Ronalds Ķēniņš

Ronalds Ķēniņš
Kenins in February 2015
Born February 28, 1991
Riga, Latvia
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 209 lb (95 kg; 14 st 13 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams
Vancouver Canucks
ZSC Lions
National team  Latvia
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2008present

Ronalds Ķēniņš (born February 28, 1991) is a Latvian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the ZSC Lions in the Swiss National League A (NLA).

Playing career

Kenins played junior hockey in Latvia and Switzerland. At seventeen years old, he started his professional career with GCK Lions of the National League B (NLB), Switzerland's second-tier league, in 2008–09. After three seasons with the Lions organization, Kenins joined ZSC Lions of the top-tier National League A (NLA). Following the 2012–13 season, he was signed by the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL) on July 30, 2013.[1] He remained in Switzerland for the 2013–14 season and recorded an NLA career-high 8 goals and 25 points in 39 games.

Kenins moved to North America for the 2014–15 season and was assigned to the Canucks' American Hockey League (AHL) team, the Utica Comets. After being called up midway through the season, Kenins made his NHL debut on January 30, 2015, against the Buffalo Sabres (a team that featured fellow Latvian Zemgus Girgensons and the former Latvian national team's head coach, Ted Nolan).[2] The following game, Kenins scored his first career NHL Goal against Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild on February 1, 2015.[3] On April 17, 2015, Kenins scored his first career Stanley Cup playoff goal on a one time feed from line mate Bo Horvat.

International play

At the junior level, Kenins played for the Latvian National Team in two IIHF World U18 Championships (second tier Division I play) and two IIHF World U20 Championships (one year in Division I and another in the top tier). He made his debut with Latvia's men's team at the 2011 IIHF World Championship and has gone on to play in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In February 2014, Kenins played for Latvia in the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2008–09 GC Küsnacht Lions NLB 42 2 8 10 24
2009–10 GC Küsnacht Lions NLB 4 1 3 4 4
2010–11 GC Küsnacht Lions NLB 11 1 2 3 8
2011–12 ZSC Lions NLA 47 6 12 18 48 15 0 4 4 6
2012–13 ZSC Lions NLA 45 3 14 17 12 12 4 4 8 10
2013–14 ZSC Lions NLA 39 8 17 25 40 18 4 0 4 6
NLA totals 131 17 43 60 100 45 8 8 16 22

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
2008 Latvia WJC18 D-1 5 0 1 1 2
2009 Latvia WJC18 D-1 5 3 0 3 4
2010 Latvia WJC 6 2 2 4 6
2011 Latvia WJC D-1 5 0 3 3 4
2011 Latvia WC 6 0 0 0 0
2012 Latvia WC 5 1 2 3 6
2013 Latvia OGQ 3 1 1 2 2
2013 Latvia WC 7 0 1 1 6
2014 Latvia Oly 5 0 0 0 2
2014 Latvia WC 7 0 4 4 4
Junior totals 21 5 6 11 16
Senior totals 33 2 8 10 20

References

External links