The game in the smallest arena of the tournament “TD Place” will start at 19:00 Latvian time, it will be broadcast live on the TV6 channel.
In the other quarterfinals, the USA will fight Switzerland at 9:30 p.m., as well as Finland and Slovakia at midnight and the Czech Republic and Canada at 2:30 a.m. After the quarter-finals, their winners will be seeded based on their results in the sub-group and form the semi-final pairings.
At 18:00, Germany and Kazakhstan will fight for a place in the elite division.
The Latvians also met the Swedish juniors in the first quarter-final in their history, losing only 1:2 in the match of the tournament held in the summer of 2022. In the previous championship, the Swedes already had a bigger victory in the subgroup – 6:0.
The Latvians also made it to the top eight in the 2009 championship, but then there was a different order of play.
Most of the Swedish junior national team players represent national championship SHL teams on a daily basis. Among them is Mārtiņas Dzierkala’s teammate Schellefteo in AIK, defender Aksel Sandins-Pelika. In the 2023 National Hockey League (NHL) draft with number 17, the Detroit “Red Wings” talent Sandins-Pelika is the most productive player of this championship – he has eight points (4+4) in four games.
Latvian juniors started the championships sensationally by defeating Canada for the first time in history (3:2 in a shootout), followed by a loss to the USA (5:1), a victory in extra time over Germany (4:3) and a loss to Finland (0:3). The Swedes were the only ones not to lose a point in the main tournament, beating Slovakia (5:2), Kazakhstan (8:1), Switzerland (7:5) and the Czech Republic (4:2).
The top four teams in each group advanced to the quarter-finals, while the fifth-placed teams will play one game to stay in the elite group.
Before the tournament, the Latvian U-20 national team coached by Artas Ābolas played two test matches in Canada, where they lost to their peers from the Czech Republic and Switzerland with the same score of 1:5.
Latvian U-20 national team:
goalkeepers – Linards Feldbergs (Sherbruk “Phoenix”, QMJHL), Aksels Ozols (Jelgava “Zemgale”/LBTU), Jānis Fecers (Herninga “Blue Fox”, Denmark);
defenders – Viktors Kurbaka (“Ocelari” of Tršinec, Czech Republic), Oskars Briedis (“Zemgale” of Jelgava/LBTU), Darel Uljanskis (Šlelefteo AIK, Sweden), Pēteris Bulans (Šikutimi “Sgueneens”, QMJHL), Harijs Cjunskis (Rouen-Noranda “Huskies”, QMJHL), Krišjānis Sārts (St. Cloud “Norsemen”), NAHL), Emil Skeltiņš (Amarillo “Wranglers”, NAHL), Krists Retenais (Aberdeen “Wings”, NAHL);
forwards – David Livšić (Rovaniemi “RoKi”, Finland), Erik Mateiko (St. John’s “Sea Dogs”, QMJHL), Valdis Dommers (Hradeckrálovas “Mountfield”, Czech Republic), Tom Mott (Jelgava “Zemgale”/LBTU), Raul Ozollapa ( Pršerova “Zubr”, Czech Republic), Olivers Mūrnieks (Sucity “Musketeers”, USHL), Bruno Osmanis, Markus Sieradzkis (both – Umeå “Bjorkloven”, Sweden), Rudolfs Bērzkalns (Maskigona “Lumberjacks”, USHL), Daniels Serkin (Bern, Switzerland), Antons Macijewskis, Dmitrijs Dilevka (both – Watertown “Shamrocks”, NAHL), Martins Klaucans (St. Cloud “Norsemen”), Roberts Naudiņš (“Shattuck St.Mary’s”, USHS-Prep).