Optimism for 2013/2014 Latvian League

It comes to a bit of a surprise when the LHF at the end of May has already started planning for the new season when it usually takes them till late July but it brings a little bit of hope. During the World Champions, President Kirovs Lipmans said he had some plans for the new season and over the past few seasons, it left many to believe that it couldnt be true. With that said, the league can see an increase in the number of clubs, to start, nine clubs have applied to join the league. The clubs returning from last season, first time Champions SMScredit.lv, Dinamo/Juniors (formally known as HK Juniors), Liepājas Metalurgs, HK Zemgale/JLSS, HK Ozolnieki/MONARCH, HS Rīga/Prizma and SK Rīga 97 (birth year changed.) New for this season, a joint club of Ventspils and Tukums to be named HK Tukums and an unknown club from Daugavpils to be named at a later date.

Not returning from last season will just be HS Rīga/Prizma second unit but they were only added to the season last year because DHK Latgale dropped out of the league. A change for this season will be the strength of Liepājas Metalurgs, this will not be their second unit like in years past as their top squad played in the Belarus Open League because this year, due to financial problems, Metalurgs has had to drop out of the BOL. The club should be not anywhere close to the full strength of the BOL club from last year but should still be able to pose a threat. The age and talent of the league should also see a slight improvement without the secondary clubs and the use of 16-17 year olds, of course that is still a small question mark because its unclear so early what the strength of HK Tukums and the make up of the Daugavpils clubs, but expect them to be about 20 years old. At the moment, the ice rink in Ventspils is currently under reconstruction so depending on how long it takes to complete, HK Tukums should start the season in Tukums and then perhaps split some matches in Ventspils but that as well is a question mark moving forward.

Despite the rumours and comments coming from Lithuania, the countries main club Elektrėnų Energija has not been announced as returning back to the LAČ, Latvian clubs have kept strong that they dont like them in the league so it seems Energija will once again have to look elsewhere for a stronger league. The league is scheduled to start sometime in early September and run until early April.

Tweets by @eurohockey