Latvijas Bērzs Riga is an ice hockey team in Riga, Latvia. They played in the Latvian Hockey League, and formerly played in the USSR's Pervaya Liga. Currently, the remnants of the team are affiliated with either HK Prizma Rīga or HK Sāga and a sports school by the name of Latvijas Bērzs currently exists in Riga.
History In the early 1960s the furniture manufacturing company Latvijas Bērzs (today - Latvijas Finieris), founded an ice hockey team in Soviet-occupied Latvia. They first participated the Latvian SSR Championship in 1962. They won the Latvian SSR Championship ten times in the 1970s and 1980s.
The club played in the Soviet Vtoraya Liga (Second League) from 1974-1978, but were promoted to the Pervaya Liga (First League) for two years (1979 and 1980) before they were again relegated to the Vtoraya Liga.
After the restoration of Latvian independence, the club participated in the now professional Latvian Hockey League. They won the league title in 1997, before partnering up with HK Prizma. After 2002, an LB amateur team played in the second division, and youth teams have taken part in activities, usually within the HK Sāga or Prizma clubs.
Achievements Latvian SSR champion 1974, 1975, 1977-1980, 1983-1985internationalhockey.net, Latvian championships - All Time Results USSR Vtoraya Liga champion 1978 Latvian champion 1997
Season-by-season record Season League GP W L T Pts GF–GA 1974/75 Vtoraya Liga West 52 17 7 28 41 211:240 1975/76 Vtoraya Liga West 52 19 28 5 43 205:237 1976/77 Vtoraya Liga West 52 25 19 8 58 253:190 1977/78 Vtoraya Liga West 52 42 8 2 86 323:132 1978/79 Pervaya Liga 60 16 37 7 39 190:263 1979/80 Pervaya Liga 60 6 46 8 22 167:329hockeydb.com, Standings for Latvia Berzs Rus-1 1980/81 Vtoraya Liga West 60 34 24 2 70 281:256 1981/82 Vtoraya Liga West 44 19 22 3 41 188:190hockeydb.com, Standings for Latvia Berzs Rus-2 1982/83 Vtoraya Liga West 52 20 30 2 42 212:265 1983/84 Vtoraya Liga West 52 29 20 3 61 240:190 1984/85 Vtoraya Liga West 52 19 23 10 48 194:208
Notable players Artūrs Irbe Miķelis Rēdlihs Mārtiņš Karsums Oskars Bārtulis Ģirts Ankipāns Jānis Andersons Guntis Galviņš Andris Džeriņš
References