Mogo comes out on top in the Optibet Hockey League Regular Season, Vilnius sneaks in to the final play-off spot

Yet another Optibet Hockey League regular season has come and gone, having brought with it glory and dominance for two teams – regular season champions Mogo and second-placed Zemgale – alongside honor for one team – the lone Estonian representatives, HC Panter – and massive defeats for the rest. With each team having played all of their 36 regular season games, how exactly did the Optibet Hockey League regular season end up looking like at the finish line?

Last year’s champions Mogo are here to defend the title!

It’s no surprise that Mogo’s plans from the very beginning were to once more hunt for Baltic gold. The team has always harbored the highest expectations and intent since their first season, when they became the 2015 Latvian champions, as well as becoming champions two more times since then, and reaching the finals another two times. The head of Mogo, Girts Ankipans, has continuously worked since 2020 to refine the team and it’s playing style, slowly transitioning to becoming a professional club that can dominate domestically and compete in continental tournaments. Their dominance has been especially prevalent this season, as even Zemgale barely had any counters to Mogo’s play. With a strong playstyle that accentuates speed, discipline and aggressive offense, it’s no surprise that they ended up the highest-scoring team, with a total of 214 goals in 36 games – nearly 6 goals per game! Excluding their games against 2nd-placed Zemgale, they scored a whopping 197 goals in 30 games, for just over 6.5 goals per game!
It’s not just their offense that was a standout, however, as they also had the best discipline and defense in the whole league. With 214 goals scored, just 59 goals allowed and just 389 penalty minutes, Mogo held the regular season title for best offense, best defense and best team discipline, something that was absolutely insurmountable for any team in the league. They also suffered just three losses in their 36 games, having lost only against Prizma (2-3OT), Panter (2-5) and Zemgale (2-1).

Individually, Mogo’s captain Gints Meija became the top scorer for the team (and in the league) for the second year in a row, having put up 20 goals and 36 assists for 56 points(!) in the 30 games he participated in. Forwards Deivids Sarkanis (23G, 26A, 30GP), Elviss Zelubovskis (22G, 24A, 36GP), Karlis Ozolins (23G, 17A, 24GP) each added their fair share of offense, while the veteran Krisjanis Redlihs (9G, 22A, 30GP) was the standout pick from the defensemen. Notably, Elviss Zelubovskis also broke the record for all-time most games played in the Optibet Hockey League, smashing the former record of 447 games with his own 475.

From the younger players, 19-year-old forward Kristers Ansons was a definite standout, as he continued his strong return to the Latvian league since a failed stint for Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the QMJHL last season. Ansons put up 15 goals and 16 assists in 22 games played, becoming the team’s 7th best scorer and showcasing his great shot.

Regular season record:
36 GP – 33W – 2L – 1OTL – 67TP – +155
Biggest win:
14-2 vs Rigas HS (9th October 2024)
Biggest loss:
2-5 vs Panter (27th November 2024)
Best point scorer:
Gints Meija (56 points; 30 games played)
Best goal scorer:
Karlis Ozolins (23 goals; 24 games played)
Best Sv% (>10GP):
Henrijs Ancs (.940sv%, 1.38 GAA, 17 games played)

Zemgale raced to close 2nd place, once more putting in a challenge for the championship

Zemgale’s head coach Artis Ābols is well-known for his defensive gameplan, and this season is no exception. Zemgale’s enjoyed a defensively-sound game throughout the season, coasting to a second-place finish in the top tier of Baltic hockey. They’re one of just two teams which harbor realistic expectations of triumphing in the Optibet Hockey League this season, and their second-place finish – alongside the second-best offense and defense in the league – both further complement these expectations. Mogo and Panter proved to be the only two struggles they faced this season, with those being the only two teams Zemgale lost points against. The rest of the league was a walk in the park, and the young side – averaging just 22 and a half years of age – is now looking to battle for the Baltic champion title in the play-offs.
Zemgale’s offense this season was supplemented by the signings of forwards Antons Trastasenkovs (24YO, from Grastorps IK, Swedish Division 2) and their former captain Rustams Begovs (31YO, from Herforder EV, German 3rd tier). Trastasenkovs put up 14 goals and 18 assists in 30 games, becoming the team’s fifth best scorer, while Begovs picked up a total of 35 points in the 5 games he participated in.

The top three scorers for Zemgale were mostly the same as last season, except for one change – Former Latvian U20 forward, 20YO Kevins Stradnieks picked up the pace this year, becoming Zemgale’s top scorer with 20 goals and 30 assists in 36 games played, also becoming the league’s 2nd best scorer. Stradnieks has quickly developed into a star for the Jelgava-based side, and much of the team’s offense in the future will rely on whether or not they can manage to keep the young forward.
The team’s scoring top-3 was rounded out by Gatis Gricinskis (11G, 33A, 33GP) and Gustavs Millers (12G, 24A, 35GP). Zemgale also managed to sign 20YO forward Rinalds Vutkevics, who had an unsuccessful stint at Hokki in the Finnish 2nd tier with just 1 assist in 21 games. Vutkevics, who was Zemgale’s third best scorer last season, supplemented the team’s scoring this year with 17 points in 14 games played.

It was also very nice to see the young goaltending prospect Patriks Plumins, who just turned 17 in January, making his debut for the team. Plumins started in 6 games, picking up a .923sv% and 1.17GAA. It’ll be interesting to see whether Plumins decides to move overseas for next season, or stay in Latvia for one more season.

Regular season record:
36 GP – 29W – 4L – 3OTL – 61TP – +129
Biggest win:
9-1 vs Energija (11th January 2025)
Biggest loss:
2-5 vs Mogo (22nd February 2025)
Best point scorer:
Kevins Stradnieks (50 points; 36 games played)
Best goal scorer:
Kevins Stradnieks (20 goals; 36 games played)
Best Sv% (>10GP):
Aksels Ozols (.925sv%, 1.82 GAA, 14 games played)

Panter Tallinn were the surprise breakout team of the regular season, but fell a long way short of their mid-season first place

Panter was the surprise of the season, as they had managed to hold on to first place in the league until 21st december. The team’s management have put together a professional team that’s been in the running for a victory in nearly every game they’ve played. Some of their season highlights definitely include the two victories against Zemgale, as well as a 5-2 victory against Mogo. Despite these highs in the regular season, they’ve also been intermixed with some deep lows – Panter struggled against the lower-ranked teams, with losses against the likes of Vilnius Hockey Punks, Rigas HS and Prizma. At the same time, however, they also managed to blow those teams out of the water in a few of their games. Panter has had a rollercoaster of a season, and their final station ended up being third place in the league.
The retention of most of last year’s top scorers for the team, notably, Rasmus Kiik (11G+27A in 34GP), Daniil Fursa (16G+17A in 29GP), Nikita Puzakov (10G+22A in 36GP) as well as others, massively improved the team’s chances this year. On top of that, the additions of Finnish forwards Tomi-Petteri Ansio (14G+10A in 34GP) and Niko Kivela (7G+12A in 23GP) supplemented the offense nicely, though the latter left the team for TUTO Hockey in the Mestis late in the season. Panter ended up with the fourth-best offense in the league, which was complemented by the third-best defense.

Panter’s goaltending duo of Estonian national team player Villem-Henrik Koitmaa (22GP, .907sv%, 3.19GAA) and Finnish goalie Arvo Konttila (15GP, .914sv%, 3.34GAA) is also not to be understated. They’ve managed to steal multiple victories for Panter, and they could very well do the same in their playoff series against Zemgale.

Regular season record:
36 GP – 21W – 12L – 3OTL – 45TP – -8
Biggest win:
8-3 vs Vilnius Hockey Punks (8th December 2024)
Biggest loss:
2-10 vs Mogo (25th September 2024)
Best point scorer:
Rasmus Kiik (38 points; 34 games played)
Best goal scorer:
Daniil Fursa (16 goals; 29 games played)
Best Sv% (>10GP):
Arvo Konttila (.914sv%, 3.34 GAA, 15 games played)

Vilnius Hockey Punks entered the battle for play-offs from out of nowhere, and succeeded!

