Men's Olympic Hockey Preview - Latvia

Latvia

Olympic Appearances: 1936, 2002, 2006

Best Finish: 9th (2002)

Total Medals Won: 0

Pool: Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia

Aside from Norway, Latvia is probably the biggest underdog of the tournament. Featuring only two NHL players, and those of limited talent, the Latvians will be in very very tough to make it to anything resembling even the quarterfinals. Heck, they don't even have Arturs Irbe anymore. It also doesn't help that they play in probably the most well rounded group of the tournament, catching 3 of the '7 Hockey Powers' in Russia, the Czechs and the Slovaks.

The biggest thing that Latvia probably has going for it is its fans. I've never been to a game featuring a Latvian team, but from what I hear, they are absolutly crazy when it comes to their home squad. From a Toronto Star article on the 2008 World Championship:

Team Canada assistant coach Pat Burns was amazed by their raucousness as he watched the U.S. beat Latvia 4-0 Friday. Afterwards, he spoke with his NHL boss, New Jersey Devils president Lou Lamouriello.
"I was talking to Lou, and said, `Can we buy them and bring them to Jersey with us,'" said Burns. "It's their Super Bowl. They take it very seriously. I was just hoping they would get a goal just to see them erupt."

Gotta love that passion, even if it might end up being in a hopeless cause. Considering the tough competition in their group, its pretty likely that the Latvians will go 0-3 through the group stage, setting up a tough matchup for them in the Qualification Stage. Really, the goal for the Latvians should be to try and be the best of the 0-3 group teams, maybe setting up a game in the qualification stage they have a chance of pulling off an upset in. Anyways, onto the roster:

Goaltenders

Edgars Masalskis (Dinamo Riga)
Ervins Mustukovs (Dinamo Riga)
Sergejs Naumovs (Dinamo Riga)

Defence

Oskars Bartulis (Philadelphia Flyers)
Georgijs Pujacs (Sibir Novosibirsk)
Karlis Skrastins (Dallas Stars)
Arvids Rekis (Wolfsberg)
Krisjanis Redlihs (Dinamo Riga)
Rodrigo Lavins (Dinamo Riga)
Guntis Galvins (Dinamo Riga)
Kristaps Sotnieks (Dinamo Riga)

Forwards

Herberts Vasiljevs (Krefeld Pinguine)
Janis Sprukts (Dinamo Riga)
Aleksandrs Nizivijs (Dinamo Riga)
Martins Karsums (Norfolk Admirals)
Martins Cipulis (Dinamo Riga)
Girts Ankipans (Dinamo Riga)
Lauris Darzins (Dinamo Riga)
Aleksejs Sirokovs (Amur Khabarovsk)
Mikelis Redlihs (Dinamo Riga)
Kaspars Daugavins (Binghamton Senators)
Armands Berzins (Dinamo Riga)
Gints Meija (Dinamo Riga)

Aside from two NHLers (Bartuli, Skrastin) and two AHLers (Daugavins, Karsums) you'll notice that the vast majority of this team has been formed from Dinamo Riga. I gotta say that I'm a fan of this approach for an underdog team. Considering how short this tournament is, there really isn't that much time for a team to find chemistry and gel. For a team like Canada, the wealth of talent available makes it worthwhile to pick-and-choose elite players. However, for an also-ran like Latvia, picking a team that will already have substantial chemistry is a nice edge to have.

Linkback: Other Rosters

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The Olympic Hockey Jerseys

Care of the IIHF, the Olympic Hockey Jerseys were unveiled today! We already knew what the Canadian Jersey looked like, so no big surprise there, but it’s very cool to see the whole collection. On the whole, I’m fairly impressed…there is only one set of jerseys that I really don’t like. But we’ll get to that:

Belarus

Starting out with one of the underdogs of the tournament here. There really isn’t that much to complain about, it’s a nice traditional hockey jersey, which is all I really ask for. In an independent setting, I don’t think I’d go with the red/green combo here, but of course we're working with National Colours here.

Canada

I’m probably not as big of a fan of these jerseys as I have been of past Team Canada jerseys. I’ll always be partial to the 2002 era jerseys I think. However, considering the controversy that surrounded the Hockey Canada logo earlier in the year, I think that this is a very very good compromise. I like the new logo a lot, and it fits in well with the theme of Vancouver 2010. I’m not terribly stuck on the red shoulders on the home jersey, but its not a make-or-break thing for me.

