Olympics: Team Latvia 2022

[Eye of Ra]

Janis Kalnins
Punnenovs
Gudļevskis

Jeļisejevs - Abols - Darzins
Dzierkals - Daugavins - Indrasis
Ro. Bukarts - Dzerins - Ri. Bukarts
Kenins - Batna - Krastenbergs
Karsums, Meija

Cibulskis - Balinskis
Sotnieks - Jaks
Zile - Freibergs
Kulda

 

[Namejs]

Janis Kalnins
Punnenovs
Gudļevskis

Jeļisejevs - Abols - Darzins
Dzierkals - Daugavins - Indrasis
Ro. Bukarts - Dzerins - Ri. Bukarts
Kenins - Batna - Krastenbergs
Karsums, Meija

Cibulskis - Balinskis
Sotnieks - Jaks
Zile - Freibergs
Kulda

You almost nailed it in terms of selecting the players. The only difference is that there's no Sotnieks.

Honestly, I can't see a reason why we couldn't beat Sweden, Finland or Slovakia. Assuming the Games will happen. That's the only thing about the tournament that still excites me a little.

Making the semis is not even a pipe dream.

 

[Eye of Ra]

You almost nailed it in terms of selecting the players. The only difference is that there's no Sotnieks.

Honestly, I can't see a reason why we couldn't beat Sweden, Finland or Slovakia. Assuming the Games will happen. That's the only thing about the tournament that still excites me a little.

Making the semis is not even a pipe dream.

True. However the same can be said about Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia....only teams i see without a chance to get medals is China and Sweden.

If someone missed it, Gudlevskis nowdays plays in SHL for Brynäs.

Anyways here is the roster: Vītoliņš nosauc 31 hokeja izlases kandidātu cīņā par biļeti uz Pekinu

 

[Eye of Ra]

Nauris Sējējs is an odd invite. He plays in Swiss second division.

 

[Namejs]

Nauris Sējējs is an odd invite. He plays in Swiss second division.

He is one of the more promising Latvian prospects among defencemen, but he has no business playing in the Olympics yet, absolutely.

Our head coach has played in and coached Swiss teams for a very long time, and I think he might even still live there. So he knows every Latvian playing there and he's probably had some influence in growing the Latvian diaspora in the Swiss system in the first place.

So there's a strong bias towards Swiss-based players (I'm not sure Smirnovs should be there either), and to add another layer here, he's known the father of Nauris Sejejs for a very long time as well.

But I don't think Sejejs is getting any ice time, he's just in the 'taxi squad' in all likelihood.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Nauris Sējējs is an odd invite. He plays in Swiss second division.

Considering his father is still a pretty big figure in hockey and has worked as Kunlun's GM in China, it might be something there. He called in a favor because his son really wanted to see it or something

 

[Dofs]

I would had been more excited by this roster back in October. But it's probably the strongest one we have without NHL anyway.

 

[Namejs]

I would had been more excited by this roster back in October. But it's probably the strongest one we have without NHL anyway.

I don't want to start an argument for the sake of an argument, but we're clearly missing some players who are clearly better than some of the guys on the extended roster, and who aren't playing in the NHL.

Smirnovs has scored 3 goals in 80 games in NLA. Berzins has scored 3 in 82 games in KHL. They're just not very good players. You can give them the benefit of the doubt since they're still young, but there's no way on Earth they're anywhere close to being as good as Tralmaks.

Obviously, we're also missing Rubins. And forwards like Jevpalovs or Marenis can't be found even on the extended list.

The difference isn't huge without them, but it is a difference and even small ones matter. There's too many Dinamo Riga players, too many Swiss players -- all indicative of Vitolins bias. This is why I prefer foreign coaches over local ones, they come with a fresh set of eyes and there's not much room for bias. You can say there's a North American bias with NA coaches, but their risky picks have usually worked out very well (see Freibergs, Jaks, Rubins).

 

[Eye of Ra]

Yeah i was just gonna mention Marenis. He has been awesome in Allsvenskan, which is a good league. He will for sure get offers from SHL clubs.

 

[Dofs]

Is Tralmaks a centre? If he is, than I agree that he should have been taken instead of either Smirnovs or Berzinsh, if he is not than I am not too bothered by his absence.

I care more about who is going to get into the final roster than the extended one, really, and neither Marenis nor especially Jevpalovs would have made it. So it doesn't truly matter if they are in extended roster or not. I will say that the progress of Marenis this year has been truly spectacular indeed. He is just one step away from getting to a top European league (even if not SHL, definitely one of the others) and is probably on his way to becoming a regular in Team Latvia in near future. All the luck to him.

But as of right now, if we are talking about a final roster, I think from those who didn't make the extended list only Tralmaks is a noticeable omission.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Yeah i was just gonna mention Marenis. He has been awesome in Allsvenskan, which is a good league. He will for sure get offers from SHL clubs.

What do you mean? The guy is obviously a B-grade Latvian league player who is riding his luck and usage, I can deliver like 50 of those to interested SHL teams at a moments notice

 

[Namejs]

Is Tralmaks a centre? If he is, than I agree that he should have been taken instead of either Smirnovs or Berzinsh, if he is not than I am not too bothered by his absence.

