Timely victories for Latvian hockey avoid championship relegation

Viesturs Zariņš | 

With timely 6-3 and 4-1 victories in the relegation round against Belarus on May 7 and Austria on May 8, Latvia has salvaged a 13th place finish at this year’s IIHF World Hockey Championships held in Slovakia.

The victories allowed the team to avoid relegation, which would have been disastrous for Latvian hockey.

The year before in Germany, Latvia finished 11th and since being promoted to the elite level in 1997, Latvia has placed seventh three times, the last time in 2009.

This year’s tournament started well for Latvia, a respectable 2-4 loss to the Czech Republic followed by a 2-3 overtime shoot-out loss to Finland.

However, an unexpected 2-3 shoot-out loss to Denmark sent Latvia to the relegation rather than qualification round.

The team was deflated and lost the next game against Slovenia 2-5. Latvia had never lost to Slovenia and this set up Latvia in a must-win situation for the final two games. The team came through.
Veteran Captain Herberts Vasiljevs said on iihf.com that the difference was attitude: “When you go into a game thinking ‘don’t lose,’ then you’re going to lose. We came in with the thought we have to win it. That was the difference.”

This year’s ups and downs illustrate the challenge facing Latvia’s hockey: lack of depth. The team had to do without a number of experienced players and all of a sudden became very vulnerable. Veteran NHLer Kārlis Skrastiņš was unable to play. Oskārs Bārtulis, who saw limited action in the NHL this year, was injured. Kaspars Daugaviņš, an Ottawa Senators prospect, was not available due to play-off action with the farm team in North America. Rugged defenceman and Atlanta Thrashers prospect Arturs Kulda played but was suspended for three games after a hit against a Czech player. He returned in time for the game against Belarus and was pivotal logging lots of ice time in the last two games. Dinamo Rīga centre Jānis Sprukts, who has 13 NHL games to his credit, passed on the opportunity to play at this year’s championship airing a number of grievances against the Latvian Hockey Federation in a controversial and well publicized interview. Dinamo top-scorer Lauris Dārziņš and defenceman Krišjānis Redlihs were injured during the tournament.

This year a number of younger players were brought up to plug the gap and some fared quite well. Andris Džeriņš moved into a regular starting role and picked up five points. Kristaps Sotnieks had four while Gints Meija and Roberts Bukarts each had three. Other newcomers were Oskars Cibulskis, Sergejs Pečura and third goaltender Māris Jucers. Youthful exuberance aside, most however are not ready for prime time and still need time to mature before they can pose a serious threat when playing the big powers.

There has also been a debate in the Latvian media about the impact of the KHL’s Dinamo Rīga on the national squad. In past years, the World Hockey Championship was an opportunity for Latvian players to showcase their skills and snag a better team and contract the following year. But some have argued that those with Dinamo contracts have now peaked and as a result the motivation to perform at the World Championships has taken a hit. After all, most will not make the NHL and the KHL is arguably the second best hockey league in the world.

Nevertheless, a youth revolution is underway on the national team and, given that this year’s mix of players managed to keep Latvia in the running, bodes well for the future.  Latvia has somewhat of an enviable record: now 16 consecutive years at the elite level, while other so-called middle powers of hockey—Belarus, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Austria and Slovenia—have not been able to match Latvia’s run. Nevertheless, the playing field is becoming even. There are no easy games, even against countries that Latvia has owned in the past. Latvia will need to remember that at the 2012 championships being co-hosted in Sweden and Finland.

Meanwhile, Latvia’s U-20 and U-18 junior squads won their groups in IIHF Division I (second tier) tournaments and are returning to the elite level next year. Their stay will likely be short because unlike the senior men’s tournament where 16 countries compete and the bottom two get relegated, the junior tournaments only have 10 countries and the bottom two drop down. That doesn’t leave much room for countries like Latvia when the top positions are locked up by Canada, the United States, Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic with Switzerland, Germany and Slovakia close behind.

Acoustic album honors poet Ziedonis

Andris Straumanis | 

Viegli, an album of 10 original songs with lyrics drawn from the work of Latvian poet Imants Ziedonis, has been released by a group of young musicians.

The album—featuring performances by Renārs Kaupers, Kārlis Kazāks, Jānis Strapcāns, Jānis Holšteins–Upmanis (Goran Gora), Māra Upmane-Holšteine, Raimonds Gusarevs (El Mars) and other musicians—is one of several projects of a foundation by the same name.

The foundation draws its inspiration from Ziedonis, who has said that Latvia is a wonderfully beautiful land, but that beauty needs help to emerge (“Latvija ir brīnumskaista zeme, bet skaistajam jāpalīdz parādīties”).

The compact disc for Viegli was released May 1 during a concert in the National Library of Latvia under construction in Rīga, according to the Delfi portal.