China

It’s very very strange to see a Chinese hockey jersey as they're not traditionally known to be a hockey powerhouse…..regardless, I like the design, if it is somewhat plain. I think my only criticism is that I’d like to see a horizontal band around the waist, rather than the vertical striping. That’s just the traditionalist in me though…

Czech Republic

Now you can’t see the back here, but judging from the front, it seems like they have finally gotten rid of that pointless ‘C-Z-E-C-H’ that they used to have right across the butt. Any writing that historically drew my attention to Dominik Hasek’s ass can’t be considered ‘good’... anything is an improvement over that.

Finland

I’m normally a pretty big fan of Finnish jerseys. The two-tone blue gives you a lot to work with, and is there anything more iconic about international hockey than the ‘Suomi’ stitched across a jersey? Unfortunately I think this incarnation misses the mark just a bit, for the simple fact that the ‘Suomi’ here is just a hideous colour, and totall clashes with the rest of the jersey. Why on earth have they decided to go with an Orange-Red? I think it looks especially bad on the away blue jersey.

Germany

I think that my favourite jersey of the whole set is the German away jersey, with the Iron Eagle almost ‘watermarked’ across the arms. There are a few instances of this ‘watermarking’ on other Jerseys, and it’s a risk…sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I like it here however….two thumbs up!

Latvia

I’ve always been a big fan of the Latvian jerseys. I think the dark maroon and white colour scheme works well together. This iteration is another really good example of the scheme, with my only criticism being the ‘LATVIJA’ across the waist…..could probably do without that, continuing the band right across.

Norway

I normally want to see tradional designs in hockey jerseys. There is nothing that gets me going more than some abomination of a third jersey that looks like it was drawn by a 2nd Grader. The Norway jerseys here instantly evoke thoughts of the New York Rangers..a classic. Despite that, this jersey still doesn’t quite do it for me. Dare I say that its…too traditional…to the point of maybe being a little boring?

Russia

Oh our arch nemesis. As much as people think Canada is the favourite for gold…the Russians are gonna be very tough. Just so much skill. Anyways, right.....the jerseys…here is the second example of the ‘watermarking’ approach, and I don’t think it works as well here as it did for the Germans. The Russian jersey has a lot more secondary striping than the Germans, so I think the addition of the ‘watermarking’ clutters it up somewhat. The test here will be how much that ‘watermaking’ actually shows up in real life. If its subtle enough, I think it could still work.

Slovakia

This is a fairly basic entry from the Slovaks. Take a boilerplate template, add a logo…and done! It might be simple, but I think it still works. The Slovaks have a solid logo, so you don’t need to mess with it too much…

Sweden

Ahh, the “Tre Kronor”. When you have something that works, why mess with it. I’m a particular fan of the dark blues here…It’s a classic!

Switzerland

Oh for shame Switzerland. Evidently guided by their strict neutrality, it would seem the Swiss have found themselves unable to choose sides on their jersey, and have decided to just leave it blank….for fear finding themselves on the wrong side. What’s worse, the one feature that they do have is poorly executed. Why does the should striping stop at about the collarbone? It makes it look like a bib…….Anyways, maybe once they finish the jersey, I’ll be able to comment further….

United States

The only country to apparently roll out a third jersey, the USA gets it right with a simple yet effective design. Their third jersey is obviously from the 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’, and they have used its clean design as inspiration for their main jerseys. The only thing I could do without are the stars on the white home jersey…but otherwise I like ‘em….

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Men's Hockey Roster Announcement Dates

Little ways off still, but here is the dates that each Nation will be announcing their Men’s Hockey Rosters. In chronological order:

Belarus: December 23
Russia: December 25
Sweden: December 27
Latvia: December 29
Norway: December 29
Slovakia: December 29
Czech Republic: December 30
Finland: December 30
Germany: December 30
Switzerland: December 30
Canada: December 31 December 30
USA: January 1

The Canadian announcement will be integrated with the WJC Tourney in Saskatchewan no doubt, and the USA announcement will be part of the NHL Winter Classic.

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