HK Liepāja are a
Latvian 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 ...
team that plays in the
Optibet Hockey League, the top tier of the sport in Latvia. The team is based in
Liepāja
Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see #Names and toponymy, other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Planning Region, Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after R ...
and play their home games at the
Liepājas Olimpiskā Centra ice hall.
History
Hokeja Klubs Liepāja was founded in 2014,
following the collapse of the previous team in the city;
HK Liepājas Metalurgs
HK Liepājas Metalurgs was a hockey club based in Liepāja, Latvia that fielded multiple teams over the years competing in the Belarusian Extraliga (BXL), Latvian Hockey League (LHL), and Minor Hockey League Division B (MHL B). The club was di ...
folded as a result of their title sponsor, Liepājas Metalurgs, pulling funding as a result of financial difficulties steming from the
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
.
Several months later, the company would declare themselves insolvent. The eight Latvian championships won by won HK Liepājas Metalurgs is, as of February 2021, the most won by any team.
HK Liepāja began play in the
2014–15 Latvian Hockey League season and immediately assembled a strong side, finishing 2nd in the regular season before losing in the play-offs semi-finals to
HK Kurbads
HK Kurbads is an ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It is a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League and also compete for the Latvian Cup, winning Latvian Hockey League in 2016–17 and 2017–18 season. The team played its home games at ...
. They would pick up a medal however, as they beat
HK Zemgale in the bronze medal game.
The team fared even better in their
second season, finishing 1st in the regular season, before going on to claim the Latvian championship by beating
HK Kurbads
HK Kurbads is an ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It is a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League and also compete for the Latvian Cup, winning Latvian Hockey League in 2016–17 and 2017–18 season. The team played its home games at ...
in the play-off final. The
following season saw Liepāja finish 4th overall, before losing in the play-off semi-finals to
HK Mogo
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
.
The
2017-18 season saw the team improve in the regular season, finishing 2nd, however, they again losing in the play-off semi-finals to Kurbads, who would ultimately go on to win the league. In the off-season the team parted ways with Head Coach Igors Ļebedevs, who subsequently joined
HK Zemgale as an Assistant Coach, and replaced him with Maksims Bogdanovs. Under their new coach, Liepāja's fortunes worsened, finishing the 2018-19 season in 5th place, causing them to miss out on the play-offs for the first year since their inception. The 2019-20 season saw the team finish in 4th place before the play-offs were cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. In the off-season, Bogdanovs was replaced with former
KHL
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 ...
Head Coach and General Manager
Normunds Sējējs.
Due to winning the Latvian league in 2016, the team qualified for the
2016–17 IIHF Continental Cup
The 2016–17 Continental Cup was the 20th edition of the IIHF Continental Cup, Europe's second-tier ice hockey club competition organised by International Ice Hockey Federation. The season started on 30 September 2016 and the final tournament was ...
, where they were drawn in Group B alongside Turkish side
Zeytinburnu Belediyespor
Zeytinburnu Belediyespor, short for ( tr, Zeytinburnu Belediyesi Buz Hokeyi Takımı), is the ice hockey team of Zeytinburnu Belediye S.K. in Istanbul, Turkey founded by the Municipality of Zeytinburnu district in 2010. Currently, the team compete ...
,
CH Jaca of Spain, and British champions
Nottingham Panthers
The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League. Their main team sponsor is the Nottingham Building Society.
The Nottingham Panthers have won four ...
. HK Liepāja would comfortably beat both CH Jaca and Zeytinburnu Belediyespor before losing their final game against the Panthers.
As a result, Liepāja finished 2nd in their group, and did not progress any further in the comeptition.
The Panthers, who finished Group B in 1st place, would ultimately go on to win the Continental Cup.
In 2020 HK Liepāja took place in the inaugural
Baltic Hockey League
The Baltic Hockey League ( et, Balti Hokiliiga; lv, Baltijas hokeja līga; lt, Baltijos lygos) is a professional ice hockey competition based in the Baltic states featuring club teams from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The competition was ...
, a competition made up of two teams from each of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Liepāja represented Latvia alongside compatriots HK Mogo.They went on to win their group, beating both Estonian outfit
HC Everest
HC Everest Kohtla-Järve is an ice hockey team located in Kohtla-Järve, Estonia, and playing in the Coolbet Hokiliiga, the top tier of ice hockey in Estonia. They play home games at the Kohtla-Järve Ice Hall.
History
HC Everest were founded ...
, and
Hockey Punks Vilnius of Lithuania.
As a result they progressed to the final round, due initially to take place in December 2020, however, this was postponed until February 2021 as a result of several HK Mogo players having been exposed to COVID-19.
In early February the final round was again postponed due to the pandemic, with the date to be announced when the Covid situation improves.
Roster
Updated February 17, 2021.
Season-by-season record
''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes''
Honours
Latvian Championships:
*
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
Team records
Career
These are the top five scorers in HK Liepāja history.
''Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
Penalty minutes:
Dmitrijs Korņilovs, 214
Season
Regular season
* Most goals in a season:
Mark Kaleinikovas, 26 (2019-20)
* Most assists in a season:
Bruno Zabis, 37 (2014-15)
* Most points in a season:
Bruno Zabis, 58 (2014-15)
* Most penalty minutes in a season:
Dmitrijs Korņilovs, 117 (2015–16)
Playoffs
* Most goals in a playoff season:
Egils Kalns, 8 (2015–16)
* Most assists in a playoff season:
Bruno Zabis, 12 (2015–16)
* Most points in a playoff season:
Bruno Zabis, 19 (2015–16)
* Most penalty minutes in a playoff season:
Dmitrijs Korņilovs, 46 (2014–15)
Notable players
*
Roberts Bukarts
*
Mārtiņš Dzierkals
*
Māris Jučers
Māris Jučers (born June 18, 1987) is a Latvian professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently a free agent having last played for HK Liepāja of the Latvian Hockey Higher League.
Between 2007 and 2011 Jučers played for the Latvian club M ...
*
Dmitri Pestunov
Dmitry Pestunov (born January 22, 1985) is a Russian professional ice hockey player who currently plays for Gyergyói HK of the Erste Liga. He was selected by Phoenix Coyotes in the 3rd round (80th overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
Pestunov ...
Notable coaches
*
Normunds Sējējs
References
External links
HK Liepāja*
{{DEFAULTSORT:HK Liepāja
Ice hockey clubs established in 2014
Latvian Hockey League teams
2014 establishments in Latvia
Sport in Liepāja
Ice hockey teams in Latvia