Dinamo Riga (original)

This article is about a former hockey club. For the current club, see Dinamo Riga.
Dinamo Riga
City Riga, Latvia
League Soviet Hockey Championship
1978-1995
Founded 1946
Operated 1995
Home arena Rīgas Sporta pils
Colors               
Franchise history
Dinamo Riga 1946–1949
Daugava Riga 1949–1967
Dinamo Riga 1967–1991
Stars Rīga 1991–1992
Pārdaugava Rīga 1993–1995

Dinamo Riga (Latvian: Rīgas Dinamo) was an ice hockey club, based in Riga, Latvia. It was founded in 1946 and disestablished in 1995 as Pārdaugava Rīga.

History of Dinamo Riga

Dinamo Riga was established in 1946, after the re-occupation of the Latvia by Soviet Union.[1] The club was one of the 12 teams which participated in the first Soviet championship in season of 1946/1947.[1] The team's first official game was a victory 5-1 against Dinamo Tallinn on December 1946.[1] First season was considered as a success, as the team finished tournament in the fourth place.[2] The club's first roster mainly consisted from the players of the interwar Latvian national team.[1]

At first club had no permanent place, where the home games were held, but since the season 1950/1951, Dinamo started to play home games at Daugava Stadium,[3] but the games still was played on a natural ice rink and the go ahead of the games depended on a suitable weather,[3] situation didn't change until 1960/1961 season, when the stadium was heavily reconstructed.[3]

Dinamo Riga changed its name to Daugava Riga before the start of 1949/1950 season, and kept it for a decade, before team changed name again.[4] In mid-fifties the core of the team - players, which started their career's before Second World War, started to retire,[5] and team started to slip further down the table as the years went by.[5]

The club again changed its name and since season 1958/1959 and now was known as RVR Riga,[6] but the name didn't last long as the club two years later was renamed once again to Daugava (RVR).[7] Name changes didn't help teams cause and the club slipped to third division.[8] During the sixties the club adopted new player and staff recruiting policy, switching from local talent developing to gathering players from all corners of Soviet Union and even abroad.[5] The club again changed owners and the name of Dinamo Riga was restored before 1967/1968 season,[9] which ended as the worst season in club's entire history.[8]

In the 1987-88 season, Dinamo Riga had their best finish, losing to CSKA Moscow in the final.

In 1975, Viktor Hatulev of Dinamo Rīga became the first ice hockey player from the Soviet Union drafted by the National Hockey League. He never had a chance to play for the NHL, as Soviet players were not allowed to play for foreign teams. In season 1976-77 Dinamo Rīga star Helmuts Balderis was the leading scorer, had the most goals, and won the best player of the season award (MVP). He was also the goal leader in 1975-76 and leading scorer in 1983. He scored 333 goals in his Soviet Union League career.

After the end of Soviet Union, the team continued to play until 1995 as a member of the International Hockey League, the successor of Soviet Hockey League. During this period, the team was called Stars Rīga and later, Pārdaugava Rīga. It was the former team of the Aleksey Nikiforov, coach of many future NHLers.

As of April 7, 2008 the club has been re-established. See Dinamo Riga (current).

Super series

Dinamo Riga has also participated in Super Series in exhibition games against NHL teams in year 1989 and 1990. Dinamo Riga Super Series record:

Super Series game log: 1–1–7 (home: 0–0–2; road: 1–1–2)

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Season GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM Finish Playoffs Player statistics
1978-79 44 19 18 7 45 150 132 625 6 None
1979-80 44 16 24 4 36 134 162 8 None
1980-81 49 22 21 6 50 163 157 5 None
1981-82 56 17 33 6 40 202 234 8 None
1982-83 56 27 24 5 59 240 212 619 5None
1983-84 44 17 19 8 42 146 172 8 None
1984-85 52 18 25 9 45 170 196 5317 None
1985-86 40 19 15 6 44 138 128 4525None
1986-8740 14 21 5 33 117 132 485 7 None
1987-88 (Stage 1) 2610 12 4 248892 10
1987-88 (Stage 2) 1811 3 4 25 66 46 3 Lost in finals
1988-89 44 18 20 6 42 115 131 489 6 None
1989-90 48 26 15 7 59 148 117 5 None
1990-91 46 25 16 5 55 187 138 5None

Notes

Notable players

IIHF Hall-of-Famers

Players

Builders

List of Dynamo Riga players selected in the NHL Amateur Draft

List of Dynamo Riga players selected in the NHL Entry Draft

Stanley Cup Winners

Players

Olympic Champions

Players

World Champions

Players

World Junior Champions

Players

  • Anatolijs Antipovs, C, 1978–81, champion in 1979
  • Sergejs Gapejenko, F, 1984–87, champion in 1986
  • Vladimirs Golovkovs, F, 1978–85, champion in 1979, 1980
  • Viktors Hatuļevs, D/LW, 1973–81, champion in 1974, 1975
  • Andrejs Maticins, D. 1981–90, champion in 1983

Head coaches

  • Jānis Dobelis, 1946–49
  • Edgars Klāvs, 1949–61
  • Anatolijs Jegorovs, 1961–1962
  • Georgijs Firsovs, 1962–63
  • Staņislavs Motls, 1967–68
  • Viktor Tikhonov, 1968–77
  • Ēvalds Grabovskis, 1977–80

Awards and trophies

References

General
Specific
  1. 1 2 3 4 Ulmanis. Melnās ripas bruņinieki: Latvijas hokeja vēsture. p. 74.
  2. ↑ Ulmanis. Melnās ripas bruņinieki: Latvijas hokeja vēsture. p. 76.
  3. 1 2 3 Ulmanis. Melnās ripas bruņinieki: Latvijas hokeja vēsture. p. 434.
  4. ↑ Ulmanis. Melnās ripas bruņinieki: Latvijas hokeja vēsture. p. 89.
  5. 1 2 3 Ulmanis. Melnās ripas bruņinieki: Latvijas hokeja vēsture. p. 539.
  6. ↑ Ulmanis. Melnās ripas bruņinieki: Latvijas hokeja vēsture. p. 130.
  7. ↑ Ulmanis. Melnās ripas bruņinieki: Latvijas hokeja vēsture. p. 139.
  8. 1 2 Ulmanis. Melnās ripas bruņinieki: Latvijas hokeja vēsture. p. 185.
  9. ↑ Ulmanis. Melnās ripas bruņinieki: Latvijas hokeja vēsture. p. 182.
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