Latvia world juniors roster
With the IIHF World Junior Championship just around the corner, Team Latvia announced their final roster early on Wednesday morning. Head coach Artis Abols will be leading Latvia’s U20 team for the fourth straight year.
While there are a few returning players, many of Latvia’s NHL prospects from last year have aged out. As a result, this year they’ll be bringing a much different-looking group of players.
Goaltenders
(Linards Felbergs, Aksels Ozols, Janis Fecers)
Two goaltenders, Linards Felbergs and Aksels Ozols, will return from last year’s team. Ozols returned to the Latvian Optibet Hokeja Liga this season after a stint with the Charlottetown Islanders of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) during the 2023-24 season. Arbols will be very familiar with Ozols, as the 19-year-old has been his starting netminder for HK Zemgale this season. In 11 games with Zemgale, Ozols has a .922 save percentage (SV%) and a 1.96 goals-against average (GAA).
Felbergs on the other hand, made the jump to North America this season where he has become the starting goaltender for the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix. In 21 games, he has recorded a .899 SV% and a 2.
2025 World Juniors: Full Roster List, Including Team Canada Roster
The 2025 World Juniors quarterfinals stage begins after a 4-1 New Year's Eve win for USA over Canada, all ten teams were looking to make their terminal statements to give them the best seed heading into the playoff stage.
The 2025 IIHF Nature Junior Championship is set to showcase the next generation of hockey stars, with nations from around the globe competing for the coveted gold medal.
This year’s tournament promises to be one of the most exciting yet, featuring a mix of highly anticipated NHL draft prospects and seasoned junior players eager to make their mark like James Hagens, Porter Martone, and Berkly Catton.
The team with the least amount of points from each group, Kazakhstan and Germany, did not move into the quarterfinals and instead must play in the relegation game on Thursday, January 2.
2025 World Juniors List of All Rosters
Team Canada Nature Juniors Roster
- 1 - Jack Ivankovic, GK, Mississauga Steelheads
- 2 - Andrew Gibson, D, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
- 3 - Sam Dickinson, D, London Knights
- 4 - Caden Price, D, Kelowna Rockets
- 5 - Oliver Bonk, D, London Knights
- 6 - Tanner Molen
Latvia vs USA World Juniors Score And All 2025 World Juniors Scores Today
Team USA's junior hockey team added their second win on Saturday afternoon against Latvia, tallying five goals and only letting one get past goalie Hampton Slukynsky.
The two faced off in Ottawa at the Canadian Tire Centre on December 28 in the preliminary round of the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship.
The 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship is set to showcase the next generation of hockey stars, with nations from around the globe competing for the coveted gold medal.
Team USA defeated Germany 10-4 on Thursday, Dec. 26 before taking on the Latvian team.
The win bodes well for Team USA after home favorite Canada lost in an extended shootout round that ended with Latvia on top on Friday night.
USA vs Latvia World Juniors Score: USA Wins, 5-1
In the Saturday afternoon contest just 18 hours after Latvia's shocking win over Canada in a shooutout on Friday, December 27, Team USA was able to take an early lead and turn it into their second win before taking on Finland on Sunday.
Leonard drives it in! #WorldJuniorspic.twitter.com/JmhLIi4gGI
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) December 28, 2024A g
Nine Returnees, Two Drafted Prospects on Latvia's World Junior Roster
Last season, a young Latvian team made the quarterfinals at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Gothenberg, Sweden. The team that Latvia is taking to Ottawa this year has nine returnees from last year’s team.
Among those are two NHL draftees – defenseman Darels Uljanskis, an 18-year-old Anaheim Ducks prospect who is eligible to play again next year, and 6-foot-6 winger Eriks Meteiko, a Washington Capitals prospect who is the captain of the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs.
Overall, Latvia’s 27-man training-camp roster is an intersting mix of players based in Europe and North America. Only one of the players – defenseman Oskars Briedis – currently plays for a club in Latvia – the lack of high-level professional or junior hockey in the country of less than two million people means young Latvians generally go abroad at a young age if they want to make a career in hockey.
Of the 27 players, 16 are based in North America. Seven play Canadian major-junior hockey in the OHL or QMJHL, eight play U.S. junior hockey in the USHL or NAHL, and one – 16-year-old Roberts Naudinš – plays U.S. high-school hockey
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U.S. captain Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass./Boston College) cashed in on a power-play opportunity at the 5:08 mark as he redirected a pass from Hagens that threaded through a swarm of Latvian players.
Zeev Buium (San Diego, Calif./University of Denver) added a third U.S. goal at 11:13, scoring at the side of the net with the teams skating four-on-four after a nifty feed from Hagens.
Nelson recorded his second tally of the game with just six seconds remaining in the middle frame as he backhanded a shot home on the power play and the U.S. led 4-0 after 40 minutes.
Latvia got its lone goal of the game off the stick of Davids Livsics at 8:22 before Max Plante (Hermantown, Minn./University of Minnesota Duluth) finished a two-on-one with Teddy Stiga (Sudbury, Mass./Boston College) at 15:31 to account for the 5-1 final score.
The U.S. National Junior Team is back in preliminary round action against Finland tomorrow (Dec. 29) at 2:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on NHL Network.
NOTES: Danny Nelson was named U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. outshot Latvia, 41-26 … Team USA was 2-for-4 on the power play while Latvia was 0-for-3.