Latvia men's national junior ice hockey team

The Latvian men's national under 20 ice hockey team is the national under-20 ice hockey team in Latvia. The team represents Latvia at the International Ice Hockey Federation's IIHF World Junior Championship.

Latvia
AssociationLatvian Ice Hockey Federation
Head coachLatvia Artis Ābols
AssistantsLatvia Kārlis Zirnis
Latvia Edgars Masaļskis
CaptainDans Ločmelis
Most pointsAleksandrs Ņiživijs (45)
IIHF codeLAT
First international
 Latvia 47 – 1 Greece 
(Riga, Latvia; November 10, 1992)
Biggest win
 Latvia 47 – 1 Greece 
(Riga, Latvia; November 10, 1992)
Biggest defeat
 Canada 16 – 0 Latvia 
(Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada; December 26, 2009)
IIHF World Junior Championship
Appearances31 (first in 1993)
Best result7th (2022 (August))

They have played at the top division of the tournament seven times; it has been at the top division since the 2022 tournament, where Latvia was called up to replace Russia in the rescheduled tournament due to the country being banned from international ice hockey (Latvia had originally been promoted for 2023). During the tournament, Latvia won its first-ever preliminary round game in the top division.[1]

History

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Graph shows Latvian results in IIHF World Championship since 1993.
Division Championship Coach Captain Finish Rank
Pool C   1993 Minsk Qualified 25th (1st in Pool C Qualification)
Pool C   1994 Odense/Esbjerg Promoted 18th (2nd in Pool C)
Pool C1   1995 Puigcerda Promoted 17th (1st in Pool C1)
Pool B   1996 Sosnowiec/Tychy Final round 12th (2nd in Pool B)
Pool B   1997 Kyiv Group round 12th (2nd in Pool B)
Pool B   1998 Sosnowiec/Tychy Final round 14th (4th in Pool B)
Pool B   1999 Dunaújváros Final round 15th (5th in Pool B)
Pool B   2000 Minsk Relegation round 17th (7th in Pool B)
Division I   2001 Landsberg/Füssen relegated 18th (8th in Division I)
Division II   2002 Zagreb Promoted 21st (2nd in Division IIA)
Division I   2003 Bled Group stage 18th (4th in Division IB)
Division I   2004 Berlin Group stage 14th (4th in Division IA)
Division I   2005 Narva Promoted 12th (1st in Division IB)
Top Division   2006 British Columbia relegated 9th
Division I   2007 Odense Group stage 13th (2nd in Division IA)
Division I   2008 Riga Promoted 12th (1st in Division IB)
Top Division   2009 Ottawa Relegation round 8th
Top Division   2010 Saskatchewan relegated 9th
Division I   2011 Babruysk Promoted 11th (1st in Division IA)
Top Division   2012 Calgary/Edmonton Relegation round 9th
Top Division   2013 Ufa relegated 10th
Division I   2014 Sanok Group stage 12th (2nd in Division IA)
Division I   2015 Asiago Group stage 13th (3rd in Division IA)
Division I   2016 Vienna Promoted 11th (1st in Division IA)
Top Division   2017 Montreal/Toronto relegated 10th
Division I   2018 Courchevel/Meribel Group stage 12th (2nd in Division IA)
Division I   2019 Füssen Group stage 14th (4th in Division IA)
Division I   2020 Minsk Group stage 12th (2nd in Division IA)
Division I   2021 Hørsholm Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[2]
Division I   2022 Hørsholm Promoted 12th (2nd in Division IA)
Top Division   2022 Edmonton Quarterfinals 7th
Top Division   2023 Halifax/Moncton Relegation Round 9th
Top Division   2024 Gothenburg Quarterfinals 8th
Top Division   2025 Ottawa

References

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  1. ^ Ellis, Steven. "Latvia is the Little Team that Could at World Juniors". The Hockey News. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  2. ^ "IIHF cancels Division I tournaments". iihf.com. 17 March 2019.