Latvia Goes Into 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship With High Hopes
When they Olympics started, everybody counted Latvia out from the beginning, including me. I, along with the rest of the world, was proved wrong by the resilient team. They played an impressive tournament until it came to an end at the hands of Team Canada. Now Latvia is heading into the 2014 World Championships with high hopes.
Backstopped by surprise breakout star Kristers Gudlevskis, and coached by Ted Nolan, Latvia will hope to make a splash this year. Sandis Ozolins will not be on the roster this year for the club, and they will have an overall weaker team than they had in Sochi. As the NHL Playoffs are still underway, every team in the tournament is going to be a little weaker, but Latvia’s key piece, Mr. Gudlevskis, will be putting on the white and maroon uniform.
In 2013, Latvia finished a dismal 11th out of 16 teams. They went 2-1-4 in the group stage. Hopefully this year if everything goes right, they can crack the Top Eight, and move on past the group stage. They took the world by storm at the Olympics, and they look to shock everybody again in the next few weeks.