impress me, he will always be just very average for me. Same with Dzerins. Batna did exactly what he needed to + scored a goal, good for him! Jelisejevs was often used as a 4th forward, had some impact, nothing specific. Veibergs with two unnecessary penalties, will give him a pass since hes 19.

What was bad:

1. Elvis. It probably isnt fair to him, the team played completely different with him and Silovs in net. He was left all alone against NHL stars far to much. But if you are a star, you need to make those big saves. Not just the ones you are supposed to make. Hope this is just his injury. He really needs to be consistently good, if he does not want to become a laughing stock with how often he talks about legacy and Vezina.

2. Krastenbergs. There may be a reason he plays in Austria and not, at least, Czechia or Finland. I always wondered what it was, since he is really good in the NT. His showing this year may just be it. Maybe the coaches did not find a correct place for him, or he was in his best shape. But 0 points and the worst +/- (-6) is really bad for a player, who just had 5 points in the OG.

3. Rubins. He would probably fall under "average" category, had he not be the one of only 3 players on this roster to play an NHL game this season. He was waited for, his arrival was hyped, and all we got out of it are -5 in 4 games.


Overall, good. Really young core with Sotnieks, Dzerins, Ro. Bukarts and Kulda to be replaced with (hopefully) Tralmaks, Ansons, Ozols.

 

[Dofs]

There were a lot of complaints about the team's play during the tournament and I perfectly saw where they were coming from but at the end of the day it was yet another average tournament that ended just short of getting into quarterfinals. The team's biggest issue seemed to be nervousness - except for the last one with Sweden, the more important they game was, the worse the team seemed to play. Given that out of the Znarok - Vitolinsh duo it was Znarok who was mentally prepping the team, this is something Harijs needs to think about in the future.

Two biggest positive surprises in the tournament for me - Shilovs and Rihards Bukarts. With Shilovs we have now yet another World Championship-worthy level goalie. Now we have what, like five of them, potentially even seven? What a change from times when we only had Masalskis. And Rihards Bukarts was truly the leader of the team together with Balcers. And that's with Balcers being given all the opportunities to lead the team by default, while Bukarts wasn't. Truly a spectacular tournament for him.

Jaks and Balcers were really solid, as expected.

The biggest disappointments - Merzlikins, Krastenbergs, Rubins. Don't know what was with Elvis this year. An injury, overconfidence, coach doesn't fit? Anyway, bad tournaments happen, good thing we had Shilovs. Krastenbergs was absolutely invisible, and he was one of the best players in the Olympics. Weird. A pretty bad tournament for Rubins too. Supposedly one of our top defencemen, at the doorsteps of NHL, he definitely wasn't one in this tournament. Another player I really expected more from - Marenis.

All the others played fine. Some played better, some worse, but all within expectations and the general level of the team. Maybe Smirnovs and Veinbergs weren't that great but I didn't expect a lot from them in the first place, especially Veinbergs.

 

[kabidjan18]

Latvia is still a really good team, and I think their strength is their defense. A handful of bad periods and an injured goalie notwithstanding, they were the Latvia we've come to know and love.

I believe the best Latvian team is favorites against our best possible team, and will continue to believe so until proven otherwise. 10th place is a respectable finish.

 

[LKI]

There were a lot of complaints about the team's play during the tournament and I perfectly saw where they were coming from but at the end of the day it was yet another average tournament that ended just short of getting into quarterfinals. The team's biggest issue seemed to be nervousness - except for the last one with Sweden, the more important they game was, the worse the team seemed to play. Given that out of the Znarok - Vitolinsh duo it was Znarok who was mentally prepping the team, this is something Harijs needs to think about in the future.

Two biggest positive surprises in the tournament for me - Shilovs and Rihards Bukarts. With Shilovs we have now yet another World Championship-worthy level goalie. Now we have what, like five of them, potentially even seven? What a change from times when we only had Masalskis. And Rihards Bukarts was truly the leader of the team together with Balcers. And that's with Balcers being given all the opportunities to lead the team by default, while Bukarts wasn't. Truly a spectacular tournament for him.

Jaks and Balcers were really solid, as expected.

The biggest disappointments - Merzlikins, Krastenbergs, Rubins. Don't know what was with Elvis this year. An injury, overconfidence, coach doesn't fit? Anyway, bad tournaments happen, good thing we had Shilovs. Krastenbergs was absolutely invisible, and he was one of the best players in the Olympics. Weird. A pretty bad tournament for Rubins too. Supposedly one of our top defencemen, at the doorsteps of NHL, he definitely wasn't one in this tournament. Another player I really expected more from - Marenis.

All the others played fine. Some played better, some worse, but all within expectations and the general level of the team. Maybe Smirnovs and Veinbergs weren't that great but I didn't expect a lot from them in the first place, especially Veinbergs.

Pretty good recap.
Besides that, I think Bergmanis was quite solid.
Kind of expect more leader like scoring from Ābols. (although his line were noticeably the best line)
Balcers definitely stood out, is what's expected from our currently most talented(imo) scorer.
Jelisējevs stood out a little bit more than I expected.
Dzierkals skilled and still soft.
The big boi Batņa was noticeable and doing his job fairly well.
Roberts Bukarts performed better than we are used to.