Latvian Ice Hockey Team Gears Up for World Championship: Coaching Staff Changes and Player Suspensions Ahead

The Latvian ice hockey team is starting to increase speed in the preparation process before the upcoming world championship. The national team has two test matches against Austria behind it, in which victories were won in the shootout. Already on April 10 and 11, Latvian hockey players will cross sticks with the Finnish national team.

Vītoliņš pointed out that the fact that a number of Latvian hockey players are still playing for their clubs, fighting for the highest achievements of the specific national hockey leagues, is still hindering the preparation process.

The specialist also explained the decision to replace Arti Abolus in the coaching staff with Villis Peltonen: “It was a matter of “freshness”. We needed new ideas and something to change. If there is a quality change, it will be positive for the guys.”

In Latvian hockey, the lack of center forwards has been a very problematic issue for a long time. In the last hockey championship, the young striker Dans Lochmelis proved himself perfectly, who also demonstrated a bright performance in the recent matches against Austria. However, he still faces a two-game suspension from official matches by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).

Lochmeli was given such a punishment for a foul in last year’s U-20 World Championship quarter-final match. He was suspended for two games for headbutting American Ryan Leonard.

Therefore, Lochmelis will not be able to help the national team in the world championship matches against Poland and France. This puts Vītoliņa in front of a difficult decision.

“If we make room for Teodors Blūger and Uvi Balinski, then we can only apply for 20 hockey players. If there is Dan Lochmelis, then [pirmajās divās spēlēs] we remain with 19 hockey players. The first games are very important for us, so we have to see what the situation will be, at what level the other hockey players will be. The choice will be difficult,” said Vītoliņš.

This year’s world championship will take place in the Czech Republic from May 10 to 26. The Latvian hockey team will play in the city of Ostrova, where the teams of Germany, Kazakhstan, France, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden and the USA will also take to the ice as part of subgroup B.