The Latvian men's national ice hockey team represents Latvia in international ice hockey. The team is ranked 10th in the world by IIHF as of 2023. The team is controlled by the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation. Their best ever finish at the World Championships was in 2023, when they won the bronze medals. Latvia reached the quarterfinals at the 2014 Winter Olympics, losing 2–1 to Canada. Latvia has 7,898 registered players.
Arena Riga is an indoor arena in Riga, Latvia. It is primarily used for ice hockey, basketball and concerts. Arena Riga holds a maximum of 14,500 and was opened on 15 February 2006.
The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or simply the "World Juniors" in ice hockey circles, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is traditionally held in late December, ending in early January. The tournament usually attracts the top hockey players in this age category.
The International Ice Hockey Federation is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 member countries.
Oleg Valerievich Znarok is a Soviet-Latvian professional ice hockey player. In 2022, he was the head coach of Ak Bars Kazan in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and consultant of the Russia men's national ice hockey team.
The 2006 IIHF World Championship was held in between 5–21 May 2006 in Riga, Latvia. It was the 70th annual event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
Kirovs Lipmans is a Latvian business person and former ice hockey executive. He served as president of the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation from 1994 to 1995, and from 1998 to 2016; was a member of the Latvian Olympic Committee executive, and sat on International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) committees. He oversaw the increase of artificial ice hockey rinks in Latvia from three to seventeen, and the Latvia men's national team qualify for the top tier of the World Championships then play in four consecutive Olympic hockey tournaments. Lipmans oversaw the construction of Arena Riga for the hosting the 2006 IIHF World Championship, and Latvia was awarded co-hosting duties for the 2021 IIHF World Championship at the end of his presidency.
The Latvian women's national ice hockey team represents Latvia at the International Ice Hockey Federation's IIHF Women's World Championship and is controlled by the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation. In recent years, participation women's hockey has increased in Latvia; the number of registered women's players grew from 74 in 2018 to 223 in 2020.
Ronalds Ķēniņš is a Latvian professional ice hockey forward for Lausanne HC of the National League (NL). He previously played for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Zemgus Girgensons is a Latvian professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "the Latvian Locomotive", he was selected 14th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Sabres. With this selection, Girgensons became the highest-drafted Latvian in NHL history, 16 spots higher than previous highest selection, Sandis Ozoliņš, in 1991. In the previous year, Girgensons was selected in the second round, 28th overall, in the 2011 KHL Junior Draft by CSKA Moscow. Girgensons was voted to the NHL All-Star Game in 2015.
The 2017 IIHF World Championship, the 2017 edition of the annual Ice Hockey World Championships, was held from 5 to 21 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany and Paris, France. The official tournament mascots were Asterix and Obelix, the main characters from popular French comic book series The Adventures of Asterix. The logo incorporates the silhouette of deceased German national team goaltender Robert Müller, who succumbed to a brain tumor at just 28 years of age. German tennis player Angelique Kerber, 1. FC Köln and German Olympic soccer team goalkeeper Timo Horn and Paris Saint-Germain F.C.'s Brazilian winger Lucas Moura were named celebrity ambassadors for the event.
The 2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 41st edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. The main tournament was co-hosted by the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec and the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. This was the 14th championship that Canada had hosted. Montreal and Toronto also jointly hosted the 2015 edition. The tournament consisted of 30 games between 10 nations.
The Australian National Women's Under-18 ice hockey Team (NWU18T) is the women's National Under-18 ice hockey team of Australia. The team is controlled by Ice Hockey Australia, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
Ralfs Freibergs is a Latvian professional ice hockey defenceman for HC Litvínov of the Czech Extraliga (ELH).
The 2018 IIHF World Championship was an international ice hockey tournament hosted by the Danish cities of Copenhagen and Herning, held from 4 to 20 May 2018. The IIHF announced the winning bid on 23 May 2014 in Minsk, Belarus. South Korea made its debut at the World Championship, having played in the lower divisions previously.
Rodrigo Ābols is a Latvian professional ice hockey forward for Örebro HK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Ābols was selected in the seventh round, 184th overall, by the Vancouver Canucks during the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
Teodors Bļugers is a Latvian professional ice hockey centre for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 52nd overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins, making him the third-highest selected Latvian hockey player in the NHL Entry Draft, behind Zemgus Girgensons and Sandis Ozoliņš.
The 2021 IIHF World Championship took place from 21 May to 6 June 2021. It was originally to be co-hosted by Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia, as the IIHF announced on 19 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany. Their joint bid won by a very tight margin against the Finnish bid with the cities of Tampere and Helsinki. On 18 January 2021 the IIHF decided to remove Belarus as a co-host due to the rising political unrest there. On 2 February, the IIHF voted to confirm Latvia as the sole host for the 2021 IIHF World Championship.
Mārtiņš Dzierkals is a Latvian professional ice hockey forward who plays for HC Škoda Plzeň in the Czech Extraliga (ELH).
Inese Geca-Miljone is a Latvian ice hockey player, currently playing with SHK Laima Rīga. Geca-Miljone represented Latvian national team in fourteen IIHF Women's World Championships at the Division IA and IB levels. In 2017 she represented Latvian national team as an assistant coach.
Latvia 