Punnenovs out, which is a little surprising but makes sense. Given his current form, he would clearly be only the third goalie.
WC: 2024 Team Latvia Roster Talk
- Thread starter Namejs
- Start date
Yeah, weird. Its not like NT is a professional team where salaries and cap spaces matter. Just go with three best goalies, even if the third one does not see ice.
Coaches said that Merzlikins is still our best option simply because he is an NHL starter, regardless of how successful his season was. By that same logic, Punenovs should be ahead of Vitols, just because he plays in a much better league.
I wonder if Ivars himself decided to skip this year, both because of the competition and his rough season. Might need some rest before active training in summer to get back in shape.
Abols and Dzierkals are both joining the national team. Barring injuries, we should be fine.
Main issues with the current roster:
1. Lack of a 2nd line, we have 3 3rd lines
2. No puck-moving Ds
3. No elite goal scorers
We might actually struggle to score vs. France and Kazakhstan.
On that note, I've changed my mind on the idea of Vilmanis joining. He has been dominating the OHL play-offs, scoring more than Mesar and he is exactly the TYPE of a player we are currently sorely missing. He is prone of some defensive lapses still, so I'm not sure if they'll take the risk.
But if available, I would potentially use him in a sheltered top 6 role with more O-zone starts and see how he does against Poland/France.
Main issues with the current roster:
1. Lack of a 2nd line, we have 3 3rd lines
2. No puck-moving Ds
3. No elite goal scorers
We might actually struggle to score vs. France and Kazakhstan.
On that note, I've changed my mind on the idea of Vilmanis joining. He has been dominating the OHL play-offs, scoring more than Mesar and he is exactly the TYPE of a player we are currently sorely missing. He is prone of some defensive lapses still, so I'm not sure if they'll take the risk.
But if available, I would potentially use him in a sheltered top 6 role with more O-zone starts and see how he does against Poland/France.
Eye of Ra
Grandmaster General of the International boards
They're going to take a look at him in the exhibition games vs. Norway. He's very reliable defensively, so he might make the 4th line, but it's not like we're lacking shutdown forwards. He's not going to be a difference maker this year.
Panthers inquired about Vilmanis and basically asked us if we are calling him up to the Worlds. Apparently they want to keep him in their orbit and invest some time in him during the off-season.
So we're not seeing Vilmanis, but that is a very good sign for the kid and his role in the next season. Being stuck in the bottom 6 of an AHL roster has put the brakes on a bunch of our leading prospects before.
Jaks has finally started practicing and Vitolins was barely holding in tears of joy. 'Our dumpster fire of a PP now finally looks somewhat decent' is what our head coach said although I might be paraphrasing.
Still no Abols, so the game vs. Poland is effectively going to be our final prep game.
So we're not seeing Vilmanis, but that is a very good sign for the kid and his role in the next season. Being stuck in the bottom 6 of an AHL roster has put the brakes on a bunch of our leading prospects before.
Jaks has finally started practicing and Vitolins was barely holding in tears of joy. 'Our dumpster fire of a PP now finally looks somewhat decent' is what our head coach said although I might be paraphrasing.
Still no Abols, so the game vs. Poland is effectively going to be our final prep game.
Ad
Upcoming events
-
-
-
-
2024 NHL Draft Lottery Team that wins #1 pick - PICK ONLY ONE TEAMWagers: 10Staked: $12,250.00Event closes- Updated:
