The Latvian U20 national team will play in the highest division under the leadership of Artas Ābola for the fourth season in a row and has managed to reach the quarterfinals twice in two of the previous three times. However, this time the task of our boys will be very difficult, because the composition of the team is very young. This year, players born in 2005 and younger can participate in the world championship, however, only 11 out of 25 hockey players in the Latvian national team were born in 2005, while three even in 2008, that is, they will be able to participate in this tournament three more times.
“In North America, potential future National Hockey League (NHL) players get a lot of attention and are talked about. There are full halls, hype, media presence, and we have the first two games this time with both North American teams. At that moment, it will be the main hockey stage in the world,” said Abols before the tournament.
The Latvian national team in the first game on the early morning of December 28 at At 2.30 Latvian time, the Ottawa Senators team will meet the home team, Canada, in the arena where home games are played every day. on December 28 at At 10:30 p.m., they will also face the strong USA, which on December 30 at 22.30 will most likely be followed by the main match against Germany, while on December 31 at At 21.30 we have to meet with Finland.
Also a year ago, the main game for Latvia to enter the quarter-finals and keep its place in the top division was against Germany. Thanks to the previous results, Latvia is no longer the lowest ranked team in the subgroup, so we have finally found a more convenient calendar and the duel with Germany will take place after the holiday, while the opponents will have their second game against us in two days.
“Last year, before the Germany game, we were in an unenviable situation. Even though we had been saying all along that defense was very important, after three games our goal ratio was 0:20. I will say the same that the games start from defense for us this year as well,” says the coach of the Latvian U20 national team. “Last year, these first matches, especially against Sweden, were much more substantial than the result showed, but the fact of 0:20 was a fact. Despite that, we were able to play well the next day. I don’t pay much attention to the schedule because I can’t influence it. In theory, it’s always better to play after a day off than after a hard game the day before. You fought, you lost, and now you have a very important game ahead of you. However, only time will tell how it will turn out.”
The German U20 national team will not be helped in the world championship by the potential leader Kevin Bikera, who was selected by the Detroit “Red Wings” in the NHL draft and who is playing steadily in the German championship for the second season.
In the interview with Arti Ābola, we also talked about many other topics. The coach is optimistic about the near future of Latvian adults.
“I have been saying for a couple of years that in the near future we should not be worried about the result, and I would like to think that precisely because of this reason, we could reach the quarter-finals of the World Championship more regularly than we have managed to do so far. The core of the sample consists of 1995-1998. players were born in 2012 who are currently a little under 30 years old – still young enough, at the same time already experienced, and practically all of them play in good clubs and in good leagues. The main thing is that they are healthy, with the desire to play, come to the national team and do it on time. They are not 25, which is needed to make a full squad, but around 14. However, in general, the features are positive. In the US student league NCAA, where there is a very good level, this year there are 18 of us. The circle is getting wider, it’s not like during my playing career, when three shifts were clearly known year after year before the championship, the question was maybe only about three people in the fourth shift,” says the experienced specialist.
Look for the full interview with Arti Abolas in December Sports newspaper with Baib Bendiks on the cover, which can be found in the best press outlets.