Gatis Tseplis (born May 1, 1971) 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 ...

defenceman 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 ...

Career

Gatis Tseplis arrived to the United States from

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, Latvia, after spending 12 years playing five seasons of professional hockey in Russia and the Czech Republic. From 1996 to 1997 he played for the

Huntsville Channel Cats The Huntsville Channel Cats was a professional ice hockey team based in Huntsville, Alabama. The franchise was a member of several different leagues, the Southern Hockey League (1995–1996), the Central Hockey League (1996–2001) and the Sou ...

, the

Nashville Nighthawks The Nashville Ice Flyers (named the Nashville Nighthawks for the 1996–97 season) were a professional ice hockey franchise that played in the Central Hockey League from 1996–1998. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, they played their home game ...

, and the

San Antonio Iguanas The San Antonio Iguanas were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in San Antonio, Texas. The first expansion team in the Central Hockey League, they were active for seven seasons from 1994–1997 and 1998–2002. Their home arena wa ...

. During the 1997 to 1998 season, Tseplis played under Bill McDonald and his

Fort Worth Brahmas The Fort Worth Brahmas were a professional ice hockey team in the Central Hockey League, and previously the Western Professional Hockey League. The team originally played at the Fort Worth Convention Center but played their final six seasons, incl ...

team, scoring 19 goals and 45 assists for 64 points and was ranked 3rd in the league amongst defenseman in scoring. Due to his scoring abilities, he played a two-game call-up against

Detroit Vipers The Detroit Vipers were an International Hockey League team. The team was founded in 1994, and played at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Their mascot was a polar bear named Vipe-bear. History Beginning The Vipers were originally formed as the Sal ...

. From 1998 to 1999 Tseplis played with the

Fort Worth Fire The Fort Worth Fire were a professional ice hockey team in the Central Hockey League. Their home games were played in the Fort Worth Convention Center Arena. They began operations in 1992 and ceased operations in 1999. At the conclusion of the ...

and the San Antonio Iguanas and in total scored 21 goals and 51 assists for 72 points which ranked him 5th in defenseman scoring for the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

. He participated in a game against

New Mexico Scorpions The New Mexico Scorpions were a Central Hockey League (CHL) team located in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The team was established in 1996 as a part of the Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL). In 2001, the WPHL merged with the CHL. On July 2, 20 ...

in 2001 which ended with 3-0 loss for

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

. During 2001-2002 season he netted 13 goals and contributed with 29 assists for 42 points in 63 games. By the end of the season he was awarded with the Rick Kozuback Award. For the 2002-2003 season, Tseplis initially signed for the

Lubbock Cotton Kings The Lubbock Cotton Kings were a professional ice hockey team formerly based in Lubbock, Texas as members of the Western Professional Hockey League and the Central Hockey League. The team played home games at City Bank Coliseum. History The Lubboc ...

of the CHL but ultimately never played for the team. Instead, he spent the season playing for the

Knoxville Ice Bears The Knoxville Ice Bears are a professional ice hockey team. The team competes in the Southern Professional Hockey League. They play their home games at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Ice Bears have made the playoffs ...

in the

Atlantic Coast Hockey League The Atlantic Coast Hockey League (ACHL) was a minor league hockey organization that operated between 1981 and 1987. The league was founded by Bill Coffey. The Bob Payne Trophy was awarded to the team who won the league playoff championship. Acco ...

, in what was his final season before retiring. His memorabilia is in Texas Hockey Museum.

Career statistics

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tseplis, Gatis 1971 births Living people Corpus Christi Icerays players Detroit Vipers players Fort Worth Brahmas players Fort Worth Fire players Huntsville Channel Cats (CHL) players Knoxville Ice Bears (ACHL) players HC Kometa Brno players KooKoo players Latvian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Latvian ice hockey defencemen Nashville Nighthawks players New Mexico Scorpions players San Antonio Iguanas players Soviet ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Riga Tulsa Oilers (1992–present) players Latvian expatriate ice hockey people Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Latvian expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic Expatriate ice hockey players in Finland