All Latvian hockey players who went to the championship took part in the training, except for goalkeeper Elvi Merzlikina, who suffered an injury. Vītoliņš refrained from saying whether Merzļikins would definitely not play against the Swedes, however, Artūrs Šilovs would most likely enter the goal. The attacker Renārs Krastenbergs will probably be left out of the application.
The Latvian national hockey team is preparing to play against Sweden in training
It is expected that eight defenders and 12 attackers will enter the Latvian national team, instead of seven defenders and 13 attackers, as before. Defender Arvils Bergmanis is expected to return to the standings.
A conversation with Harry Vītoliņš
As many guards are injured and need painkillers, they will need more forces to defend against the Swedish attack, Vītoliņš explained.
For the Latvian national team to enter the quarterfinals, both Sweden, which has suffered only one loss in the last six fights in the group against the United States, and the Americans must lose to Norway.
The second half of the club season in Sweden was spent by national team defenders Kristaps Zīle and Roberts Mamčics, as well as forward Nikolai Jelisejev. Rihards Marenis played the whole season in Sweden, but Rodrigo Ābols spent the fourth season at the Swedish club “Orebro”.
Conversation with Rodrigo Apple
The captain of the national team Rodrigo Ābols explained that Swedish hockey is characterized by high speed, high-quality performance and good skating skills. The national team’s striker Rihards Marenis also admitted that the Swedes have a good command of the puck and are trying to quickly attack from the defense.
An hour-long training was planned for the Latvian national team on Monday evening, but no one was on the ice for that long. The team worked hard to improve the numerical majority of the game. Vītoliņš explained that the players need to know when to do what on the court, because there will not be much time to make decisions against the fast Swedes on the court.
The Swedes, meanwhile, are very confident in their strength, and the team’s weakest position – the attack – was reinforced by National Hockey League (NHL) star William Nielander.
Although Sweden is guaranteed to participate in the quarterfinals, the team is preparing for the match against Latvia very seriously, because they do not want to risk losing the first or second place in the group,
In an interview with Latvian Television, the head coach of the Swedish national team, Johann Garpenlev, told
The group’s two strongest teams will play in the quarterfinals right there in Tampere, but the third and fourth place owners will have to travel to Helsinki to finish the first round of elimination. In addition, a higher place in the group provides a potentially weaker team in opponents in the quarterfinals.
In the first stage of the World Championship, 16 teams are divided into two groups, where they play a round tournament. The four strongest teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals.
The world champions in Finland will be announced on Sunday, May 29.
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