Dinamo Riga
CityRiga, Latvia
Founded2008
Home arenaInbox.lv ledus halle
(capacity: 1,000)
General managerJurijs Kuzņecovs
Head coachLeonīds Beresņevs
CaptainMiķelis Rēdlihs
Websitewww.dinamoriga.lv
Uniforms used since the 2020–21 KHL season.
Uniforms used since the 2020–21 KHL season.

Dinamo Riga (Latvian: Rīgas Dinamo) is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It most recently was a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LBTU.

The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of a former team (also named "Dinamo Riga"), which was founded in 1946, but ceased to exist in 1995. Since being re-established, Dinamo Riga played their home games at the Arēna Rīga until 2022, which could accommodate 10,300 spectators.

History

The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 and among the founders of the club were Guntis Ulmanis, Kirovs Lipmans, Mały Snopp , Juris Savickis, Viesturs Koziols and others. However, on 27 May, Latvian Ice Hockey Federation president Kirovs Lipmans stepped out of the project because of a possible clash of interests.[1][2] After the first season, Viesturs Koziols also left the project.[3]

Július Šupler became the first head coach of the club.[4] For the first two seasons, he was assisted by Miroslav Miklošovič and Artis Ābols, but in 2010, Viktors Ignatjevs replaced Miklošovič. On 27 April 2011, the new head coach, Pekka Rautakallio, was announced.

In the first season of the franchise, the team was led by players like Masaļskis, Prusek, Westcott, Ņiživijs, Hossa and others. After 2008–09, forward Aigars Cipruss decided to retire and instantly became the manager of Dinamo Riga's farm club, Dinamo-Juniors Riga. The team finished the regular season in tenth position, higher than anyone would have predicted before the start of the season. However, in the first round of the league playoffs, Dinamo lost 3–0 to Dynamo Moscow, which later advanced to the Gagarin Cup semifinals.

Following the first season, Dinamo managed to sign legendary Sandis Ozoliņš, as well as Jānis Sprukts, Mārtiņš Karsums and others. The team finished the regular season in eighth place of the Western Conference, which qualified them for the playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, Dinamo faced SKA Saint Petersburg with players like Sergei Zubov, Petr Čajánek, Maxim Sushinsky and Alexei Yashin on the roster. Still, Dinamo managed to beat SKA 3–1 and advance to the Western Conference semifinals. In the semifinals, Dinamo was defeated 4–1 by later Gagarin Cup finalist HC MVD.

After his league-leading performance, Marcel Hossa signed a two-year contract with the then-current KHL champions Ak Bars Kazan. Martin Kariya signed a two-year contract with Swiss NLA's HC Ambrì-Piotta. New players signed during the off-season include Tomáš Surový, Brock Trotter, Mikael Tellqvist and the returning Mark Hartigan. Július Šupler resumed his post as the head coach.

The team finished the season in seventh place in the Western Conference and thirteenth in the league, as the team qualified to the playoffs. In the first round, their opponents were Dynamo Moscow. Dinamo won the series 4–2, advancing to the next round and facing Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Dinamo lost the series 4–1.

As of the end of the third season, head coach Július Šupler left the team to be the coach of CSKA Moscow. On 27 April 2011, Dinamo signed Pekka Rautakallio for the head coach position. Also, all the foreign players with no active contracts left the team to play somewhere else. Brock Trotter also left using his chance to play in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens.

On 27 February 2022, Dinamo withdrew from KHL in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5]

On 10 August 2022, it was announced that Dinamo Riga would play in the Latvian Hockey Higher League during the 2022–23 season.[6] On 11 July 2023, it was announced that Dinamo Riga would not play in the 2023–24 season.[7]

Crest

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last ten seasons completed by Dinamo Riga. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Dinamo Riga seasons.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTW = Overtime/shootout wins, OTL = Overtime/shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

SeasonLeagueGPWLOTWOTLPtsGFGAFinishPlayoffs
2008–09KHL56242354861321562nd, KharlamovLost in First Round, 0–3 (Dynamo Moscow)
2009–10KHL56232247841741755th, BobrovLost in Conference Semifinals, 1–4 (MVD)
2010–11KHL54202077811601494th, BobrovLost in Conference Semifinals, 1–4 (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
2011–12KHL54245423861321563rd, BobrovLost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3–4 (Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod)
2012–13KHL52133144511091517th, BobrovDid not qualify
2013–14KHL542216115931411223rd, BobrovLost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3–4 (Donbass Donetsk)
2014–15KHL60223035771361605th, BobrovDid not qualify
2015–16KHL60173488751291517th, BobrovDid not qualify
2016–17KHL601134105581161587th, BobrovDid not qualify
2017–18KHL5693179501051536th, BobrovDid not qualify
2018–19KHL621826810621291555th, BobrovDid not qualify
2019–20KHL62113867411031876th, BobrovDid not qualify
2020–21KHL60541410281262115th, TarasovDid not qualify
2021–22KHL459225937931436th, TarasovDid not qualify
2022–23OHL32161051431471053rdLost in Semifinals, 0–4 Zemgale/LLU

