HK Liepāja

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HK Liepāja
HK Liepāja logo.png
City: Liepāja, Latvia
League: Optibet Hockey League
2014 - 2022
Founded: 2014
Home Arena: Liepājas Olimpiskā Centra ice hall
Colors: Green, red, white
              
HK Liepaja.jpg

HK Liepāja are a Latvian professional ice hockey team that plays in the Optibet Hockey League, the top tier of the sport in Latvia. The team is based in Liepāja and play their home games at the Liepājas Olimpiskā Centra ice hall.

History

Hokeja Klubs Liepāja was founded in 2014,[1] following the collapse of the previous team in the city; HK Liepājas Metalurgs folded as a result of their title sponsor, Liepājas Metalurgs, pulling funding as a result of financial difficulties steming from the Great Recession.[2] Several months later, the company would declare themselves insolvent.[3] The eight Latvian championships won by won HK Liepājas Metalurgs is, as of February 2021, the most won by any team.[2]

HK Liepāja began play in the 2014–15 Latvian Hockey League season and immediately assembled a strong side, finishing 2nd in the regular season before losing in the play-offs semi-finals to HK Kurbads. They would pick up a medal however, as they beat HK Zemgale in the bronze medal game.[1][4] The team fared even better in their second season, finishing 1st in the regular season, before going on to claim the Latvian championship by beating HK Kurbads in the play-off final.[5] The following season saw Liepāja finish 4th overall, before losing in the play-off semi-finals to HK Mogo. The 2017-18 season saw the team improve in the regular season, finishing 2nd, however, they again losing in the play-off semi-finals to Kurbads, who would ultimately go on to win the league. In the off-season the team parted ways with Head Coach Igors Ļebedevs, who subsequently joined HK Zemgale as an Assistant Coach,[6] and replaced him with Maksims Bogdanovs.[7] Under their new coach, Liepāja's fortunes worsened, finishing the 2018-19 season in 5th place, causing them to miss out on the play-offs for the first year since their inception.[8] The 2019-20 season saw the team finish in 4th place before the play-offs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the off-season, Bogdanovs was replaced with former KHL Head Coach and General Manager Normunds Sējējs.[9]

Due to winning the Latvian league in 2016, the team qualified for the IIHF Continental Cup 2017, where they were drawn in Group B alongside Turkish side Zeytinburnu Belediyespor, CH Jaca of Spain, and British champions Nottingham Panthers. HK Liepāja would comfortably beat both CH Jaca and Zeytinburnu Belediyespor before losing their final game against the Panthers.[10] As a result, Liepāja finished 2nd in their group, and did not progress any further in the comeptition.[10] The Panthers, who finished Group B in 1st place, would ultimately go on to win the Continental Cup.[11]

In 2020 HK Liepāja took place in the inaugural Baltic Hockey League, a competition made up of two teams from each of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Liepāja represented Latvia alongside compatriots HK Mogo.They went on to win their group, beating both Estonian outfit HC Everest, and Hockey Punks Vilnius of Lithuania.[12] As a result they progressed to the final round, due initially to take place in December 2020, however, this was postponed until February 2021 as a result of several HK Mogo players having been exposed to COVID-19.[13] In early February the final round was again postponed due to the pandemic, with the date to be announced when the Covid situation improves.[14]

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 League 30 22 5 — 1 2 70 165 93 1st Champion
2016-17 Latvian Hockey League 30 18 12 — 0 0 54 182 99 4th Semi-final loss
2017-18 Optibet Hockey League 30 17 7 — 3 3 60 144 94 2nd Semi-final loss
2018-19 Optibet Hockey League 36 14 18 — 2 2 48 100 120 5th Did not qualify
2019-20 Optibet Hockey League 35 20 10 — 3 2 48 132 94 4th Playoffs cancelled

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Par klubu - HK Liepāja" (in latvian). HK Liepāja. https://hkliepaja.lv/about/. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Par mums - Optibet Hockey League" (in latvian). Optibet Hockey League. https://www.optibethokejaliga.com/par-mums. 
  3. ↑ "Liepājas metāla sirds stājas; gaidāms dzīves līmeņa kritums reģionā" (in latvian). Diena Bizness. November 5, 2013. http://www.db.lv/zinas/kvv-liepajas-metalurgs-trauksme-par-situaciju-uznemuma-ir-parspileta-442961. 
  4. ↑ "Elite Prospects - Team Standings Latvia - 2014-15" (in english). EliteProspects.com. https://www.eliteprospects.com/league/latvia/standings/2014-2015. 
  5. ↑ "Elite Prospects - Team Standings Latvia - 2015-16" (in english). EliteProspects.com. https://www.eliteprospects.com/league/latvia/standings/2015-2016. 
  6. ↑ "Kuļibaba turpinās vadīt "Zemgali/LLU", asistēs Ļebedevs" (in latvian). sportacentrs.com. August 6, 2018. http://sportacentrs.com/hokejs/latvijas_cempionats/06082018-kulibaba_turpinas_vadit_zemgali_llu_asist. 
  7. ↑ "HK Liepāja trenēs Maksims Bogdanovs" (in latvian). sportacentrs.com. April 18, 2018. http://sportacentrs.com/hokejs/latvijas_cempionats/18042018-hk_liepaja_trenes_maksims_bogdanovs. 
  8. ↑ "HTeam Standings Latvia 2018-19" (in english). EliteProspects.com. https://www.eliteprospects.com/league/latvia/standings/2018-2019. 
  9. ↑ "Normunds Sējējs pievienojas hokeja klubam "Liepāja"" (in latvian). TV NET. October 12, 2020. https://sports.tvnet.lv/7084501/normunds-sejejs-pievienojas-hokeja-klubam-liepaja. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Games - CCB - International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF" (in english). IIHF. http://continental-cup2017-groupb.iihf.hockey/en/games/. 
  11. ↑ "Nottingham Panthers win Continental Cup with 4-1 win over Ritten" (in english). BBC. January 15, 2017. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/ice-hockey/38632311. 
  12. ↑ "Lietuva always h`ockey!" (in english). Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation. http://www.hockey.lt/index.php/baltic-league/baltijos-ledo-ritulio-lyga--d-kasparaicio-grupe/118639. 
  13. ↑ "COVID-19 virusas jaukia Baltijos lygos planus: nukeliamas finalinio ketverto turnyras" (in lithuanian). Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation. December 15, 2020. http://www.hockey.lt/index.php/naujienos/covid-19-virusas-jaukia-baltijos-lygos-planus-nukeliamas-finalinio-ketverto-turnyras/118957. 
  14. ↑ "Baltijos lygos finalinis ketvertas dar kartą nukeliamas" (in lithuanian). Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation. February 4, 2021. http://www.hockey.lt/index.php/naujienos/baltijos-lygos-finalinis-ketvertas-dar-karta-nukeliamas/119405. 

External links

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