I heard that the Latvian Juniors beat the Russians the other night in pre tournamemt play. The Canadian reports are once again that the Latvian supporters are the most fun of any fans. I have not been able to find a roster for the Latvian team though. Anyone know where to find it?

One goalie and one skater from this list will be cut after their last exhibition game tomorrow.

Goaltenders:
Dainis Vasiļjevs (Kenai River Brown Bears - USA)
Raimonds Ermičs (Boston Bulldogs- USA)
Jānis Kalniņš (Liepāja - Latvia)

Defense:
Alberts Iliško (Nynäshamns IF - Sweden)
Jānis Šmits (Sweden)
Ralfs Freibergs (Dinamo Juniors)
Kārlis Kalvītis (Shattuck-St. Mary’s - USA)
Rolands Gritāns (USA)
Mārtiņš Jakovļevs (Dinamo Juniors - Latvia)
Ēriks Ševčenko (Dinamo Juniors - Latvia)
Gvido Kauss (Dinamo Juniors - Latvia)

Forwards:
Rolands Vīgners (France)
Roberts Bukarts (Dinamo Juniors - Latvia)
Raimonds Vilkoits (Dinamo Juniors - Latvia)
Gunārs Skvorcovs (Liepājas MetalurgsMetalurgs - Latvia)
Artūrs Mickēvičs (Liepājas MetalurgsMetalurgs - Latvia)
Juris Upītis (Dinamo Juniors - Latvia)
Mikus Indrašis (Dinamo Juniors - Latvia)
Elvis Veldze (Ozolnieki Juniors - Latvia)
Miks Lipsbergs (Ozolnieki Juniors - Latvia)
Ronalds Ķēniņš (Switzerland)
Ronalds Cinks (Dinamo Juniors - Latvia)
Edgars Uļeščenko (Kladno, Czech Republic)
Roberts Maziņš (USA)

Thanks Vilnis. I wish we had more press on some of the other teams playing. Even had trouble finding the game summary for the game. Any idea on a web site where I can at least read some info on the games they do play?

Thanks Vilnis. I wish we had more press on some of the other teams playing. Even had trouble finding the game summary for the game. Any idea on a web site where I can at least read some info on the games they do play?

These two exhibition games are being held in small towns, so the only press they are going to get are in the local papers. Once the tournament begins everything will be on iihf.com, tsn.ca, etc. I would think that TSN will have an breakdown of all the rosters in the next day or two (although coverage of the lower ranked teams will always be insufficient and poor). The website hfboards.com has articles and fan forums with most of the info you would be looking for.

You can listen to tonight’s game against Austria at cjnb.com (7pm Central time). The game is being played in Unity, Saskatchewan, who’s paper doesn’t have a website, so news about the game will probably be slow getting out.

Here’s an article about tonight’s match-up:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/sports/Hockey+fever/2373209/story.html

Video of the rally mentioned in the article can be viewed here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/3338694

A team by team look at the rosters (Like I mentioned before, not very well done when it comes to Latvia, etc): http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/2009/12/23/king_wjhc_team_breakdown/

Great links. I had looked at the tsn site earlier - and had noticed that the Latvian roster could not be opened - but your info confirms what I expected. Hopefully the Latvians will play well - and I am certainly looking forward to the game on Boxing Day. Anyone else watching?

Here is another version of the roster of the Latvian team.

Good luck against the Canucks tomorrow…
Pierre

Well - the Latvians got spanked against Canada. Hopefully they will win their next game. Despite the score - kalnins looked pretty good in goal - but did not have much help.

For die-hard Latvian hockey fans, or gluttons for punishment:

Highlights of Latvia’s opening loss to Canada.

Highlights of Latvia’s loss to Slovakia.

Pierre

PS: You’ll have to outlast the 30-second ads.
PPS: The videos might not show in some countries. :-(