| Full name | Dinamo Riga |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 (1946 as Dynamo Riga) |
| Based In | Riga, Latvia |
| Arena | Arena Riga (Capacity: 10,300) |
| League | KHL 2008–present |
| Division | Bobrov |
| Conference | Western |
| Uniform | |
| Team Colors | |
| President | Juris Savickis |
| GM | Normunds Sējējs |
| Head Coach | Pekka Rautakallio |
| Captain | Sandis Ozoliņš |
| Affiliates | HK Riga (MHL) |
| Website | dinamoriga.eu |
Dinamo Riga (Latvian: Rīgas Dinamo) is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Dinamo Riga is one of the four KHL teams that are not located in Russian Federation. The club has an affiliated club HK Riga, which plays in the MHL.
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 plays their home games at the Arena Riga, which can accommodate attendance of 10,300 spectators.
Július Šupler became the first head coach of the club.[1] For the first two seasons he was assisted by Miroslav Miklošovič and Artis Ābols, but in 2010 Viktors Ignatjevs replaced Miklošovič. On April 27, 2011 the new head coach Pekka Rautakallio was announced.
Sandis Ozoliņš is the current captain of the team, with his alternates being Aleksandrs Ņiživijs and Rodrigo Laviņš.[2]
Contents |
The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 and among the founders of the club were Guntis Ulmanis, Kirovs Lipmans, Aigars Kalvītis, 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.[3] After the first season, also Viesturs Koziols left the project.[4]
In the first season of the franchise 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 farm club Dinamo-Juniors Riga. 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 league playoffs Dinamo lost to HC Dynamo Moscow, which later achieved 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 regular season in the eighth place of Western Conference, which qualified them for the playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs Dinamo faced SKA St. Petersburg with players like Zubov, Cajanek, Sushinsky and Yashin on the roster. Still, Dinamo managed to beat SKA and advance to Western Conference semifinals. In the semifinals, Dinamo was defeated by later Gagarin Cup finalist HC MVD 1-4.
In December 2009, it was announced that 15 players from Dinamo Riga would be on the 2010 Olympic roster for Latvia's Ice Hockey team.[5] Mārtiņš Karsums was then added to Dinamo Riga in January 2010; along with Marcel Hossa representing Slovakia, 17 players in all from the club played in the Olympics.
After his league-leading performance, Marcel Hossa signed a 2-year contract with the current KHL champions Ak Bars Kazan. Martin Kariya signed a 2-year contract with Swiss NLA's HC Ambri-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.
Team finished season in seventh place in Western Conference and thirteenth in league, as the team qualified to the playoffs. In first round their opponents were UHC Dynamo. Dinamo won the series 2-4, advancing to next round and facing Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Dinamo lost series 1-4.
As of the end of 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 chance to play in NHL, Montreal Canadiens.
Dinamo signed numerous new players for the upcoming season, from Latvia: Mārtiņš Cipulis, Māris Jučers and for probationary period: Kristiāns Pelšs, Armands Bērziņš and foreign players: Jamie Lundmark, Niclas Lucenius, Björn Melin, Fredrik Warg.
Updated January 4, 2011.[6][7]
These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed KHL regular season.
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; bold = current Dinamo player
|
Points
|
Goals
|
Assists
|
GP = games played, W = wins in regular time, OT/SO = in overtime/shoot-out, L = losses in regular time, Pts = points , GF/GA = goals for/against
| Season | GP | W (OT/SO) | L (OT/SO) | Pts | Pts/GP | GF – GA | Rank (league/conference) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | 56 | 24 (3/2) | 23 (1/3) | 86 | 1.54 | 132 – 156 | 10th / — |
| 2009–10 | 56 | 23 (1/3) | 22 (3/4) | 84 | 1.50 | 174 – 175 | 13th / 8th |
| 2010–11 | 54 | 20 (2/5) | 20 (5/2) | 81 | 1.50 | 160 – 149 | 13th / 7th |
| KHL totals | 166 | 67 (6/10) | 65 (9/9) | 251 | 1.51 | 466 – 480 | Best: 10th / 7th |
| Year | Round | Opponent | Series result (match results) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 1st round | Dynamo Moscow | 0–3 loss (0–4, 1–7, 3–4) |
| 2010 | Conference quarter-final | SKA Saint Petersburg | 3–1 win (2–0, 3–1, 2–4, 4–2) |
| Conference semi-final | HC MVD | 1–4 loss (1–4, 0–2, 3–1, 5–4 OT, 2–3 OT) | |
| 2011 | Conference quarter-final | UHC Dynamo | 4–2 win (2–1 OT, 4–8, 5–1, 2–1 OT, 1–3, 2–1 OT) |
| Conference semi-final | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | 1–4 loss (2–4, 5–3, 4–8, 2–6, 4–5 OT) |
| Event | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| First KHL match (and first win) | 2 September 2008 | 4–2 win at Amur Khabarovsk |
| First KHL home match (and first home win) | 11 September 2008 | 2–1 win vs HC MVD |
| First KHL play-off match | 1 March 2009 | 0–4 loss at Dynamo Moscow |
| First KHL play-off match won | 10 March 2010 | 2–0 win at SKA Saint Petersburg |
| First KHL play-off series won | 14 March 2010 | 3–1 series win vs SKA Saint Petersburg |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||