The Juniors Riga were an ice hockey team in

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 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 ...

. They played in the Latvian Hockey Higher League and the

Eastern European Hockey League Eastern European Hockey League (EEHL) was a regional ice hockey league which existed from 1995 to 2004. History The league was formed in 1995 by Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine, to provide a higher-level competition for teams from those cou ...

History

The Juniors Riga were founded in 1993 and first took part in the Latvian Hockey Higher League. With the establishment of the East European Hockey League in 1996, the Juniors were included in this multinational league, and finished runner-up in their first season. They joined the LHL for the semifinals this year. A year later, Juniors Riga were EEHL champions by defeating

Sokil Kiev Hockey Club Sokil Kyiv ( uk, ХК Сокіл Київ; en, Falcon Hockey Club), commonly known as Sokil Kyiv or HC Sokil, is a Ukrainian Professional Hockey League team based in Kyiv. While their home arena is located in the city, the team also ...

in five games. They participated in the 1997–98 IIHF Continental Cup. Before the 1997-98 season, the team found a new sponsor, so they were renamed Essamika Juniors Riga. They finished fourth in the EEHL. Due to financial problems, an affiliation with LB Prizma Riga was set up for 1998. The affiliate played in the LHL as LB/Essamika/Juniors-82 Riga. The club folded after the 1999-00 season, in which they participated in the Latvian Hockey League and the EEHL Division B.

Notable players

Ģirts Ankipāns Ģirts Ankipāns (born November 29, 1975) is a retired Latvian ice hockey player and coach. Currently he serves as the head coach of Dinamo Riga in KHL. Career Playing career He started his professional ice hockey career in Latvia, where he p ...

Armands Bērziņš Armands Bērziņš (born 27 December 1983) is a Latvian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for HK Prizma Riga of the Optibet Hockey League. He played for Dinamo Riga of the Kontinental Hockey League and HPK of the Finnish SM-liig ...

* Edijs Brahmanis *

Raitis Ivanāns Raitis Ivanāns (born January 3, 1979) is a Latvian former professional ice hockey forward (ice hockey), forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and was known primarily as an enforcer (ice hockey), enforcer. Playing career In 199 ...

Vladimirs Mamonovs Vladimirs Mamonovs (born April 22, 1980 in Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union) is a Latvian professional ice hockey player. He plays Left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achie ...

Sergejs Višegorodcevs Sergejs Višegorodcevs (born May 22, 1976) is a Latvian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Career Višegorodcevs played in the Russian Superleague for HC CSKA Moscow (1996–2002), CSKA Moscow from 1996 to 1998 and again from 2001 to ...

Jānis Sprukts Jānis Sprukts (born January 31, 1982) is a Latvian professional ice hockey forward (ice hockey), forward. Biography As a youth, Sprukts played in the 1996 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a team from Riga. He was drafted by P ...

Jēkabs Rēdlihs Jēkabs Rēdlihs (born March 29, 1982) is a Latvian ice hockey Defender currently playing for HK Kurbads in the Latvian Hockey League (LHL). Playing career Rēdlihs was selected in the fourth round 119th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in ...

References

1996-97 EEHL season
Ice hockey teams in Riga Defunct ice hockey teams in Latvia Latvian Hockey League teams Eastern European Hockey League teams Ice hockey clubs established in 1993 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2000 {{Europe-icehockey-team-stub