The IIHF World Hockey Championship kicks-off on May 3 and runs until May 19 with the gold medal game that will determine this year’s bragging rights among the sixteen qualifying countries. The Championships are being held jointly in Stockholm and Helsinki.

Latvia will be be playing in Helsinki during the preliminary round with games against Russia (May 4), the United States (May 5), Austria (May 7), Slovakia (May 9), Germany (May 11), France (May 13) and Finland (May 14).

Sweden, the Czech Republic, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Belarus and Slovenia will be squaring off in Stockholm. The top four teams from each group will move on to the play-offs while the bottom four will fight it out for final standings. The bottom two will be relegated. The likely candidates for relegation are among France, Austria and Slovenia however Latvia should not take any team for granted. Belarus would be in that group but as hosts of next year’s championship they automatically qualify.

Even though Latvia has played at the top tier since 1997, the hundreds of Latvian hockey fans who will be rocking the Hartwell Arena in Helsinki can be forgiven going in a bit nervous. This season has had its share of challenges for Latvian hockey. The national team is young and lacking experienced veterans. Most of the players are from with Dinamo Riga. A few others play on other teams in the KHL, Germany and Switzerland. Some toil in lower European leagues. Mārtiņš Karsums, Lauris Dārziņš, Jānis Sprukts and Mārtiņs Cipulis along with youngster Miks Indrasis will be expected to produce up front. Centre is a weak spot. Krišjānis Redlihs, Georgijs Pujacs and Arturs Kulda will anchor the defence. Goaltending will be shared by Kristers Gudļevskis and Māris Jucers. They lack experience although Jucers has stepped in as a back-up for both the national team and Dinamo Riga. Veteran goaltender Edgars Masalskis is coming off an injury and may not be ready for action. Defenceman Oskars Bārtulis and forward Mikelis Redlihs are also injured and will not play. Neither will ageing veteran Sandis Ozoliņš.

Head coach Canadian Ted Nolan is back for his second season and has his staff in place. Canadian Tom Coolen and legendary Latvian goaltender Arturs Irbe are assistant coaches. Karlis Zirnis, a former NCAA player and minor leaguer in the United is the video coach. During a series of exhibition games in April leading up to the World Championships, Latvia lost to the Czech Republic, Finland and France but split a two game series with Belarus. To be fair, Nolan did not field the expected final roster in any of the exhibition games but gave some less experienced players a closer look.

But the problem with Latvian hockey is lack of players in the depth chart. There is not a lot to choose from. Latvia has a total of 2,348 men, 1,515 juniors and youth as well as 116 women and girls who play hockey. That includes players of all ages including amateurs.

Despite the numbers, Latvia’s mens team continues to play at the top level and in February they won a qualifying tournament in Riga under Nolan’s leadership securing a spot at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. Latvia’s other national teams weren’t as lucky. The Men’s Under 20 (U20) juniors placed 10th out of 10 teams at the championships held this past December in Ufa, Russia and were demoted from the top tier to Division 1 Group A next year. The Men’s Under 18 (U18) team suffered the same fate this April at the championships in Sochi. The same month the Women’s team finished last in a field of six in Norway and are heading down from Division 1 Group A to Group B. Latvia’s men are currently ranked 11th and women 13th in the world.

It was a rough year for Dinamo Riga in the KHL. As a low-budget team they were unable to acquire any star players from abroad and lost a number of top Latvian players to other teams in the KHL who could afford to pay more. Sandis Ozoliņš, Jānis Sprukts, Mikelis Redlihs and Lauris Dārziņš were those who went elsewhere. So too did Arturs Kulda and Oscars Bārtulis who returned from North America. Kaspars Daugaviņš from the Ottawa Senators did play with Dinamo during the NHL lock-out. Former NHLer Raitis Ivanans also joined Dinamo but played a limited role as the team’s enforcer. The end result was that Dinamo finished dead last in the Western Conference and did not make the play-offs. Instead the team competed among the KHL’s also rans for the Cup of Hope (some called it the Cup of Losers) and ended up winning. If anything, it extended the season for Latvian hockey fans and kept the players moving on to the national team in game form.

