Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also marks the end of Western Russian clubs in the Kontinental Hockey League, with Riga Dinamo and Helsinki Jokerit withdrawing from the Russian league. For the year 2022/2023, this means drastic changes in the hockey scene in Latvia, as many Latvian national team players have played hockey with the team.
Now the picture of the future of the hockey club is becoming clearer. The Latvian Hockey Federation and its Lithuanian counterpart Hockey Litova announced on Wednesday that they are joining forces with the teams of both countries, which will compete in the OHL championship in Latvia.
In the new season, the Riga Dinamo brand will continue to exist as a club in the Latvian league, which will have nine teams. The Latvian champion Zemgale/LLU Jelgava is still among the participants, which, however, will also enter the Finnish second league team Mestis, as well as represent the country in the IIHF Confederations Cup.
The other teams in Latvia are regular season winner Mojo / El Espa Riga, HS Riga, DLSS / Dinaburga Daugava and Prisma Riga. Meanwhile, HK Liepāja and Olimp/Venta Rīga will no longer compete in the OHL next season.
Changes in the landscape were also caused by discussions with neighboring Baltic clubs. South of the border, the top three teams from Lithuania will now join the Latvian Open. The traditional club Energija Elektrenai Alma from NHL players Dainius Zubrus and Darius Kasparaitis will return to the Latvian league, where they played until 2012, and will join two teams from neighboring big cities, Lithuanian champions Hockey Punks Vilnius and Kaunas City.
“We are pleased to be able to expand the scope of the OHL and increase the total number of teams. The participation of Lithuanian teams will certainly help to increase the popularity and development of hockey in the Baltic region,” said the president of the Latvian Hockey Federation, Ijaris Kalvetice.
“I have no doubt that the combined Lithuanian and Latvian hockey league will increase interest in this sport in both countries and help raise the overall level of hockey. It’s a great opportunity for our teams to compete,” Zubros said. heads the Lithuanian Hockey Federation. In the higher-level tournament, hockey fans will be able to witness many interesting meetings with our neighbors.”
This will be the first time in ten years that the Latvian men’s league is opened to foreign clubs from neighboring countries. In recent years, the same has already happened in women’s hockey, with the Vilnius Stars hockey team taking fourth place.
The OHL’s 144-game regular season begins Sept. 3 with nine teams, eight of which will qualify for the quarterfinals next spring. The league will also determine the national champions, recognizing the Latvian national champion and the first Lithuanian OHL team as their national champion.
By focusing the Latvian hockey game more on the domestic league and cooperating with the nearest neighbors after the end of the KHL era in the country, Lithuania will have the opportunity to increase the popularity of hockey. In the last 10 years, more teams competed in Lithuania and the number of hockey players has almost tripled. Lithuania has not played in the first division since its only entry in 1938, but came close last spring, finishing third in Group A of the 2022 IIHF World Ice Hockey Championship behind the young teams of Slovenia and Hungary.
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