Players

Current roster

Updated 5 March 2023.[8]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
3 Latvia Daniels Bēniņš D L 18 2022 Riga, Latvia
92 Latvia Renārs Cipruss RW R 24 2022 Latvia
28 Latvia Rainers Ermalis D L 20 2022 Latvia
96 Latvia Iļja Grekovs D L 24 2022 Liepaja, Latvia
25 Latvia Sandis Grīnbergs W L 28 2022 Latvia
73 Latvia Didzis Jansons D L 20 2022 Riga, Latvia
23 Latvia Gusts Jegorovs F L 20 2022 Latvia
77 Latvia Miks Komuls F L 30 2022 Talsi, Latvia
17 Latvia Dmitrijs Korņilovs W L 41 2022 Sigulda, USSR
71 Latvia Martins Lavrovs LW L 29 2022 Tukums, Latvia
42 Latvia Rūdolfs Lazdiņš G L 21 2022 Riga, Latvia
89 Slovakia Dominik Matonak C R 22 2022 Košice, Slovakia
78 Latvia Ēriks Novickis RW L 20 2022 Riga, Latvia
93 Latvia Kristofers Petriņš F L 20 2022 Latvia
32 Latvia Ralfs Pilsētnieks G R 21 2022 Latvia
84 Latvia Roberts Protapenko LW L 29 2022 Latvia
14 Latvia Ņikita Priede F L 20 2022 Riga, Latvia
81 Latvia Georgijs Pujacs D L 42 2022 Riga, USSR
19 Latvia Miķelis Rēdlihs (C) RW L 40 2022 Riga, USSR
– Latvia Alberts Šnepste D L 18 2022 Latvia
94 Latvia Ernests Šteinbergs F L 19 2022 Riga, Latvia
91 Latvia Kirils Tambijevs F L 31 2022 Riga, Latvia
98 Latvia Maksims Tkačovs D L 17 2022 Latvia
5 Latvia Reinis Virsnītis D L 20 2022 Latvia
55 Latvia Rainers Vizulis D L 19 2022 Latvia
88 Lithuania Nathan Vladson D L 17 2022 Lithuania
30 Latvia Kārlis Zakrevskis G L 30 2022 Riga, Latvia
20 Latvia Kristiāns Zelts (A) RW L 28 2022 Riga, Latvia
44 Latvia Juris Ziemiņš LW L 30 2022 Riga, Latvia

Retired numbers

Dinamo Riga retired numbers
No. Player Position Career
8Sandis OzoliņšD2009–2012, 2013–2014

Team captains

Head coaches

Franchise records and leaders

Scoring leaders

Player GP G A Pts +/– PIM
Latvia Lauris Dārziņš 506 124 175 299 –14 282
Latvia Miķelis Rēdlihs 581 120 173 293 –41 386
Latvia Miks Indrašis 319 88 98 186 +6 113
Slovakia Marcel Hossa 241 105 80 185 –12 252
Latvia Aleksandrs Niživijs 290 45 108 153 –46 127
Latvia Guntis Galviņš 416 31 112 143 –1 230
Latvia Krišjānis Rēdlihs 449 37 99 136 –13 205
Latvia Gints Meija 541 51 69 120 –53 210
Latvia Mārtiņš Karsums 196 62 57 119 +3 183
Latvia Jānis Sprukts 186 42 73 115 +12 130

Leading goaltenders

Player GP TOI W L GA SO SV% GAA
Russia Timur Bilyalov 38 2,035:59 15 14 74 4 93.0% 2.18
Latvia Jānis Kalniņš 72 3,835:47 18 34 143 4 92.7% 2.24
Sweden Mikael Tellqvist 103 5,880:56 44 42 232 5 91.8% 2.37
Czech Republic Jakub Sedláček 126 7,082:09 41 58 286 10 91.8% 2.42
Sweden Joacim Eriksson 34 1,934:53 9 17 78 2 91.9% 2.42
United States Chris Holt 90 5,246:44 37 34 214 6 91.7% 2.45
Lithuania Mantas Armalis 12 576:37 3 5 24 0 91.1% 2.50
Czech Republic Alexander Salak 32 1,835:38 8 19 77 2 91.2% 2.52
Latvia Kristers Gudļevskis 42 2,255:16 13 24 98 3 90.1% 2.61
Czech Republic Martin Prusek 55 3,017:36 18 26 132 6 91.6% 2.62

References

  1. ↑ "LHF Prezidents Kirovs Lipmans Izstājies No A/S Rīgas Dinamo". Latvian Ice Hockey Federation (in Latvian). 27 May 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "Lipmans izstājies no a/s "Rīgas Dinamo"". esports.lv. (in Latvian)
  3. ↑ "Koziols: "Par paveikto nekaunos"". esports.lv. (in Latvian)
  4. ↑ "Šuplers apstiprināts (labots)". Sportacentrs.com. 22 May 2008.
  5. ↑ Ethan Sears (27 February 2022). "Dinamo Riga withdraws from KHL following Russian invasion into Ukraine". New York Post. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "Dinamo Riga joins Latvian Hockey Higher League". www.tvnet.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  7. ↑ Suveizda, Agris (11 July 2023). ""Kurbads" atgriežas, klāt arī igauņi – OHL apstiprina deviņu komandu dalību". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  8. ↑ "Sastāvs un komandas vadība". www.optibethokejaliga.com (in Latvian). Retrieved 17 August 2022.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dinamo Riga.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.