HK Riga is Dinamo’s junior team and they play in the Russian dominated VHL. The juniors fared better and made it to the play-offs before being bowing out in the quarter-finals. Locally, Liepajas Metalurgs played in the Belarus League while SMSCredit.lv won the semi-professional Latvian loop.

Unlike previous years, only one Latvian played in the NHL. Kaspars Daugaviņš saw limited action with the Ottawa Senators and late in the lock-out abbreviated season was traded to the Boston Bruins. Arturs Kulda had seen limited action with the Winnipeg Jets the previous season and opted to play this year with Novosibirsk Sibir in the KHL. When their play-off run ended he was signed by the Winnipeg Jets on a short-term contract. In the month that he was back before the Jets season ended, Kulda was a healthy scratch, no doubt acquired as insurance in case the Jets ran into injuries.

Zemgus Girgensons made the jump from junior ranks in the USHL to the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Rochester Americans, a farm team of the Buffalo Sabres. He recently turned 19 and was the youngest player on his team. He held his own and the Sabres opted to keep him in Rochester rather than send back to the juniors. Expect Girgensons to crack the NHL within a couple of years. Kristiāns Pelšs also made the jump from major junior hockey with the Edmonton Oil Kings to the Oklahoma City Barons, an AHL farm team of the Edmonton Oilers. He spent part of the season during the NHL lock-out in Stockton California one level lower in the ECHL but was called back up after the lock-out ended and room opened up on the team. He is a solid defensive forward who has a shot at the NHL. Both the Americans and Barons are in the AHL play-offs and unless their teams have a short run, Girgensons and Pelšs will not be available for the World Championships.

Four 18 year olds played in Canada’s major junior leagues. The most successful was Roberts Lipsbergs with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He was the team’s top scorer and is ranked 85th in this summer’s NHL draft. Edgars Kulda, younger brother of Arturs Kulda, and Nikita Jevpalovs had solid seasons with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the Quebec League (QMJHL). All three will likely be back next year. Rinalds Rosinskis had a decent plus/minus figure for a defenseman on the weak Prince George Cougars (WHL) but it is not clear if he will be back. Edgars Kļaviņš, a junior from Latvia playing in Sweden, is ranked 63rd for the NHL draft.

Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick Teodors Blugers started his NCAA career with Minnesota State University (Mankato) and posted decent numbers. Another NCAA forward is Ralfs Freibergs, a freshman at Bowling Green. He saw limited action because he was suspended for 33 games having violated the NCAA amateur rule. As a junior Freibergs had played in Latvia on a team in Latvia’s semi-professional domestic loop. Latvia had no junior team at that point so the suspension seems somewhat unfair because he had no other option. But he returned to action and then with the school year over headed to the national team’s training camp. Meanwhile there are a number of junior and youth age players from Latvia playing in North America hoping to catch a break and get a shot at one of the top junior leagues in Canada and the United States or to pick up a scholarship with the NCAA.

Meanwhile back to Helsinki. Latvia should hang-on to a place in the top tier of men’s hockey. Although they no longer strong enough to take a game from the big powers, they are better than some of the lesser powers also competing. But don’t expect Latvian hockey fans to breathe easy until the final whistle.

Revised legislation that opens the door to dual citizenship for a broad range of Latvians is headed for its final reading in the Saeima, according to the parliament’s press service.

The parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee finished its work on amendments to the Citizenship Law on May 2. The third and final reading is planned May 9, according to the press service.

If approved, the amended law—which also would allow exiles and their descendants to reclaim Latvian citizenship—would take effect Oct. 1.

