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Lauris Dārziņš (born January 28, 1985) is a former Latvian professional
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
forward who played with
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 ...
in the
Kontinental Hockey League 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 ...
(KHL) before retiring in 2022. Currently (2024) he is the assistant of the Latvian team coach.


Playing career


Junior

Dārziņš was drafted in the 9th round, 268th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the
Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...
out of the junior hockey system Finnish team Lukko Rauma. In the 2004–05 season, Dārziņš played in the
North American North America is a continent in the Northern and Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the sou ...
WHL with the then-reigning
Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...
champion
Kelowna Rockets The Kelowna Rockets are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia. The team plays in the B.C Division of the Western Hockey League's Western Conference, playing their home games at Prospera Place. The Rockets a ...
, alongside fellow Predators prospect and 2003 draft choice Shea Weber. In two seasons with the Rockets, Dārziņš recorded 32 goals and 67 points in 90 games, helping the Rockets win the Ed Chynoweth Cup in 2005, although they failed to repeat as Memorial Cup champions.


Return to Europe

After completing two seasons with the Rockets, Dārziņš went unsigned with the Predators and opted to return to Finland in 2006, signing with Ilves Tampere of the
SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...
. After just thirteen games, Dārziņš moved to HC Vsetín, then of the
Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga () is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created in 1993 following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia midway through the 1992–93 Czechoslovak Extraliga season (which all Slovak and ...
, where he again played just thirteen games, scoring three goals. In the summer of 2007, Dārziņš signed on with HC Třinec but played just one game for the club before latching on with HK Gomel of the
Belarusian Extraleague The Belarusian Extraleague, abbreviated BHL, also known as the BETERA Extraleague for sponsorship reasons, or known as the Belarusian Open Championship, (), officially formed in 2006, is the top ice hockey league in Belarus. In its past, it has s ...
. Dārziņš finally broke through professionally with a strong campaign for the Belarusian side, with seventeen goals and 34 points in 32 games in the 2007–08 campaign, leading the team in goals and points. This strong season garnered him some attention among stronger Eastern European clubs, and on May 27, 2008, he signed on with Russian club
HC MVD HC MVD () was a professional ice hockey club based in Balashikha, Moscow Oblast, Russia. They were members of the Tarasov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. They are best known for winning the silver medal in the KHL backstopped by all star ...
of the newly re-branded Russian SuperLeague.


Dinamo Riga

Dārziņš would never play a game for MVD and eventually landed with the resurrected
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 ...
club in his hometown for the team's inaugural campaign. Dārziņš scored just eight goals and seventeen points in 56 games, and the team scored just 132 goals total but found their way into the playoffs before getting swept in the first round by
Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...
. Dārziņš would return to Riga in 2009–10 and enjoyed a breakout season. The winger scored fourteen goals, was the third-most on the team, and had 31 total points in 54 games. Riga returned to the playoffs, upsetting top-seeded
SKA Saint Petersburg Hockey Club SKA (), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey Le ...
three games to one, but falling in the second round to MVD four games to one. Dārziņš scored two goals and four points in nine playoff games. In the spring of 2010, Dārziņš' contract with Riga expired. After being briefly linked with Russian powerhouse club
Ak Bars Kazan Hockey Club Ak Bars (, , ), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a professional ice hockey club based in Kazan, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). History Founded as Mashstroy Kazan in 1956, the n ...
, Dārziņš revealed that he had been in contact with scouts with the NHL club that drafted him, the
Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...
, about a possible return to North American hockey. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Dārziņš was the fourth-leading scorer in Riga's two-year history, with 47 points in 112 games. Dārziņš ultimately spurned any forays into North America in favor of another season with his hometown club. He was rewarded with his best offensive totals at any level, scoring 21 goals and 23 assists in 45 games for Dinamo, leading the team in goals and points. Dārziņš was named to the 2011 KHL All-Star Game in St. Petersburg as part of Team Yashin and finished 16th in the KHL in scoring. Dinamo returned to the Gagarin Cup playoffs, with Dārziņš scoring ten points in eleven games as Riga upset
Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...
four games to two in the first round. On May 3, 2011, Dārziņš joined
Ak Bars Kazan Hockey Club Ak Bars (, , ), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a professional ice hockey club based in Kazan, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). History Founded as Mashstroy Kazan in 1956, the n ...
on a multi-year contract. In June 2013 he was traded to
Traktor Chelyabinsk Traktor Chelyabinsk, also known as Traktor, or HC Traktor Chelyabinsk, () is a professional ice hockey club based in Chelyabinsk, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). From 1967 to 2009, the te ...
. In January 2014, Dārziņš returned to Dinamo Riga.


International play

Dārziņš has been a regular fixture on the Latvian national team at varying levels since 2002. At 17, he made his debut with the national team at the Division I (second tier)
IIHF World U18 Championship 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 sys ...
, scoring two goals and three total points in five games. Dārziņš returned to the U18s the following year, posting one goal and two points in five games. He broke through with the Under-20 team in 2003 and would go on to play in three Division I
IIHF World U20 Championship The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), sometimes referred to as World Juniors, 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 traditionally ...
s, where he would score 12 goals and 24 points in 15 games over three tournaments. In 2006, Dārziņš made his debut with the full national team as a 21-year-old in the 2006 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships, which were held in his hometown of
Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
. He has not missed the tournament since his debut, scoring nine goals and twelve points in 23 games over four tournaments. In February 2010, Dārziņš represented Latvia at the
2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...
in Vancouver, recording one assist in four games. At the
2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...
, he was the leading scorer on the Latvian team with four goals and one assist in five games.


Career statistics


Regular season and playoffs


International


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Darzins, Lauris 1985 births Living people Ak Bars Kazan players Dinamo Riga players Latvian expatriate ice hockey players in Russia HK Gomel players Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Ilves players Kelowna Rockets players Latvian ice hockey left wingers Nashville Predators draft picks Olympic ice hockey players for Latvia Ice hockey people from Riga VHK Vsetín players HC Oceláři Třinec players Traktor Chelyabinsk players Latvian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Latvian expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic Latvian expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Latvian expatriate ice hockey players in Belarus