Dinamo Riga (1946-1996)

This article is about a predecessor club of the current Dinamo Riga Dinamo Riga was an ice hockey club, based in Riga, Latvia. It was founded in 1946 and disestablished in 1995 as Pārdaugava Rīga.



History
Dinamo Riga was one of eleven teams which played in the first Soviet championship tournament in the winter of 1946/1947. Dinamo Riga finished in fourth place behind Dynamo Moscow, CSKA Moscow and Spartak Moscow, making it the highest team based outside Moscow. In the 1987-88 season, Dinamo Riga had their best finish, losing to CSKA Moscow in the final.

In 1975, Viktor Hatulev of Dinamo Rīga became the first ice hockey player from the Soviet Union drafted by the National Hockey League. He never had a chance to play for the NHL, as Soviet players were not allowed to play for foreign teams. In season 1976-77 Dinamo Rīga star Helmuts Balderis was the leading scorer, had the most goals, and won the best player of the season award (MVP). He was also the goal leader in 1975-76 and leading scorer in 1983. He scored 333 goals in his Soviet Union League career.

After the end of Soviet Union, the team continued to play until 1995 as a member of the International Hockey League, the successor of Soviet Hockey League. During this period, the team was called Stars Rīga and later, Pārdaugava Rīga. It was the former team of the Aleksey Nikiforov, coach of many future NHLers.

As of April 7, 2008 the club has been re-established. See Dinamo Riga (current).

Super series
Dinamo Riga has also participated in Super Series in exhibition games against NHL teams in year 1989 and 1990.

Dinamo Riga Super Series record:
 * 1) Dinamo Riga tied the Calgary Flames 2 to 2
 * 2) Edmonton Oilers beat Dinamo Riga 2 to 1
 * 3) Vancouver Canucks beat Dinamo Riga 6 to 1
 * 4) Dinamo Riga beat Los Angeles Kings 5 to 3
 * 5) Chicago Blackhawks beat Dinamo Riga 4 to 1
 * 6) St. Louis Blues beat Dinamo Riga 5 to 0
 * 7) Dinamo Riga beat Minnesota North Stars 2 to 1
 * 8) Washington Capitals beat Dinamo Riga 2 to 1

Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Notable Players

 * Helmut Balderis
 * Viktor Hatulev
 * Artūrs Irbe
 * Harijs Mellups
 * Vitālij Samoilov
 * Harijs Vitolinsh
 * Oleg Znarok
 * Harijs Mellups


 * Fan website