The album includes 10 acoustic tracks, all recorded last summer during a weeklong creative camp at Ziedonis’s summer home Dzirnakmeņi in Murjāņi:

  • “Ne citu rīt,” performed by Renārs Kaupers.
  • “Varenā tumsa,” performed by Raimonds Gusarevs with Māra Upmane-Holšteine.
  • “Ceļi,” performed by Jānis Holšteins–Upmanis.
  • “Mazā bilžu rāmītī,” performed by Renārs Kaupers.
  • “Tik tikko,” performed by Māra Upmane–Holšteine.
  • “Es Tevi pamīlētu tā,” performed by Kārlis Kazāks.
  • “Nepārtraukti, nenorimti,” performed by Raimonds Gusarevs and Māra Upmane–Holšteine.
  • “Lakstīgalas,” performed by Māra Upmane-Holšteine.
  • “Drīz, drīz,” performed by Jānis Strapcāns.
  • “Es atkal neatvados,” perfromed by Renārs Kaupers.

Besides the album, the foundation seeks to turn Dzirnakmeņi into a museum honoring Ziedonis and to create a digital exhibit of his work.

The cover of the CD was designed by Līga Kitchen, an artist from Latvia who now lives in London with her family. See more of her work on her blog, ligakitchen.blogspot.com.

Viegli may be downloaded from the fund’s website, fondsviegli.lv, for a donation ranging from LVL 1 to LVL 150.

Viegli

On Viegli, a number of popular young musicians perform their original songs based on the work of Imants Ziedonis.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

Latviešu bērni svin Lieldienas Ženēvā

Latvians Online | 

Šogad ziema Ženēvā atkāpās ļoti agri, dodama pavasarim iespēju tumšās naktis saīsināt un dienas pastiept pēc iespējas garākas. Tāpēc Ženēvas latviešu skolas Lieldienu svinības bija īpaši patīkamas: pavasaris jūtams gan siltajos saules staros, kas jau silda gandrīz tikpat silti cik vasarā, gan zaļajā zāles un ziedu paklājā, kas klāj visus parkus, dārzus un pažobeles, gan cilvēku smaidos un dzīvespriekā, kas ar silto laiku atplaukst arvien vairāk un vairāk, ziņo Dace Mažeika, Ženēvas latviešu skolas vadītāja.

Agrāk Lieldienas svinētas trīs, garajā gadā pat visas četras dienas. Ženēvas latviešu skolas bērni un vecāki šīm svinībām ar latvisko tradīciju elementiem veltīja tikai vienu dienu. Aprīļa otrajā svētdienā skolas bērni pulcējās uz parastajām teorētiskajām nodarbībām, bet garajā pusdienu pauzē bērni, vecāki un skolotājas devās uz parku Ženēvas ezera krastā, kur jau iepriekš bija nolūkota nomaļāka vieta, lai šūpoļu kāršana, olu ripināšana un citas latviskās tradīcijas parka apmeklētājos neizraisītu pārāk lielu neizpratni.

Vispirms parka kokos un krūmos ar sarkaniem dzīpariem tika aizsietas ļauno burvju un raganu rīkles, lai tie nākamā gadā nevar ne ļaunu runāt, ne kādam ko sliktu nodarīt.

Putnu dzīšana ir sena Latvijas teritorijā dzīvojošo lībiešu tradīcija. Putni nozīmē ļaunumu un slimības: aizdzenot tos no sētas, laukiem un mājām un, protams, Ženēvas parka, domājams, ka tiks aizdzītas visas raizes un ļaunumi, stāsta Mažeika. Tā kā putnu dzīšanai jānorit ar lielu troksni, tad šo tradīcijas daļu bērni izpildīja ar neviltotu sajūsmu. Tikpat priecīgi bērni bija “iet putnos”: rotaļā piedalījās arī vecāki, tēlodami ligzdas, kurās putniem glābties no vanaga, kurš tā vien kāro kā putnus noķert savām Lieldienu brokastīm.

Zināms, ka latviešiem Lieldienās raksturīgas dažādas darbības ar olām: tās ēda, dāvināja, ar tām mainījās, spēlēja spēles. Latvieši ticējuši, ka, veicot ar olām dažādas Lieldienu izdarības, dzīvības spēks, kas tām piemīt, pāriet uz cilvēkiem. Kā stāsta Mažeika, tāpēc arī uz skolas svinībām katrs līdzi bija atnesis vairākas krāsotas olas, kuras ripinājām un ar kurām sitāmies. Vīri meta krāsotās olas pāri šūpoļu zaram un, skrienot pa apakšu, mēģināja noķert. Tam, kuram izdevās, nākamais būs ļoti veiksmīgs gads.

Katram latvietim ir skaidrs, ka Lieldienās vajag daudz šūpoties, tad visu gadu nenāks miegs un nekodīs odi, atgādina Mažeika. Tāpēc arī bērni un vecāki, dziesmām skanot, kārtīgi izšūpojās, pašu kārtās un pušķotās šūpolēs, lai nākamais gads būtu izdevies un labklājības pilns.

Svinību noslēgumā notika pikniks ar olu kaujām un sacensībām olu ēšanā. Protams, ka bez sāls neviens olas pat nedomāja ēst, lai nākamā gadā nebūtu jāmelo!

Lieldienas Ženēvā

Lieldienu svinības laikā latviešu skolas bērni Ženēvā pušķo šūpoles. Foto: Valerijs Romanovskis