Ronalds Ķēniņš (born February 28, 1991) is 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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

currently playing for

Lausanne HC , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(NL). He previously played for the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL).

Playing career

Ķēniņš played

junior hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

in Latvia and Switzerland. At 17 years of age, he started his professional career with

GCK Lions Grasshopper Club Küsnacht Lions known as GCK Lions is a Swiss professional ice hockey team founded in 1932. They are currently playing in the Swiss League (SL), Switzerland's second tier ice hockey division, as the affiliate to the ZSC Lions. Th ...

of the

National League B The Swiss League is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League. The winners of the league each season plays a best-of-seven series against the bottom team of the NL, and if they win, the ...

(NLB), Switzerland's second-tier league, in 2008–09. After three seasons with the Lions organization, Ķēniņš joined

ZSC Lions The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions (ZSC Lions) are a professional ice hockey team located in Zürich, Switzerland, playing in the National League (NL). Their home arena is the 12,000-seat Swiss Life Arena. The team was founded in 1930 and playe ...

of the top-tier

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league ha ...

(NLA). Following the 2012–13 season, he was signed by the

on July 30, 2013. He remained in Switzerland for the 2013–14 season and recorded an NLA career-high eight goals and 25 points in 39 games. Ķēniņš moved to North America for the 2014–15 season and was assigned to the Canucks'

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 ...

(AHL) affiliate, the

Utica Comets The Utica Comets are a professional ice hockey team based in Utica, New York, with home games at the Adirondack Bank Center. They are members of the North Division in the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL) and affiliated wit ...

. After being called up midway through the season, Ķēniņš made his NHL debut on January 30, 2015, against the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

(a team that featured fellow Latvian

Zemgus Girgensons Zemgus Girgensons (born 5 January 1994) is a Latvian professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "the Latvian Locomotive", he was selected 14th overall in the 2012 NHL ...

and the former Latvian national team's head coach,

Ted Nolan Theodore John Nolan (born April 7, 1958) is a Canadian former professional hockey left winger, former head coach of the Buffalo Sabres and Latvia men's national ice hockey team. From July 2017 until May 2018 he was head coach of the Poland men' ...

). The following game, Ķēniņš scored his first career NHL goal against

Devan Dubnyk Devan Dubnyk (born May 4, 1986) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, 14th overall, of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft ...

of the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

on February 1, 2015. On April 17, Ķēniņš scored his first career

Stanley Cup playoff The season structure of the National Hockey League (NHL) is divided into the pre-season, regular season, and the Stanley Cup playoffs. In the pre-season, which is generally held during the last two weeks of September, each team plays several not-fo ...

goal on a one-timer assisted by linemate and fellow rookie

Bo Horvat Bowie William Horvat (born April 5, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected ninth overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. During his junior car ...

. On August 17, 2016, Ķēniņš agreed as a free agent to a two-year contract with his former team, the ZSC Lions of the NL. Ķēniņš plays with a Swiss player-license and isn't considered an import player in the NL. On April 28, 2018, Ķēniņš signed a three-year contract worth CHF 1.8 million with fellow National League club,

International play

At the junior level, Ķēniņš played for

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

in two

IIHF World U18 Championships The IIHF U18 World Championship is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation for national under-18 ice hockey teams from around the world. The tournament is usually played in April and is organized according to a sy ...

(second tier Division I play) and two

IIHF World U20 Championships The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or simply the "World Juniors" in ice hockey circles, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is t ...

(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 Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''E ...

and has gone on to play in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In February 2014, he played for Latvia at the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1991 births Living people Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players of Latvia Latvian ice hockey left wingers Lausanne HC players Ice hockey people from Riga HC Sierre players Undrafted National Hockey League players Utica Comets players Vancouver Canucks players ZSC Lions players {{Latvia-icehockey-bio-stub