Optibet League. September 11, 19:00. Daugavpils, Daugavpils Ice Palace.
Broadcast: OHL website.
The time has finally come for Oleg Tymchenko’s wards to start the new Optibet League season. Their first opponent will be the combined team HS Riga/Dinaburga.
For the new season, our upcoming opponents are headed by Raimonds Vilkoits, who replaced Juris Ozols in this position. Vilkoits has been working within the Riga structure for a long time, so he is well aware of the young players’ capabilities.
For the upcoming year, the team’s philosophy remains unchanged – developing young players. However, there are some exceptions. Remaining on the roster from last season are Marats Voscinskis, Kristaps Kandis, Toms and Markuss Pastars, Felikss Niks Paurs, and Janis Paulins.
They were joined by a number of hockey players from Dinaburg: youngsters Edvard Palijus, Ignas Liegus, Martins Leits, Daniils Gasparovics, Edgars Ablazevics, Ukrainian Ivan Kozachkov, as well as 32-year-old Arturs Sevcenko.
Speaking of experience, it is provided by players well-known to Kyiv Capitals fans – Janis Voris and Maksims Sirokovs. Instead, the vast majority of the other hockey players present on the roster played for the HS Riga in the second-tier division and junior championships.
HS Riga/Dinaburga has already played two away matches in the championship, which ended in a victory over Hockey Punks (4:3) and a defeat to Mogo/RSU (1:4). Currently, Raimonds Vilkoits’ team occupies fourth place in the standings.
By the way, it is exactly two representatives of this team who are currently the best in the league according to the goal+assist system. We are talking about Arturs Sevcenko (2+2) and Armands Apsitis (2+1).
The Kyiv team approach the upcoming match after two friendly games in Torun, which also resulted in a victory and a defeat. Yesterday, our team announced on social media that Gatis Sprukts will be the captain for the new season, with Deivids Sarkanis and Illia Korenchuk serving as his assistants.
Last season, these opponents met five times. Kyiv Capitals were stronger three times, and the Riga team came out on top twice. However, there have been an enormous number of changes in the rosters of both teams.
HS Riga/Dinaburga will play their home match in Daugavpils. So, we are anticipating the start of the season, a game in a new arena, and looking forward to meeting old acquaintances.
