An example of hockey players for the people of Latvia

On the other hand, most Swedish fans decided not to go to Riga and stayed in Tampere to wait for their team back, self-confidently preparing for the semi-final against Canada or Finland.

It is difficult to highlight someone in the Latvian national team. Yes, Shilov is a machine and now almost every housewife who has passed hockey knows this man’s name.

Artūrs has saved a total of 200 shots (out of 216) in this tournament.

All hockey players deserve praise, including the coaches, who in the spring sowed in them the ability to be as good as they are today. Team captain Kaspars Daugavins stated before the tournament that there has never been such a difficult preparation cycle before the world championship. The invested work has paid off handsomely. This championship has given Latvia’s self-confidence a push in the right direction.

After the first two games (0:6 against Canada and 1:2 against Slovakia), flipping through Russian sports portals, you could read that Latvia is playing badly and has failed. This is because “Dinamo” of Riga left the KHL.

What will they say now?

As colleague Jānis Matulis said: Tampere, hold on!

Daugavins, who has the coat of arms of Latvia tattooed on his back, is a role model for many, and not only athletes. Last year he ended his career, but this year he returned to the national team and continued the fight for the unfulfilled dream. Persistence! In an interview with TVNET’s online magazine Klik in March, he stated that he really wants to play hockey at home in front of his family. The air kisses sent to mom, wife and daughters during the games were so heartfelt that they brought tears to my eyes. And this is once again a reminder that family is the main thing in life, not how many pucks you throw in the goal.