HK Zemgale/LBTU is a Latvian professional
ice hockey team that plays in the
Latvian Hockey Higher League. The team is based in
Jelgava and play their home games at the
Jelgava Ice hall.
History
The team was founded in 2002, shortly after the opening of the Jelgava Ice hall, in cooperation with the
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
.
The team was initially called ASK/Zemgale, and joined the
Latvian Hockey Higher League, in addition the team also participated in Division 2 of the
Eastern European Hockey League during the
2002–03 season. At the culmination of the season, financial issues meant that the team split in two, with the ASK franchise relocating to
Ogre, creating
ASK/Ogre
ASK/Ogre was an ice hockey club in Ogre, Latvia founded in 2003. Their home arena was Vidzemes Ledus Halle.
The team finished second in the Latvian championships in the 2003/04, 2004/05, 2006/07 and 2007/08 seasons. In 2008/09 they played in t ...
, whilst the Zemgale side of the partnership remained in the town, operating under the name HK Zemgale.
The team remained in the Latvian first tier for two further seasons before disbanding following the culmination of the
2004–05 season.
Zemgale remained inactive until the
2010–11 season, when they reformed and returned to the Latvian top tier,
where they have played since. Usually a mid-table team,
HK Zemgale's most successful season came in the
2017-18 season where they made it to the play-off final, ultimately losing 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 ...
, under Head Coach
Haralds Vasiljevs.
In 2013, the team established a partnership with the
Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies ( lv, Latvijas Lauksaimniecības universitāte (''LLU'')).
In addition, Zemgale also serve as the
farm team to the
KHL's 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 ...
.
During the 2020/21 season,
David Levin played a handful of games for the team whilst under contract with Dinamo.
Roster
Updated February 11, 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''
Team records
Career
These are the top five scorers in HK Zemgale/LLU history.
''Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
Penalty minutes:
Krišs Kupčus, 211
Season
Regular season
* Most goals in a season:
Guntis Pujāts, 31 (2011–12)
* Most assists in a season:
Guntis Pujāts, 38 (2011–12)
* Most points in a season:
Guntis Pujāts, 69 (2011–12)
* Most penalty minutes in a season:
Gatis Gajevskis, 135 (2004–05)
Playoffs
* Most goals in a playoff season:
Ivan Rybchik
Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgar ...
, 9 (2017–18)
* Most assists in a playoff season:
Artūrs Āboliņš, 7 (2014–15)
* Most points in a playoff season:
Māris Miezis, 11 (2014–15)
* Most penalty minutes in a playoff season:
Olafs Aploks, 41 (2017–18)
Notable players
*
David Levin
Notable coaches
*
Haralds Vasiljevs
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:HK zemgale
Ice hockey clubs established in 2002
Latvian Hockey League teams
2002 establishments in Latvia
Jelgava
Ice hockey teams in Latvia