Latvia: Latvian prospects

[Justinov]

Lipsberg will have to bring out the big guns if he wants to be rookie scoring leader WHL......
Oliver Bjørkstrand just had a 4G 1A game in Portlands 8-3 victory over Spokane and is 27G 26A in 53 matches and is again a point pr game.

 

[BalticWarrior]

Lipsberg will have to bring out the big guns if he wants to be rookie scoring leader WHL......
Oliver Bjørkstrand just had a 4G 1A game in Portlands 8-3 victory over Spokane and is 27G 26A in 53 matches and is again a point pr game.

Wow thats impressive...I don`t know if Lipsbergs will be able to climb back to to the scoring title whenk Bjorkstrand plays like that!

 

[BalticWarrior]

First day at European Youth Olympics for our u-17 squad. unfortunatley we lost 1-5 to Switzerland,our only goal by Davis Zembergs.

 

[ozo]

First day at European Youth Olympics for our u-17 squad. unfortunatley we lost 1-5 to Switzerland,our only goal by Davis Zembergs.

I'd rather say, fortunately we lost only bay 1-5.

 

[BalticWarrior]

Latvia 2 Russia 3(end of 2nd period) at European Youth Olympics. and i must say the refs ****ing suck,worst reffing i have EVER seen.

 

[BalticWarrior]

So a loss to russia 2:3 not that bad,Zembergs shows why hes one of the best of our 96 class.
So players who scored for Latvia-Davis Zembergs,Augusts Valdis Vasilonoks assist Haralds Egle.

 

[Justinov]

So a loss to russia 2:3 not that bad,Zembergs shows why hes one of the best of our 96 class.
So players who scored for Latvia-Davis Zembergs,Augusts Valdis Vasilonoks assist Haralds Egle.

Only a 3-2 loss to Russia actually sound pretty impressive! So 96class looks like being really consistently good!

 

[BalticWarrior]

Only a 3-2 loss to Russia actually sound pretty impressive! So 96class looks like being really consistently good!

Yep,if your interested Justinov these are the latvian 96ers that are notable and could be very good in the future : Dāvis Zembergs,Haralds Egle,Augusts-Valdis vasilonoks,Rodrigo Ābols.

 

[QuietContrarian]

If im not mistaken Draisaitl is not draft eligable untill 14, right?

 

[Justinov]

If im not mistaken Draisaitl is not draft eligable untill 14, right?

Yes Draisaitl is very high up in some 2014 rankings.....possible top 10!

 

[Justinov]

Yep,if your interested Justinov these are the latvian 96ers that are notable and could be very good in the future : Dāvis Zembergs,Haralds Egle,Augusts-Valdis vasilonoks,Rodrigo Ābols.

Yeah it looks like you could have an awesome 2014 draft if they continue developing!

 

[QuietContrarian]

Yep,if your interested Justinov these are the latvian 96ers that are notable and could be very good in the future : Dāvis Zembergs,Haralds Egle,Augusts-Valdis vasilonoks,Rodrigo Ābols.

Haha WTH? That's not Latvian is it? What's the story behind that name.. Just curious

Yes Draisaitl is very high up in some 2014 rankings.....possible top 10!

Yup, Hell go top 10 no doubt.. He's a big guy too! Made for NHL..

 

[BalticWarrior]

Haha WTH? That's not Latvian is it? What's the story behind that name.. Just curious

Rodrigo is as Latvian as it gets,so no real story there ,by the way Rodrigo Abols is the son of Artis Abols former latvian NT player and head coach of Dinamo Riga.

 

[BalticWarrior]

Yeah it looks like you could have an awesome 2014 draft if they continue developing!

Yeah,especially Rodrigo Abols,Davis Zembergs and Haralds Egle have impressed me.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Rodrigo is as Latvian as it gets,so no real story there ,by the way Rodrigo Abols is the son of Artis Abols former latvian NT player and head coach of Dinamo Riga.

Seriously, how uncanny Oh well, we learn something everyday

As for Latvian talent's I sure would like one on the Nucks

 

[kellmuff96]

Abols is a very good player. He was incredible at our tournament last year. I expect the Latvian team to win it this time. We've had some scouts asking us if he is coming.

