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Dinamo Riga
Dinamo Riga (2020)
City: Riga, Latvia
League: Latvian Hockey Higher League
Founded: 2008
Home Arena: Inbox.lv ledus halle
Head Coach: Leonīds Beresņevs
Captain: Georgijs Pujacs
Affiliates: Zemgale/LLU (Mestis)

Dinamo Riga (Latvian: Rīgas Dinamo) is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It is a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LLU.

The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of a former hockey team (also named "Dinamo Riga"), which was founded in 1946, but ceased to exist in 1995. Since being re-established, Dinamo Riga played their home games at the Arēna Rīga till 2022, which could accommodate attendance of 10,300 spectators.

History[]

The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 and among the founders of the club were Guntis Ulmanis, Kirovs Lipmans, Mały Snopp , Juris Savickis, Viesturs Koziols and others. However, on 27 May, Latvian Ice Hockey Federation president Kirovs Lipmans stepped out of the project because of a possible clash of interests.[1][2] After the first season, Viesturs Koziols also left the project.[3]

Július Šupler became the first head coach of the club.[4] For the first two seasons, he was assisted by Miroslav Miklošovič and Artis Ābols, but in 2010, Viktors Ignatjevs replaced Miklošovič. On 27 April 2011, the new head coach, Pekka Rautakallio, was announced.

In the first season of the franchise, the team was led by players like Masaļskis, Prusek, Westcott, Ņiživijs, Hossa and others. After 2008-09, forward Aigars Cipruss decided to retire and instantly became the manager of Dinamo Riga's farm club, Dinamo-Juniors Riga. The team finished the regular season in tenth position, higher than anyone would have predicted before the start of the season. However, in the first round of the league playoffs, Dinamo lost to Dynamo Moscow 0–3, which later advanced to the Gagarin Cup semifinals.

Following the first season, Dinamo managed to sign legendary Sandis Ozoliņš, as well as Jānis Sprukts, Mārtiņš Karsums and others. The team finished the regular season in eighth place of the Western Conference, which qualified them for the playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, Dinamo faced SKA Saint Petersburg with players like Sergei Zubov, Petr Čajánek, Maxim Sushinsky and Alexei Yashin on the roster. Still, Dinamo managed to beat SKA 3–1 and advance to the Western Conference semifinals. In the semifinals, Dinamo was defeated by later Gagarin Cup finalist HC MVD, 1–4.

After his league-leading performance, Marcel Hossa signed a two-year contract with the then-current KHL champions Ak Bars Kazan. Martin Kariya signed a two-year contract with Swiss NLA's HC Ambrì-Piotta. New players signed during the off-season include Tomáš Surový, Brock Trotter, Mikael Tellqvist and the returning Mark Hartigan. Július Šupler resumed his post as the head coach.

The team finished the season in seventh place in the Western Conference and thirteenth in the league, as the team qualified to the playoffs. In the first round, their opponents were Dynamo Moscow. Dinamo won the series 4–2, advancing to the next round and facing Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Dinamo lost the series 1–4.

As of the end of the third season, head coach Július Šupler left the team to be the coach of CSKA Moscow. On April 27, 2011, Dinamo signed Pekka Rautakallio for the head coach position. Also, all the foreign players with no active contracts left the team to play somewhere else. Brock Trotter also left using his chance to play in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens.

On February 27, 2022, Dinamo withdrew from KHL in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5]

On August 10, 2022, it was announced that Dinamo Riga will play in the Latvian Hockey Higher League next season.[6]

Crest[]

Season-by-season record[]