Of several efforts to reform the Citizenship Law in recent years, this is the closest the Saeima has come to final approval. In the current Saeima, the bill (Nr. 52/Lp11) has been in committee for a year and half. It originally was introduced in February 2011 during the 10th Saeima and then was reintroduced shortly after the new parliament convened.

For much of the past year and half, a special subcommittee of the Legal Affairs Committee has been hearing testimony and considering tweaks to the amendments. The subcommittee was unable to finish its work in time to meet the earlier proposed effective date of Jan. 1.

Among notable changes in the most recent version of the proposed amendments is the addition of language that outlines the purpose of the Citizenship Law, according to the press service:

• To define who can be a Latvian citizen.
• To guarantee that ethnic Latvians and Livs may register as Latvian citizens.
• To allow exiles and their descendants to register as Latvian citizens.
• To foster development of Latvian society based on unity and shared values.
• And to recognize dual citizenship in accordance with Latvia’s political goals and interests, as well as to preserve Latvian citizenship in an increasingly mobile world.

Under the proposed amendments, World War II-era exiles and their descendants will be able to register as Latvian citizens as well as maintain citizenship in their home country. However, the descendants must have been born by Oct. 1, 2014—a year after the amended Citizenship Law is due to take effect.

Dual citizenship also would be allowed for those Latvian citizens who have become citizens of member states of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association and the NATO defense alliance. While that covers much of Europe as well as Canada and the United States, it excludes persons in countries such as Russia and others where Latvians have settled in the past. However, in a bow to concerns raised by Latvian diaspora organizations, dual citizenship also would be allowed for citizens of Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. In addition, it would be allowed with any other country with which Latvia has a treaty recognizing dual citizenship.

Further, dual citizenship also would be allowed for those who have become citizens of another country by marriage or adoption.

Ethnic Latvians and Livs also would be able to earn citizenship by providing evidence that a direct ancestor lived in Latvian territory between 1881 and June 17, 1940, as well as by proving that they know the Latvian language.

Other proposed amendments clarify citizenship questions regarding children, including those of noncitizens, as well as reasons for revocation of citizenship.

No 1.maija publiskajā tirdzniecībā nonāks biļetes uz Dziesmu un deju svētku Noslēguma koncerta ģenerālmēģinājumu, kas notiks 6. jūlijā plkst. 10:00, kā arī visas iepriekšējā rezervācijā neizpirktās biļetes uz Dziesmu un deju svētku maksas pasākumiem.

Tirdzniecībā uz Dziesmu un deju svētku maksas pasākumiem būs pieejamas kopumā 27 563 biļešu, t.sk. 16 000 biļešu uz Noslēguma koncerta dienas ģenerālmēģinājumu 6. jūlijā plkst. 10:00, 2058 iepriekšējā rezervācijā neizpirktās biļetes un ielūgumiem paredzētās vietas.

Visās Biļešu paradīzes tirdzniecības vietās Dziesmu un deju svētku biļešu pārdošana un telefoniska rezervācija (tālr. 67371000) sāksies 1.maijā plkst.11:00, interneta veikalā www.bilesuparadize.lv biļetes varēs iegādāties no plkst.12:00. 1.maijā no plkst.10:00 darbosies arī Latvijas Nacionālā kultūras centra informatīvais tālrunis +371 26436135.

1. maijā pieejamas:

* 3991 biļetes uz vērienīgo vokāli simfoniskās mūzikas koncertu Arēnā Rīga, kur latviešu un pasaules mūzikas pērles atskaņos Latvijas profesionālie kolektīvi (orķestri, kori), labākie amatierkori, kā arī solisti – obojists Egils Upatnieks, vijolniece Paula Šūmane, mežradznieks Arvīds Klišāns, dziedātāji Kristīne Zadovska, Krišjānis Norvelis, Andris Ludvigs, Daumants Kalniņš u.c.;