96's are eligible for the CHL Import Draft this year so I'm sure they will be checking him out.

Zembergs is very good too. I would say he was the best player for the Latvians last year along with Arturs Buss (why did he not get chosen for the Youth Olympics team?)

Those 3 are very good and I expect them to all play for your U20 team at the World Juniors in a few years

 

[BalticWarrior]

Latvia won 11:1 over Roamania and ends up on 5th place in the tournament Abols with 1+3 in this tourney,Zembergs with a goal too. Although Romania is no measurement for our new players.

 

[BalticWarrior]

Abols is a very good player. He was incredible at our tournament last year. I expect the Latvian team to win it this time. We've had some scouts asking us if he is coming.

96's are eligible for the CHL Import Draft this year so I'm sure they will be checking him out.

Zembergs is very good too. I would say he was the best player for the Latvians last year along with Arturs Buss (why did he not get chosen for the Youth Olympics team?)

Those 3 are very good and I expect them to all play for your U20 team at the World Juniors in a few years

Yeah Zembergs is pretty good but why hes still not promoted to EJHL is a mystery for me.

 

[Latgale_fan]

Seriously, how uncanny Oh well, we learn something everyday

As for Latvian talent's I sure would like one on the Nucks

Actually Rodrigo's not ''as Latvian as it gets'', it's only popular because some Latvians with this name have become popular and consequently parents named their kids after the likes of Rodrigo Fomins (rock musician) or Rodrigo Laviņš (Dinamo Rīga defenseman and NT player). It's a foreign name, definitely not Latvian and I suppose Rodrigo Ābols got his name also because his father, the head coach of Dinamo Rīga at the moment Artis Ābols played together with Rodrigo Laviņš and thought it's a cool name... I guess Latvians tend to like this name very much but it's not Latvian and there are actually few Rodrigo's around. I don't personally know anyone called like that but in their youth both Rodrigo Fomins (and even now) and Rodrigo Laviņš were idols for young women (due to good looks ) so no wonder there are kids named Rodrigo now...

As for Latvians, I believe at the moment only Egle can be considered as a draft candidate. Others simply do not play in the leagues they draft you out of, of course there are still next season but if Bušs and Zembergs are ''nothing special'' in EmJHL and Vasiļonoks in Austria (even if his club plays in Czech U20 tournament) then I don't see anything there. Ābols? If he goes to CHL or MHL next year. But maybe that can be said about others too. In order to be drafted, you need to play in leagues from which they actually draft players. Czech U20 with zero stats, EmJHL, Latvian league are not those...

Then again 2014 would also have Rihards Bukarts, so maybe 2 players could be drafted.

 

[BalticWarrior]

Actually Rodrigo's not ''as Latvian as it gets'', it's only popular because some Latvians with this name have become popular and consequently parents named their kids after the likes of Rodrigo Fomins (rock musician) or Rodrigo LaviņÅ¡ (Dinamo Rīga defenseman and NT player). It's a foreign name, definitely not Latvian and I suppose Rodrigo Ābols got his name also because his father, the head coach of Dinamo Rīga at the moment Artis Ābols played together with Rodrigo LaviņÅ¡ and thought it's a cool name... I guess Latvians tend to like this name very much but it's not Latvian and there are actually few Rodrigo's around. I don't personally know anyone called like that but in their youth both Rodrigo Fomins (and even now) and Rodrigo LaviņÅ¡ were idols for young women (due to good looks ) so no wonder there are kids named Rodrigo now...

As for Latvians, I believe at the moment only Egle can be considered as a draft candidate. Others simply do not play in the leagues they draft you out of, of course there are still next season but if BuÅ¡s and Zembergs are ''nothing special'' in EmJHL and Vasiļonoks in Austria (even if his club plays in Czech U20 tournament) then I don't see anything there. Ābols? If he goes to CHL or MHL next year. But maybe that can be said about others too. In order to be drafted, you need to play in leagues from which they actually draft players. Czech U20 with zero stats, EmJHL, Latvian league are not those...

Then again 2014 would also have Rihards Bukarts, so maybe 2 players could be drafted.

I have the feeling Abols and Zembergs will be drafted in CHL this year.

