HK Liepājas Metalurgs was a professional hockey club based in

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

that fielded multiple teams over the years competing in the Belarusian Extraliga (BXL),

Latvian Hockey League The Latvian Hockey Higher League (), also known as the Optibet Hockey League () since 2017 due to sponsorship by Optibet, is the top tier league of ice hockey in Latvia. The league is competed by nine teams from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Pr ...

(LHL), and

Minor Hockey League Division B The National Junior Hockey League (NMHL) (formerly Junior Hockey League Division B) () is the second level of the Junior Hockey League, the KHL's junior ice hockey league. The B division was established in 2011 and the inaugural season was the 20 ...

(MHL B). The club was dissolved following the conclusion of the 2012-13 season when primary sponsor, industrial company Liepājas Metalurgs, discontinued support for the club. Beginning with the 2014-15 LHL season, a new club in Liepāja has been formed and currently simply goes by the name Liepāja.

History

The club was founded in 1997. In 1998 their current home arena - Olimpiskā ledus halle was built. Season set out to create a professional hockey team, which would serve as an example and should aim to be pursued for young hockey players. As of now, Liepājas Metalurgs has won six (1998/99, 1999/00, 2001/02, 2002/03, 2007/2008, 2008/2009) Latvian champion titles, twice losing in the league finals (2000/01, 2005/06) and has claimed the third spot another three times (2003/04, 2004/05, 2006/07). Six times the team played the Eastern European Hockey League, which Metalurgs managed to win in 2002. Latvian Ice Hockey Federation president Kirovs Lipmans served as president of HK Liepājas Metalurgs from 1996 to 2003. In 2010 club became an affiliate of

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

, allowing the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

club to send up to five players to Liepāja.

Retired numbers

*21 Eduards Ivanovs

Awards

* 15px

Latvian hockey league The Latvian Hockey Higher League (), also known as the Optibet Hockey League () since 2017 due to sponsorship by Optibet, is the top tier league of ice hockey in Latvia. The league is competed by nine teams from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Pr ...

champions - 2000, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2016 and maybe 2017. EDIT: Ragnars Spicins * Simple cup icon

Eastern European Hockey League champions - 2002.

References

HK Liepājas Metalurgs websiteHK Liepājas Metalurgs home arena (in Latvian)

External links

Official website
Sport in Liepāja Ice hockey clubs established in 1998 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2013 Latvian Hockey League teams Defunct ice hockey teams in Latvia Belarusian Extraleague teams Eastern European Hockey League teams 1998 establishments in Latvia 2013 disestablishments in Latvia {{Latvia-sport-stub