* 1435 biļetes ir pieejamas uz tautas mūzikas koncertu “Raksti”, kas būs skanīga sasaukšanās starp senajām tautas mūzikas tradīcijām un jaunu ceļu meklējumiem mūsdienās. Koncertā „Raksti” piedalīsies gan tādas pieredzējušas mūzikas ieražu glabātājas kā Suitu sievas un Medņevas dziedātājas, gan tautas mūzikas kapelas no visiem Latvijas novadiem, postfolkloras grupas “Iļģi” un “Auļi”. Jauno tradīciju meklējumos dosies koklētāja Laima Jansone, dziedātāja Kristīne Kārkle – Puriņa un koris “Kamēr”;

* 329 biļetes uz krāšņo Tautas tērpu skati;

* 277 biļetes uz kokļu ansambļu koncertu;

* 3399 biļetes uz pasākumiem Saieta namā;

* 480 biļetes uz Deju lieluzvedumu “Tēvu laipas” koncertiem;

* 74 biļetes uz Dziesmu un deju svētku gājiena tribīnēm;

* 700 biļetes uz Noslēguma koncerta vakara ģenerālmēģinājumu 6. jūlijā plkst. 19.00;

* 878 biļetes uz Noslēguma koncertu “Līgo”.

“Esam pateicīgi svētku lieldraugiem par izpratni un atsaucību, līdzfinansējot Noslēguma koncerta iepriekš neplānotā publiskā ģenerālmēģinājuma norisi, kā arī priecājamies par dalībnieku un kolektīvu māksliniecisko vadītāju lielo atsaucību un gatavību saspringtajā svētku mēģinājumu grafikā sniegt vēl vienu publisku koncertu. 18 % no šī ģenerālmēģinājuma biļešu ir iepriekš rezervēti tieši Noslēguma koncerta dalībniekiem. Uz šo ģenerālmēģinājumu īpaši gaidām ģimenes ar bērniem,” akcentē Dace Melbārde, Latvijas Nacionālās kultūras centra vadītāja.

“Daudzbērnu ģimeņu biedrību apvienībai šobrīd ir ziedojuši 32 cilvēki, kopējā saziedotā summa uz šo brīdi ir 3050 latu. Pateicoties šiem ziedojumiem, daudzbērnu ģimenes varēs nokļūt un klātienē vērot Dziesmu svētku pasākumus, kā arī tiks nodrošinātas pusdienas,” stāsta Daudzbērnu ģimeņu biedrību apvienības pārstāvis Leonīds Mucenieks.

Dziesmu un deju svētku programmu kopā veido 62 pasākumi, no kuriem aptuveni puse ir brīvi pieejama un ir bez maksas. Visu svētku nedēļu dažādās Rīgas vietas – Vērmanes dārzā, Esplanādē, Latvijas Etnogrāfiskajā Brīvdabas muzejā, Doma laukumā, Berga bazārā, Rīgas skvēros un parkos, notiks kultūras pasākumi un koncerti. Lai varētu sekot līdzi svētku norisēm maksas pasākumos, pilsētvidē Rīgā un citās Latvijas pilsētās tiks uzstādīti lieli ekrāni. Pasākumu pieejamība būs nodrošināta arī sabiedriskajos medijos un internetā.
Informācija dalībniekiem:

Dalībniekiem ar dalībnieku identifikācijas kartēm (ID kartes) būs iespējams par brīvu apmeklēt šādus Dziesmu un deju svētku maksas pasākumus:

• Tautas lietišķās mākslas izstādi (Rīgas Mākslas telpā);

• Saieta nama pasākumus (Starptautiskajā izstāžu centrā Ķīpsalā);

• Noslēguma koncertu Mežaparkā (stāvvietas)

• Brīvdabas muzeja teritorijā plānotos Dziesmu svētku pasākumus.

Biļešu Paradīzes tirdzniecības vietu darba laiki 2013. gada 1.maijā no 11.00 līdz 19.00 visur Latvijā.

Oriģināli publicēts Dziesmu svētku mājaslapā www.dziesmusvetki.tv