Dinamo Riga

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

Dinamo Riga
CityRiga, Latvia
Founded2008
Home arenaInbox.lv ledus halle
(capacity: 1,000)
General managerJurijs Kuzņecovs
Head coach" vacant "
Captain" vacant "
Websitewww.dinamoriga.lv
Uniforms used since the 2020–21 KHL season.
Uniforms used since the 2020–21 KHL season.

The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of a former 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 until 2022, which could accommodate 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 3–0 to Dynamo Moscow, 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 4–1 by later Gagarin Cup finalist HC MVD.

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 4–1.

As of the end of the third season, head coach Július Šupler left the team to be the coach of CSKA Moscow. On 27 April 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 27 February 2022, Dinamo withdrew from KHL in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5]

On 10 August 2022, it was announced that Dinamo Riga would play in the Latvian Hockey Higher League during the 2022–23 season.[6] On 11 July 2023, it was announced that Dinamo Riga would not play in the 2023–24 season.[7]

Crest

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last ten seasons completed by Dinamo Riga. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Dinamo Riga seasons.

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

SeasonLeagueGPWLOTWOTLPtsGFGAFinishPlayoffs
2008–09KHL56242354861321562nd, KharlamovLost in First Round, 0–3 (Dynamo Moscow)
2009–10KHL56232247841741755th, BobrovLost in Conference Semifinals, 1–4 (MVD)
2010–11KHL54202077811601494th, BobrovLost in Conference Semifinals, 1–4 (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
2011–12KHL54245423861321563rd, BobrovLost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3–4 (Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod)
2012–13KHL52133144511091517th, BobrovDid not qualify
2013–14KHL542216115931411223rd, BobrovLost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3–4 (Donbass Donetsk)
2014–15KHL60223035771361605th, BobrovDid not qualify
2015–16KHL60173488751291517th, BobrovDid not qualify
2016–17KHL601134105581161587th, BobrovDid not qualify
2017–18KHL5693179501051536th, BobrovDid not qualify
2018–19KHL621826810621291555th, BobrovDid not qualify
2019–20KHL62113867411031876th, BobrovDid not qualify
2020–21KHL60541410281262115th, TarasovDid not qualify
2021–22KHL459225937931436th, TarasovDid not qualify
2022–23OHL32161051431471053rdLost in Semifinals, 0–4 Zemgale/LLU

Players

Current roster

Retired numbers

Dinamo Riga retired numbers
No.PlayerPositionCareer
8Sandis OzoliņšD2009–2012, 2013–2014

Team captains

Head coaches

Franchise records and leaders

Scoring leaders

PlayerGPGAPts+/–PIM
Lauris Dārziņš506124175299–14282
Miķelis Rēdlihs581120173293–41386
Miks Indrašis3198898186+6113
Marcel Hossa24110580185–12252
Aleksandrs Niživijs29045108153–46127
Guntis Galviņš41631112143–1230
Krišjānis Rēdlihs4493799136–13205
Gints Meija5415169120–53210
Mārtiņš Karsums1966257119+3183
Jānis Sprukts1864273115+12130

Leading goaltenders

PlayerGPTOIWLGASOSV%GAA
Timur Bilyalov382,035:59151474493.0%2.18
Jānis Kalniņš723,835:471834143492.7%2.24
Mikael Tellqvist1035,880:564442232591.8%2.37
Jakub Sedláček1267,082:0941582861091.8%2.42
Joacim Eriksson341,934:5391778291.9%2.42
Chris Holt905,246:443734214691.7%2.45
Mantas Armalis12576:373524091.1%2.50
Alexander Salak321,835:3881977291.2%2.52
Kristers Gudļevskis422,255:16132498390.1%2.61
Martin Prusek553,017:361826132691.6%2.62

References

External links