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTW = Overtime/shootout wins, OTL = Overtime/shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season League GP W L OTW OTL Pts GF GA Finish Playoffs
2008–09 KHL 56 24 23 5 4 86 132 156 2nd, Kharlamov Lost in First Round, 0–3 (Dynamo Moscow)
2009–10 KHL 56 23 22 4 7 84 174 175 5th, Bobrov Lost in Conference Semifinals, 1–4 (MVD)
2010–11 KHL 54 20 20 7 7 81 160 149 4th, Bobrov Lost in Conference Semifinals, 1–4 (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
2011–12 KHL 54 24 5 4 23 86 132 156 3rd, Bobrov Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3–4 (Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod)
2012–13 KHL 52 13 31 4 4 51 109 151 7th, Bobrov Did not qualify
2013–14 KHL 54 22 16 11 5 93 141 122 3rd, Bobrov Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3–4 (Donbass Donetsk)
2014–15 KHL 60 22 30 3 5 77 136 160 5th, Bobrov Did not qualify
2015–16 KHL 60 17 34 8 8 75 129 151 7th, Bobrov Did not qualify
2016–17 KHL 60 11 34 10 5 58 116 158 7th, Bobrov Did not qualify
2017–18 KHL 56 9 31 7 9 50 105 153 6th, Bobrov Did not qualify
2018–19 KHL 62 18 26 8 10 62 129 155 5th, Bobrov Did not qualify
2019–20 KHL 62 11 38 6 7 41 103 187 6th, Bobrov Did not qualify
2020–21 KHL 60 5 41 4 10 28 126 211 5th, Tarasov Did not qualify
2021–22 KHL 45 9 5 9 10 37 93 143 6th, Tarasov Did not qualify
2022–23 OHL

Players[]

Current roster[]

Updated 12 October 2022.[7]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
61 Flag of Latvia Apsītis, KristsKrists Apsītis

D L 30 2022 Riga, Latvia
7 Flag of Latvia Bogdanovs, AndrejsAndrejs Bogdanovs

D R 22 2022 Riga, Latvia
93 Flag of Latvia Brahmanis, EdijsEdijs Brahmanis

 (A)

RW R 40 2022 Riga, USSR
92 Flag of Latvia Cipruss, RenārsRenārs Cipruss

RW R 25 2022 Latvia
8 Flag of Latvia Demiters, ReinisReinis Demiters

D L 32 2022 Aizpute, Latvia
90 Flag of Latvia Ezītis, EmīlsEmīls Ezītis

RW L 25 2022 Riga, Latvia
24 Flag of Latvia Galkins, AleksandrsAleksandrs Galkins

 (A)

D R 33 2022 Daugavpils, USSR
25 Flag of Latvia Grīnbergs, SandisSandis Grīnbergs

W L 28 2022 Latvia
73 Flag of Latvia Jansons, DidzisDidzis Jansons

D L 31 2022 Riga, Latvia
51 Flag of Latvia Jass, KobaKoba Jass

D L 33 2022 Jurmala, USSR
3 Flag of Latvia Jass, MārisMāris Jass

D L 39 2022 Riga, USSR
28 Flag of Latvia Kazaks, EdgarsEdgars Kazaks

D R 20 2022 Latvia
17 Flag of Latvia Korņilovs, DmitrijsDmitrijs Korņilovs

W L 41 2022 Sigulda, USSR
91 Flag of Latvia Kozlovs, AleksejsAleksejs Kozlovs

C R 20 2022 Liepaja, Latvia
42 Flag of Latvia Lazdiņš, RūdolfsRūdolfs Lazdiņš

G L 22 2022 Riga, Latvia
94 Flag of Latvia Lejnieks, ReinisReinis Lejnieks

C R 26 2022 Riga, Latvia
21 Flag of Latvia Marcinkēvičs, DominiksDominiks Marcinkēvičs

F L 22 2022 Riga, Latvia
89 Flag of Slovakia Matonak, DominikDominik Matonak

C R 22 2022 Košice, Slovakia
55 Flag of Latvia Mežaraups, SandisSandis Mežaraups

F R 28 2022 Jekabpils, Latvia
93 Flag of Latvia Petriņš, KristofersKristofers Petriņš

