HS Rīga (, 'Hockey School Riga') is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, 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 Hokeja halle Riga.
History Hockey School Rīga was founded on November 30, 1999, and is overseen in part by Riga City Council. As a hockey school, players undertake educational classes as well as hockey training; to this end HS Rīga has a boarding school attached to their training facility. As a result of this, the majority of the players on HS Rīga's Optibet Hockey League squad are teenagers. The schools first organised team competed under the name 'SK Rīga 18' in the 2004-05 LHL season, where they finished in last place. It wasn't until the 2008-09 season that the school fielded another side, this time finishing in 7th, whilst also competing in the Latvian U20's league, where they finished 3rd. Between 2009-2014 the school exclusively fielded teams in a range of U18 and U20 leagues, including the Belarusian U18 league, which they won in 2011.
Beginning in the 2015-16 season, under the moniker HS Rīga, the team again competed in Latvia's top tier, finishing 6th out of 7 teams. HS Rīga have competed in the Latvian top tier, now called the Optibet Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, ever since. Their best finish was 5th place in both 2017 & 2018, however, they have so far been unable to advance past the quarter-finals in post-season play.
In addition to their senior, HS Rīga also field a number of junior sides, from U9 up to U17, as well as a team in the JAHL, the Junior Development Hockey League.
Roster Updated February 5, 2021.
GoaltendersNumberPlayerCatchesAcquiredPlace of Birth 40Olivers BantersonsR 2019 -1Kārlis Beķeris-BrīvkalnsL 2020 -32Linards LipskisL 2019 -30Kārlis MežsargsL 2020Riga, Latvia31Artūrs ŠilovsL 2017Riga, Latvia
DefencemenNumberPlayerShootsAcquiredPlace of Birth 26Roberts AndersonsL 2019Jelgava, Latvia4Niks Feņenko L 2020Riga, Latvia7Edijs Freimanis L 2020Riga, Latvia0Dāniels GontarsL 2019Ogre, Latvia11Artjoms Kadņikovs L 202019Riga, Latvia39Vladislavs Koniševs L 2020 -12Kārlis Krustiņš L 2018 -20Dāvis Orniņš R 2019 -29Gustavs Ozoliņš L 2019 -35Armands Edvards Pētersons L 2020 -0Patriks Seilis L 2019 -0Mārtiņš Špaks L 2020 -
ForwardsNumberPlayerShootsPositionAcquiredPlace of Birth 28Artūrs Krišs Avotiņš LF 2019Riga, Latvia 41Edvards Bergmanis RF 2019 -19Matīss Bīriņš RF 2019 -18Jano Vanderhulst-F 2017 -6Rainers DārziņšLF 2020 -33Marks Ernests KaniņšLF 2019 -24Kristaps Kristiņš LF 2020Ventspils, Latvia36Daniels MūrnieksRC 2020 -23Roberts PetrovičsLF 2018 -16Pēteris PurmalisLF 2019 -13Anrī RavinskisLF 2020Riga, Latvia17Berts Dāniels RudzītisLF 2018 -4Ģirts SilkalnsRF 2019 -34Rihards SimanovičsLF 2020 -29Klāvs VeinbergsLF 2019 -0Mārtiņš ŠulcsRLW/RW 2019Kuldīga, 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 4 24 — 0 2 14 59 164 6th Quarter-final loss 2016–17 Latvian Hockey Higher League 30 11 16 — 0 3 36 131 36 5th Quarter-final loss 2017–18 Optibet Hockey League 30 3 20 — 3 4 19 82 168 5th Did not qualify 2018–19 Optibet Hockey League 36 12 18 — 4 2 46 84 127 6th Did not qualify 2019–20 Optibet Hockey League 20 4 16 — 0 2 10 53 101 6th Playoffs cancelled
Team records
Career These are the top five scorers in HS Rīga history.
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points Player Pos GP G A Pts Roberts Lipsbergs F 63 95 85 190 Emīls Potāpovs F 72 59 64 123 Ričards Kondrāts F 54 37 74 111 Raimonds Vilkoits F 27 30 47 77 Ņikita Jevpalovs D 19 34 37 71
Penalty minutes: Ričards Briška, 128
Season Regular season Most goals in a season: Roberts Lipsbergs, 60 (2010–11) Most assists in a season: Roberts Lipsbergs, 47 (2010–11) Most points in a season: Roberts Lipsbergs, 107 (2010–11) Most penalty minutes in a season: Aldis Popens, 119 (2007–08)
Playoffs Most goals in a playoff season: Oļegs Šišļaņņikovs, 3 (2016–17) Most assists in a playoff season: Oļegs Šišļaņņikovs, 3 (2016–17) Most points in a playoff season: Oļegs Šišļaņņikovs, 6 (2016–17) Most penalty minutes in a playoff season: Aleksejs Popovs, 22 (2015–16)
Notable players Rihards Bukarts Miks Indrašis Roberts Lipsbergs Gints Meija
References
External links