Lauris Darzins and Kaspars Daugavins – here at an award ceremony – end their national team careers.
photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images
After the lost qualification playoff game against Denmark, Latvian legends Lauris Darzins and Kaspars Daugavins announced the retirement from the Latvian national team after having each competed in three Olympic Winter Games and ten IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships.
Both players had their top-level debut at the 2006 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship on home ice in Riga and have worn the “C” on the Latvian national team jersey at various occasions – Darzins here in Beijing, Daugavins last year at the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship on home ice.
For Darzins his 150th game with the national team, in which he scored both goals in Latvia’s 3-2 loss, was his last. It was a decision that he only made today and announced to the media in post-game interviews.
“I’m a young person but hockey-wise I’m 37. This was my last game with our national team. But I haven’t prepared any speech because I wanted to sleep yesterday. I felt we were going to have a couple more games and today I woke up, I was just fired up for the game, so I don’t have any speech. But the fact is that this was my last game for the Latvian national team as a hockey player,” Darzins announced after his last game.
“We feel really bad right now. This this is going to stay with us for a while. But we have young guys on our team and I don’t think they want to repeat this feeling. When the next tournament comes, they will want to be the team who’s winning, not standing like this.”
With 13 big events, qualifying for the Olympics three out of four times and 150 games, Darzins leaves the national team with many emotions and experiences.
The native of Riga had played 62 games in World Championships (24 goals, 16 assists) and 12 games at Olympic Winter Games (6 goals, 4 assists). With the Latvians he reached the quarter-finals twice, at the 2009 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Switzerland and at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Russia.
“The Olympics are one of the highlights. I’ve been lucky enough to play in three Olympics, huge highlights, and ten World Championships – I remember all of them, it was awesome,” he said about his international career. “I played two World Championships back home, which was awesome. We have a nation that loves hockey. Just to be around and be in that mix is amazing. That's why I stuck around for so long, until 37. It was a great experience.”
Darzins is in his 16th season as professional hockey player. Since the establishment of the Kontinental Hockey League, he has spent his club career with Latvian KHL team Dinamo Riga but also played three years with Russian teams Ak Bars Kazan and Traktor Chelyabinsk. With the Olympics also his season has ended since Dinamo Riga failed to make the playoffs. Whether he will add another season remains open.
“I feel bad but time will go by. I’ll remember that this was a fantastic journey, and I met a lot of fantastic people during that time and I evolved myself as a personality too. I’m getting emotional but sport is emotions. I’m going to get a little rest and then see how it goes. I haven’t finished my hockey career yet. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll still play but It’s still a ‘maybe’,” he said.
For Daugavins it was clear for him that he would finish his national team career with the Olympics after the team had won the Final Olympic Qualification on home ice in Riga.
“It’s a pity that my last game was like that,” said Daugavins. “It’s a difficult decision, but my decision stays. New players must be given the opportunity. I wanted to go with a highlight.”
To Russian journalists he further explained after the game how much he wanted to advance and play against Team ROC in Denmark’s place. “I really wanted it. It’s my last tournament with the Latvian national team. I wanted to find out how we can battle against the defending champions. We probably know this opponent the best of all. After all, we all play together in the KHL,” he said.
Daugavins appeared in 12 games (2 assists) at Olympic Winter Games and 60 games (16 goals, 18 assists) in World Championships. He was also part of the Latvian national team that made it to the quarter-finals in Sochi 2014.
The 33-year-old forward will continue his career at club level. He will return to SC Bern in Switzerland where he’s in his first season of a two-year contract. During the past seven years he had played with Russian teams in the KHL. Earlier he also played seven years in North America including 98 NHL games for the Ottawa Senators and the Boston Bruins.
Both players had their top-level debut at the 2006 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship on home ice in Riga and have worn the “C” on the Latvian national team jersey at various occasions – Darzins here in Beijing, Daugavins last year at the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship on home ice.
For Darzins his 150th game with the national team, in which he scored both goals in Latvia’s 3-2 loss, was his last. It was a decision that he only made today and announced to the media in post-game interviews.
“I’m a young person but hockey-wise I’m 37. This was my last game with our national team. But I haven’t prepared any speech because I wanted to sleep yesterday. I felt we were going to have a couple more games and today I woke up, I was just fired up for the game, so I don’t have any speech. But the fact is that this was my last game for the Latvian national team as a hockey player,” Darzins announced after his last game.
“We feel really bad right now. This this is going to stay with us for a while. But we have young guys on our team and I don’t think they want to repeat this feeling. When the next tournament comes, they will want to be the team who’s winning, not standing like this.”
With 13 big events, qualifying for the Olympics three out of four times and 150 games, Darzins leaves the national team with many emotions and experiences.
The native of Riga had played 62 games in World Championships (24 goals, 16 assists) and 12 games at Olympic Winter Games (6 goals, 4 assists). With the Latvians he reached the quarter-finals twice, at the 2009 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Switzerland and at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Russia.
“The Olympics are one of the highlights. I’ve been lucky enough to play in three Olympics, huge highlights, and ten World Championships – I remember all of them, it was awesome,” he said about his international career. “I played two World Championships back home, which was awesome. We have a nation that loves hockey. Just to be around and be in that mix is amazing. That's why I stuck around for so long, until 37. It was a great experience.”
Darzins is in his 16th season as professional hockey player. Since the establishment of the Kontinental Hockey League, he has spent his club career with Latvian KHL team Dinamo Riga but also played three years with Russian teams Ak Bars Kazan and Traktor Chelyabinsk. With the Olympics also his season has ended since Dinamo Riga failed to make the playoffs. Whether he will add another season remains open.
“I feel bad but time will go by. I’ll remember that this was a fantastic journey, and I met a lot of fantastic people during that time and I evolved myself as a personality too. I’m getting emotional but sport is emotions. I’m going to get a little rest and then see how it goes. I haven’t finished my hockey career yet. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll still play but It’s still a ‘maybe’,” he said.
For Daugavins it was clear for him that he would finish his national team career with the Olympics after the team had won the Final Olympic Qualification on home ice in Riga.
“It’s a pity that my last game was like that,” said Daugavins. “It’s a difficult decision, but my decision stays. New players must be given the opportunity. I wanted to go with a highlight.”
To Russian journalists he further explained after the game how much he wanted to advance and play against Team ROC in Denmark’s place. “I really wanted it. It’s my last tournament with the Latvian national team. I wanted to find out how we can battle against the defending champions. We probably know this opponent the best of all. After all, we all play together in the KHL,” he said.
Daugavins appeared in 12 games (2 assists) at Olympic Winter Games and 60 games (16 goals, 18 assists) in World Championships. He was also part of the Latvian national team that made it to the quarter-finals in Sochi 2014.
The 33-year-old forward will continue his career at club level. He will return to SC Bern in Switzerland where he’s in his first season of a two-year contract. During the past seven years he had played with Russian teams in the KHL. Earlier he also played seven years in North America including 98 NHL games for the Ottawa Senators and the Boston Bruins.