I care more about who is going to get into the final roster than the extended one, really, and neither Marenis nor especially Jevpalovs would have made it. So it doesn't truly matter if they are in extended roster or not. I will say that the progress of Marenis this year has been truly spectacular indeed. He is just one step away from getting to a top European league (even if not SHL, definitely one of the others) and is probably on his way to becoming a regular in Team Latvia in near future. All the luck to him.

But as of right now, if we are talking about a final roster, I think from those who didn't make the extended list only Tralmaks is a noticeable omission.

While I mostly agree, unfortunately, the extended roster does matter, as it is likely one or more of the players will get infected or already are infected and will miss the Olympics or will be cut from the roster after arriving in PRC.

So adding random token Dinamo players without any afterthought is a mistake. They might actually have to play in the Olympics. It's not just some formality.

I think Tralmaks has played at C before, but he's mostly a winger now.

 

[Namejs]

What do you mean? The guy is obviously a B-grade Latvian league player who is riding his luck and usage, I can deliver like 50 of those to interested SHL teams at a moments notice

He obviously is a B grade player at a B grade league, but there are some C grade players on the extended roster.

 

[SoundAndFury]

He obviously is a B grade player at a B grade league, but there are some C grade players on the extended roster.

Wasn't he that C-grade player in your eyes just a few months ago? So players can improve at age 28, can't they?

 

[Namejs]

Wasn't he that C-grade player in your eyes just a few months ago? So players can improve at age 28, can't they?

No, I don't think players can improve much at that age.

You're looking at the whole thing from the wrong perspective. It's not that he has improved, it's that my assessment of his quality as a player was wrong based on his usage.

Marenis was undervalued, his usage changed, he's posting good numbers in a decent league, my impression of him changes accordingly, as long as he keeps up that pace.

The deeper you go and the closer you get to the semi-pro level, the more of these 'hidden' players you can unearth. I wouldn't even call it unusual. There's a large amount of North American players who call it quits after a try out in the AHL doesn't quite pan out - if they persisted and went on to play overseas, it's likely many of them could carve out good pro careers, with some of them even returning to NHL/AHL.

It has nothing to do with improving.

Jelisejevs case is extremely unusual, though, and I honestly can't wait to see him perform in the Olympics. I've never seen a player pop up out of nowhere and start posting such numbers at a major pro level.

We'll see if it's just a flash in the pan over the next year.

 

[Namejs]

Kalnins, Gudlevskis and Abols won't be able to make the team earlier than February 2nd, which is a bit of an issue. The SHL teams aren't letting them go any earlier.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Kalnins, Gudlevskis and Abols won't be able to make the team earlier than February 2nd, which is a bit of an issue. The SHL teams aren't letting them go any earlier.

Just so you know, it has nothing to do with anti-latvian stuff. Its the same for the swedish players selected to Olympics. You should tell this to latvians so they dont go around thinking we swedes are trying to sabotage.

 

[Namejs]

Just so you know, it has nothing to do with anti-latvian stuff. Its the same for the swedish players selected to Olympics. You should tell this to latvians so they dont go around thinking we swedes are trying to sabotage.

That thought didn't even cross my mind, it makes perfect sense that the club teams want to keep their assets for as long as possible.

 

[Puck Dogg]

Team Latvia roster for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing:

Goalies: Ivars Punnenovs, Janis Kalnins, Kristers Gudlevskis.

Defensemen: Oskars Cibulskis, Ralfs Freibergs, Kristaps Zile, Karlis Cukste, Patriks Ozols, Janis Jaks, Uvis Janis Balinskis, Arturs Kulda.

Forwards: Lauris Darzins, Nikolajs Jelisejevs, Martins Karsums, Miks Indrasis, Rihards Bukarts, Rodrigo Abols, Andris Dzerins, Oskars Batna, Deniss Smirnovs, Renars Krastenbergs, Martins Dzierkals, Kaspars Daugavins, Roberts Bukarts, Ronalds Kenins.

Latvia name their Olympic roster

 

[SoundAndFury]

Well, that's the advantage of being Latvia - you know who your best players are. Smirnovs is probably the only pick that most people wouldn't agree on.

 

[iginlafan77]

Dreger reporting that teams can bring a "taxi squad" with additional 6 players. Hopefully Latvia knew that before sending all of the cut players home

 

[Dofs]

Well, that's the advantage of being Latvia - you know who your best players are. Smirnovs is probably the only pick that most people wouldn't agree on.

Karsums over Meija was a surprise to me.

 

[Vikz]

According to an article on sportacentrs, there is a spare line in case someone falls out. Roberts Mamčics, Nauris Sējējs, Gints Meija, Daniels Bērziņš and Toms Andersons are the first guys to fill the gaps if needed.
Dont really have an opinion on this, after the 3rd line all of the guys are kinda same. Meija is the only standout, it is good that he is somewhere near the team just in case.
I also missed the part with the AHLers not goings - not allowed or what? Yeah, Rubins and Silovs are on NHL contracts and are probably expected to fill the blank spots in an NHL roster in case needed, but Tralmaks and Mitens have AHL contracts and are nowhere near the big club. Tralmaks is definately better than a few guys on the list, and Mitens is not great in any way, but still much better than Vitols or Voris or whoever is next in line in case Punnenovs's injury is bad.

 

[izzy]

gudlevskis to post back to back shutouts for the entire olympics

 

[Eye of Ra]

One of swedens most famous hockey journalists posted this about Marenis today.

He is saying Marenis is a very good player who plays hard and even can produce on his own. He thinks SHL teams should buy him.