Agris Saviels (born January 15, 1982) is a Latvian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

. He last played for HK Mogo of the

Latvian Hockey League The Latvian Hockey Higher League ( lv, Latvijas Virslīgas hokeja čempionāts), also known as the Optibet Hockey League ( lv, Optibet hokeja līga) since 2017 due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Optibet, is the top tier Sports league, lea ...

(LAT).

Playing career

Saviels was drafted 63rd overall in the

2000 NHL Entry Draft The 2000 NHL Entry Draft was the 38th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 24 and 25, 2000 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, following the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft on June 23 for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild. This ...

by the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

. Prior to be drafted, Saviels played in his native country Latvia with HK Lido Nafta Rīga before traveling to North America to play Junior with the

Notre Dame Hounds The Notre Dame Hounds are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, Canada. They are members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). The Hounds also had a junior "B" team that played in the South Saskatchewan Junior ...

and then the

Owen Sound Attack The Owen Sound Attack are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League based in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. Based in Owen Sound since 1989, and operating under the current name since 2000, the Attack play their home games at the J.D. M ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

. Saviels was signed by the Colorado Avalanche on July 23, 2002, but never played a game with the team, playing with their affiliate the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

. Since the 2005–06 season, Saviels has played in Europe in the Belarus, Russian, Slovak, Latvian and Danish leagues. In the 2008–09 season, Saviels signed a one-year contract and started with

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

club

Dinamo Riga Dinamo Riga ( lv, Rīgas Dinamo) is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It is a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LLU. The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of ...

, but was soon sent down to the farm club,

HK Riga 2000 HK Riga 2000 was an ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. The team had played in the LHL since it was founded. In 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons the club also iced a team in the Belarusian Hockey League, and in 2005-06 finished 3rd. HK Riga 2000 ...

of the Belarusian Extraleague. In January 2009, Saviels then transferred to fellow Belarusian team Metallurg Zhlobin and re-signed to an additional year to continue playing in the 2009–10 season. On September 1, 2010, Saviels left for Italy and signed a one-year contract as a free agent with Valpellice in the Serie A. During the following season, Saviels returned for a second stint in Italy to end the 2011–12 season with HC Broncos Sterzing-Vipiteno. On July 28, 2012, it was announced that Saviels had signed for his first venture into Ukraine with

HC Kompanion-Naftogaz Hockey Club Kryzhynka-Kompanion ''( uk, Хокейний клуб Крижинка-Компаньйон, russian: Хокейний клуб Льдинка-Компаньон)'' is an ice hockey team in Kyiv, Ukraine. They play in the Ukrainian Hock ...

of the

Professional Hockey League The Professional Hockey League (PHL) ( uk, Професіональна хокейна ліга (ПХЛ), '' tr: Profesional'na khokeina liha'') was an ice hockey league in Ukraine, founded in 2011; ceased in 2013. The country's national title, ...

. In 28 games, Saviels registered only 3 assists from the Blueline. On August 12, 2013, due to a pay dispute between players and Kompanion, Saviels returned to Latvia and signed a contract with HK Kurbads of the LHL.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saviels, Agris 1982 births Living people Colorado Avalanche draft picks Dinamo Riga players Latvian expatriate ice hockey players in Russia HC Most players HC Valpellice players Herning Blue Fox players Hershey Bears players HK Kurbads players HK Liepājas Metalurgs players HK Mogo players HK Riga (1997) players HK Riga 2000 players Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Kompanion Kiev players Latvian ice hockey defencemen Metallurg Zhlobin players MsHK Žilina players Notre Dame Hounds players Odense Bulldogs players Olds Grizzlys players Olympic ice hockey players for Latvia Owen Sound Attack players Owen Sound Platers players Reading Royals players Rødovre Mighty Bulls players Sportspeople from Jūrmala Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod players Wipptal Broncos players