 

[v-man]

Actually Rodrigo's not ''as Latvian as it gets'', it's only popular because some Latvians with this name have become popular and consequently parents named their kids after the likes of Rodrigo Fomins (rock musician) or Rodrigo Laviņš (Dinamo Rīga defenseman and NT player). It's a foreign name, definitely not Latvian and I suppose Rodrigo Ābols got his name also because his father, the head coach of Dinamo Rīga at the moment Artis Ābols played together with Rodrigo Laviņš and thought it's a cool name... I guess Latvians tend to like this name very much but it's not Latvian and there are actually few Rodrigo's around. I don't personally know anyone called like that but in their youth both Rodrigo Fomins (and even now) and Rodrigo Laviņš were idols for young women (due to good looks ) so no wonder there are kids named Rodrigo now...

Nothing irritates me more than seeing Latvians kids with names like Rodrigo, Ivo or Elviss. I guess their parents though it sounded cool/exotic/foreign, but to most of us it just looks and sounds laughably idiotic and ridiculous.

As for the CHL draft, it's always a crap shoot. In recent years they've many selected players out of nowhere, and many haven't made the cut. I'm scared that even if Bukarts gets selected, he'll repeat his brother's mistake and stay in Europe. I'm not familiar enough with the other guys to have an opinion on their chances.

 

[Latgale_fan]

Nothing irritates me more than seeing Latvians kids with names like Rodrigo, Ivo or Elviss. I guess their parents though it sounded cool/exotic/foreign, but to most of us it just looks and sounds laughably idiotic and ridiculous.

As for the CHL draft, it's always a crap shoot. In recent years they've many selected players out of nowhere, and many haven't made the cut. I'm scared that even if Bukarts gets selected, he'll repeat his brother's mistake and stay in Europe. I'm not familiar enough with the other guys to have an opinion on their chances.

Why is Ivo a bad choice? I personally have nothing against this name. It's better than some other names new kids get these days, like Razgals' son from the same 1996 team Frenks Razgals (Frenks being a Latvian version of Frank and very weird name for a Latvian). Elviss is a stupid choice and I don't get it since we Latvians have a perfectly sounding name in Latvian Elvis, which both is the same as the foreign name and sounds well in Latvian.

As regards CHL the last two years have been good, Kolesnikovs maybe didn't stay there long but contributed a lot last year and this year's batch of 4 all have at least managed to stay in their teams and Lipsbergs even become a leader. But I'm one of those who isn't actually of high opinion about CHL... IMHO Daugavins and Karsums were better before moving to CHL and their first seasons there were great but nothing followed... Who knows if they would be better if stayed here and, in Daugavins case, attitude and injuries (also for Karsums) played their role but I don't know... Did Bukarts make a mistake? Maybe yes, maybe no... he wasn't really such a great talent as people want to say he was and he still has ton of skills, only his work ethic has not been that great (and can you teach that?). Though in the last 4 Dinamo games this season now he's 3+1... Dinamo continues to fight in the Cup of Hope and if we advance futher, by the end of this thing he might've earned a solid place in the team for the next year, he's certainly doing the right things now after spending some time in the farm club.

 

[BalticWarrior]

I want to hear my fellow countrymen opinion- do you think we produce enough quality porspects every year?Would you say the situation has been improving regarding these quality prospects? Will we keep producing good youngsters in lets say 5 years? I mean our junior hockey system is almost non-existant,can we keep up the pace with say Denmark or Germany?

 

[ozo]

I want to hear my fellow countrymen opinion- do you think we produce enough quality porspects every year?Would you say the situation has been improving regarding these quality prospects? Will we keep producing good youngsters in lets say 5 years? I mean our junior hockey system is almost non-existant,can we keep up the pace with say Denmark or Germany?

This probably deserves a much longer post, but I think we've never been in a better position ever since hockey came to country. Our prospects look even better then the those of late eighties. Just to think we could of easily be where Ukraine is.

 

[BalticWarrior]

This probably deserves a much longer post, but I think we've never been in a better position ever since hockey came to country. Our prospects look even better then the those of late eighties. Just to think we could of easily be where Ukraine is.

Scary thought indeed