Imagine being one of two teams with a goal differential worse than -90, being one of just two teams to not even reach the 100 goals scored mark, allowing the most goals against out of any team in the league… and finishing in a playoff position! It may sound impossible, but this year Vilnius has become one such team. A surprise 7-game-win-streak spanning from 22nd January (4-3 win vs Energija) up to 23rd February (4-3 win vs Panter) turned out to be all they needed to propel themselves from last place in the league to the prized final play-off spot. Vilnius has found themselves constantly struggling against both the high-end teams as well as the lower-end teams, and they should count themselves lucky – a 7-6 victory against Prizma, in which Vilnius had to come back from a 2 goal deficit – just about sealed the fate for both of these teams. It remains to be seen how they’ll perform against Mogo in the semi-finals, but if the regular season series has anything to show, it won’t be pretty. The Punks were able to keep Mogo below 8 goals just once, in a 1-7 loss.

Vilnius’ scoring was led by Ilja Cetvertak (12G+21A in 35GP), massively helped out by a few Finnish players – forward Alex Maunula (11G+17A in 28GP) and defenseman Vertti Vuoksiala (5G+19A in 27GP).
The goaltending was mediocre at best, with their best goaltender – Artur Pavliukov – putting up a statsheet of .886sv% and 5.08GAA in 20 games played.

Regular season record:
36 GP – 13W – 21L – 2OTL – 28TP – -93
Biggest win:
6-2 vs Rigas HS (5th March 2025)
Biggest loss:
2-11 vs Zemgale (8th January 2025)
Best point scorer:
Ilja Cetvertak (33 points; 35 games played)
Best goal scorer:
Timonas Mazulis (12 goals; 30 games played)
Best Sv% (>10GP):
Artur Pavliukov (.886sv%, 5.08 GAA, 20 games played)

Energija were expected to battle for fourth place against Prizma, but ultimately both fell short

Before the surprise rise of the Hockey Punks, it appeared that the race for the final play-off spot would be between Prizma and Energija. While it seemed that Prizma’s veterans – most notably Edijs Brahmanis, Roberts Jekimovs, Armands Berzins and Krists Apsitis – would be enough for the team to come out on top of the pack of 4 fighting for the fourth playoff spot, Energija looked to be able to pack a punch as well.
Ultimately, both of these teams would surprisingly fall short, and it’s entirely due to losses at the wrong times to the wrong teams. Both of these teams lost to Vilnius multiple times, significantly lowering their own chances of reaching the playoffs. Neither of these teams are strong enough to force victories against the top teams on their own, just about fully relying on those teams committing costly mistakes themselves. With both of them being teams that struggle to create chances on their own, they’d have to rely on good goaltending to steal some games for them, but neither could rely on even their goalies. The battle between the two teams turned into a scramble, that, ultimately, both teams ended up losing.
Rather surprisingly, Prizma’s offense was actually better than Panter’s, with 117 goals scored to Panter’s 114, but it came at a much worse defense – 147 goals allowed to Panter’s 122. Energija was slightly worse in both stats, having scored 105 goals and allowed just one more than Prizma – 148.
Vilnius overtook both of them by just one point.

Prizma
Regular season record:
36 GP – 12W – 21L – 3OTL – 27TP – -30
Biggest win:
7-0 vs Rigas HS (22nd October 2024)
Biggest loss:
1-7 vs Mogo (8th March 2025)
Best point scorer:
Roberts Jekimovs (37 points; 31 games played)
Best goal scorer:
Roberts Jekimovs (17 goals; 31 games played)
Best Sv% (>6GP):
Janis Sidass (.908sv%, 2.89 GAA, 25 games played)
Energija
Regular season record:
36 GP – 13W – 22L – 1OTL – 27TP – -43
Biggest win:
7-0 vs Vilnius Hockey Punks (9th October 2024)
Biggest loss:
1-9 vs Zemgale (11th January 2025)
Best point scorer:
Tadas Kumeliauskas (32 points; 29 games played)
Best goal scorer:
Aivaras Bendzius (18 goals; 34 games played)
Best Sv% (>10GP):
Arkadijus Grigaravicius-Reyzin (.880sv%, 3.59 GAA, 23 games played)

The young Rigas HS finished their worst season since 2018 in clear last place with just five games won

