HK Zemgale/LBTU is a professional ice hockey team based in Jelgava, Latvia. The team competes in the Latvian Hockey Higher League, the top tier of ice hockey in Latvia. The team plays its home games at the Jelgava Ice hall.
History The team was founded in 2002, shortly after the opening of the Jelgava Ice hall, in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence. The team was initially called ASK/Zemgale, and joined the Latvian Hockey Higher League, in addition the team also participated in Division 2 of the Eastern European Hockey League during the 2002–03 season. At the culmination of the season, financial issues meant that the team split in two, with the ASK franchise relocating to Ogre, creating ASK/Ogre, whilst the Zemgale side of the partnership remained in the town, operating under the name HK Zemgale. The team remained in the Latvian first tier for two further seasons before disbanding following the culmination of the 2004–05 season.
Zemgale remained inactive until the 2010–11 season, when they reformed and returned to the Latvian top tier, where they have played since. Usually a mid-table team, HK Zemgale's most successful season came in the 2017-18 season where they made it to the play-off final, ultimately losing to HK Kurbads, under Head Coach Haralds Vasiljevs.
In 2013, the team established a partnership with the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies ( (LLU)). In addition, Zemgale also serve as the farm team to the KHL's Dinamo Riga. During the 2020/21 season, David Levin played a handful of games for the team whilst under contract with Dinamo.
Roster Updated February 11, 2021.
GoaltendersNumberPlayerCatchesAcquiredPlace of Birth 30Mariuss Bajaruns-GalejsL 2018Riga, Latvia1Rihards CimermanisL 2016Riga, Latvia45Artjoms ĻeščenkoR 2020 -
DefencemenNumberPlayerShootsAcquiredPlace of Birth 47Renars Džerods AlksnisL 2018Aloja, Latvia44Harijs Brants L 2020Valmiera, Latvia33Aleksandrs Galkins (A)R 2020Daugavpils, Latvia5Daniels GoršānovsL 2018 -89Iļja Grekovs L 2020Liepāja, Latvia85Kristaps Jākobsons L 2020Riga, Latvia83Roberts Kaļķis L 2020Riga, Latvia55Patriks Ozols L 2020 -77Mārtiņš Porejs (A)L 2020Riga, Latvia35Haralds Rauls Slišāns L 2020 -
ForwardsNumberPlayerShootsPositionAcquiredPlace of Birth 22Vladislavs Adeļsons LF 2017 -7Rustams Begovs (C)LC 2018Olaine, Latvia97Ričards Bernhards RRW 2017Riga, Latvia73Ričards BriņecsRF 2018Jelgava, Latvia0Verners FricbergsRF 2020Riga, Latvia19Artūrs HomjakovsLW 2019 -72Roberts Jekimovs RLW/RW 2020Riga, Latvia23Ralfs JevdokimovsLF 2020 -17Aleksandrs NovikovsLW 2018Liepāja, Latvia88Roberts PetrovičsLF 2020 -14Frenks RazgalsLLW/RW 2020Riga, Latvia13Kristaps RoķisLF 2020Valmiera, Latvia90Kirils TambijevsLC/RW 2019Riga, Latvia71Deivids TempelmanisRF 2020 -16Deniss VilmansRW 2020Liepāja, Latvia8Aleksandrs VisockisLLW 2019Liepāja, Latvia
Season-by-season record Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes Season League GP W L T OTW OTL Pts GF GA Finish Playoffs 2015–16 Latvian Hockey Higher League 30 17 11 — 1 1 54 137 87 4th Quarter-final loss 2016–17 Latvian Hockey Higher League 30 18 7 — 2 3 61 137 85 3rd Semi-final loss 2017–18 Optibet Hockey League 30 12 13 — 4 1 45 87 94 4th Final loss 2018–19 Optibet Hockey League 35 20 11 — 2 2 66 138 89 2nd Semi-final loss 2019–20 Optibet Hockey League 35 15 14 — 2 4 38 138 105 5th Playoffs cancelled
Team records
Career These are the top five scorers in HK Zemgale/LLU history.
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points Player Pos GP G A Pts Guntis Pujāts F 91 100 98 198 Raivis Kurnigins D 235 67 110 177 Artjoms Ogorodņikovs F 156 53 87 140 Artūrs Batraks F 179 47 84 131 Olafs Aploks F 138 58 75 128
Penalty minutes: Krišs Kupčus, 211
Season Regular season Most goals in a season: Guntis Pujāts, 31 (2011–12) Most assists in a season: Guntis Pujāts, 38 (2011–12) Most points in a season: Guntis Pujāts, 69 (2011–12) Most penalty minutes in a season: Gatis Gajevskis, 135 (2004–05)
Playoffs Most goals in a playoff season: Ivan Rybchik, 9 (2017–18) Most assists in a playoff season: Artūrs Āboliņš, 7 (2014–15) Most points in a playoff season: Māris Miezis, 11 (2014–15) Most penalty minutes in a playoff season: Olafs Aploks, 41 (2017–18)
Notable players David Levin
Notable coaches Haralds Vasiljevs
References
External links