F L 20 2022 Latvia
32 Flag of Latvia Pilsētnieks, RalfsRalfs Pilsētnieks

G R 21 2022 Latvia
77 Flag of Latvia Porejs, MārtiņšMārtiņš Porejs

D L 32 2022 Riga, Latvia
84 Flag of Latvia Protapenko, RobertsRoberts Protapenko

LW L 29 2022 Latvia
14 Flag of Latvia Priede, ŅikitaŅikita Priede

F L 20 2022 Riga, Latvia
81 Flag of Latvia Pujacs, GeorgijsGeorgijs Pujacs

 (C)

D L 42 2022 Riga, USSR
19 Flag of Latvia Rēdlihs, MiķelisMiķelis Rēdlihs

RW L 40 2022 Riga, USSR
Flag of Latvia Tabitcikovs, KirilsKirils Tabitcikovs

F R 19 2022 Latvia
30 Flag of Latvia Zakrevskis, KārlisKārlis Zakrevskis

G L 30 2022 Riga, Latvia
20 Flag of Latvia Zelts, KristiānsKristiāns Zelts

RW L 28 2022 Riga, Latvia
44 Flag of Latvia Ziemiņš, JurisJuris Ziemiņš

LW L 30 2022 Riga, Latvia

Retired numbers[]

Dinamo Riga retired numbers
No. Player Position Career
8 Sandis Ozoliņš D 2009–2012, 2013–2014

Team captains[]

Head coaches[]

Franchise records and leaders[]

Scoring leaders[]

Player GP G A Pts +/– PIM
Flag of Latvia Dārziņš, LaurisLauris Dārziņš 506 124 175 299 -14 282
Flag of Latvia Rēdlihs, MiķelisMiķelis Rēdlihs 581 120 173 293 -41 386
Flag of Latvia Indrašis, MiksMiks Indrašis 319 88 98 186 +6 113
Flag of Slovakia Hossa, MarcelMarcel Hossa 241 105 80 185 -12 252
Flag of Latvia Niživijs, AleksandrsAleksandrs Niživijs 290 45 108 153 -46 127
Flag of Latvia Galviņš, GuntisGuntis Galviņš 416 31 112 143 –1 230
Flag of Latvia Rēdlihs, KrišjānisKrišjānis Rēdlihs 449 37 99 136 -13 205
Flag of Latvia Meija, GintsGints Meija 541 51 69 120 -53 210
Flag of Latvia Karsums, MārtiņšMārtiņš Karsums 196 62 57 119 +3 183
Flag of Latvia Sprukts, JānisJānis Sprukts 186 42 73 115 +12 130

Leading goaltenders[]

Player GP TOI W L GA SO SV% GAA
Flag of Russia Bilyalov, TimurTimur Bilyalov 38 2035:59 15 14 74 4 93.0% 2.18
Flag of Latvia Kalniņš, JānisJānis Kalniņš 72 3835:47 18 34 143 4 92.7% 2.24
Flag of Sweden Tellqvist, MikaelMikael Tellqvist 103 5880:56 44 42 232 5 91.8% 2.37
Flag of the Czech Republic Sedláček, JakubJakub Sedláček 126 7082:09 41 58 286 10 91.8% 2.42
Flag of Sweden Eriksson, JoacimJoacim Eriksson 34 1934:53 9 17 78 2 91.9% 2.42
Flag of the United States Holt, ChrisChris Holt 90 5246:44 37 34 214 6 91.7% 2.45
Flag of Lithuania Armalis, MantasMantas Armalis 12 576:37 3 5 24 0 91.1% 2.50
Flag of the Czech Republic Salak, AlexanderAlexander Salak 32 1835:38 8 19 77 2 91.2% 2.52
Flag of Latvia Gudļevskis, KristersKristers Gudļevskis 42 2255:16 13 24 98 3 90.1% 2.61
Flag of the Czech Republic Prusek, MartinMartin Prusek 55 3017:36 18 26 132 6 91.6% 2.62

References[]

External links[]

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