From the highs of last year’s group of players, to the current-lows of the new generation, the difference between their performance last year and this season has been drastic. With an average age of just 17, the younger generation has resulted in one of the worst finishes in Rigas HS history – last place with just 5 wins in the 36 games played. While their defense wasn’t the worst in the league – with their 180 goals allowed being beaten only by Vilnius’ 189 – they certainly did not have the offense to make up for it. Their 70 goals was by far the lowest amount scored by any team in the league, and they slumped to a last place finish. The young team managed to defeat only Prizma (3-0), Energija (4-1; 4-0; 4-2) and Panter (4-3OT).
Rigas HS’ offense was mainly led by Maksims Saperins and Gustavs Spigulis (both 9G+11A in 34GP), along with some scoring from Roberts Janis Polis (9G+8A in 33GP) and Kristians Utnans (7G+10A in 21GP).
The goaltending duo for the team was Arturs Skrebutens (.892sv%, 4.79GAA in 16GP) and Ivans Kufterins (.891sv%, 4.17GAA in 25GP), both of whom performed relatively well for the arduous task.

Regular season record:
36 GP – 5W – 26L – 5OTL – 15TP – -110
Biggest win:
4-0 vs Energija (2nd November 2024)
Biggest loss:
2-14 vs Mogo (9th November 2024)
Best point scorer:
Maksims Saperins & Gustavs Spigulis (20 points; 34 games played)
Best goal scorer:
Roberts Janis Polis (9 goals; 3 games played)
Best Sv% (>10GP):
Arturs Skrebutens (.892sv%, 4.79 GAA, 16 games played)

Concluding remarks

With Kurbads leaving the Optibet Hockey League, this season provided much less competition and way fewer high-level games than the year before. The derbies between Mogo and Zemgale once more became the clear highlight of the season, with each game providing intense, tightly-knit hockey.
The lone Estonian representative this season, HC Panter, became a surprise hit, and managed to bring a lot of intrigue to the league in a year when it was expected that Mogo and Zemgale would dominate every other team they faced. It remains to be seen if they can keep this up over a multitude of years, but the Tallinn-based side has already become the most successful non-Latvian team since the league decided to once more invite teams from the other Baltic leagues starting from the 2022-2023 season.
The Lithuanian teams continue to struggle, however, as not one has managed to finish in the top-3 spots in the regular season standings, even in a year where just 7 teams participate. Prizma also felt like a disappointment, as their roster should have been strong enough for a fourth-place finish. Rigas HS also didn’t bring much to the table this year, and rightfully finished in last place.

The rumor mills are already active for next season, however, as it may feature two Latvian teams returning. One of the two, which has already confirmed their participation, is Liepaja / LSSS. Liepaja’s last season in the league was the 2021/22 season, when the team finished in third place and lost to eventual champions Zemgale in the semi-finals. It would be amazing for hockey to return to the sports-obsessed city of Liepaja, and they would surely bring a lot of competitiveness and professionalism to the league.
The other potential returnee is Daugavpils-based Dinaburga DSS, which spent this season a tier below in the Latvian combined 1. Liga/JAHL. They ultimately finished in 6th place, but had a few notable standout players, such as Edgars Petrovs (44TP in 23GP), Arturs Uzulis (30TP in 24GP) and Vladislavs Barkovskis (28TP in 22GP). With an average age of just 18 years, it’s highly likely that the team would at the very least be competitive against other weaker sides, such as Rigas HS or the Lithuanian representatives. The manager of Dinaburga DSS has confirmed in a recent interview that a potential return to the Optibet Hockey League is on the table, but they will see whether or not another year in essentially the Latvian 2nd tier would be more beneficial.

All in all, despite the step back that the league has taken this year, there is still slight positivity for the upcoming season. With the potential return of two Latvian teams, as well as it being no secret that Estonia would be willing to have another team play in the league, an expansion to the amount of teams in the league is expected. As long as no teams run into financial troubles – like Kurbads and Kaunas City last offseason – the next season should be a great step forward. However, the current season is still yet to end, with the semi-finals just around the corner! Mogo will be facing off against the Vilnius Hockey Punks, while Zemgale will be the home team in the series against the professional Panter!

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