Dinamo Riga Hockey Fans – The Best in the World!
Are you a diehard Dinamo Riga fan? Then you have come to the right place. This is the number one site for fans of the club. We all know Dinamo Riga Hockey fans are the best in the world. No ifs, buts or maybes. We leave other ice hockey fans in the background. Whether you have ever stood in the
Arena Riga chanting “Tikai Riga, Tikai Dinamo” (which, for those of you who are not in the know translates as “Only Riga, Only Dinamo”) or if you have shouted at the TV when watching from home, then you’ll know that the experience of watching Latvia’s dream team is incomparable.
A Brief History of the Club
Let me fill you in a little on the history of the club. Dinamo Riga was founded in 1946 and was disestablished in 1995. On 7th April 2008, the club was re-founded. The professional ice hockey team was founded by Kirovs Lipmans, Guntis Ulmanis, Viesturs Koziols, Aigars Kalvītis, and others. The first head coach of the club was Július Šupler, who was assisted by Miroslav Miklošovič and Artis Ābols.
2008 – 2009
The 2008 – 09 KHL season was the first season of the Kontinental Hockey League. Many did not have high expectations for the club. Yet they hit the ground running (or should that be skating) and finished 2nd in the Kharlamov division, and 10th out of 24 teams in the Western Conference, much higher than predicted. This saw them qualify for the league playoffs, yet in the first round, they lost to Dynamo Moscow.
2009 – 2010
The following season saw them keep up their excellent form, and the signing key players such as Sandis Ozoliņš, Mārtiņš Karsums and Jānis Sprukts, helped them to finish in 8th place in the Western Conference. The club then faced SKA Saint Petersburg in the first round of the playoffs, which they won. They progressed to the semi-finals, where they lost to HC HVD.
2010 – 2012
The following season saw the team finish 7th in the Western Conference and they again reached the conference semi-finals, where this time they were defeated by Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. In the 2011 – 12 KHL season, the team maintained their 7th place in the conference, but were this time knocked out in the quarterfinals.
2012 – 16
The 2012 – 13 season was a low point in the team’s history, finishing last in the conference. Yet the following season, we were back on form, landing 5th place and reaching the quarterfinals of the playoffs. In true yoyo style, the team dropped back down to 12th standing in the 2014 -15 season. They maintained the same standing the following year.
Dinamo Riga: The Road from the Start to Present Day
The Latvian ice hockey team has a special place in the heart of many people all around the world. During the years, Dinamo Riga has celebrated many victories, as well as several bitter defeats. Re-founded in 2008, Dinamo Riga went through several changes in terms of coaches. Each and every one of them aimed to send the team to the top.
Many players were replaced, as well, which resulted in greater results for the team. One of the indications of their success is the fact that Dinamo Riga won against Dynamo Moscow, which is one of the most notable Russian ice hockey teams based in Moscow. In the period between 2016 and 2017, Dinamo Riga played 60 games in total.
Unfortunately, with only 11 won games, the ice hockey team did not qualify for the playoffs. The same happened in the period between 2017 and 2019. Dinamo Riga took part in almost 120 matches, but the successful results were no more than 27. From 2019 to 2022, the team participated in many competitions but couldn’t manage to gain a dominant position in any of them.
At present time, the captain of the team is Lauris Darzins, whose career began back in 2001. He used to play for other popular teams, such as Ilves, Ak Bars Kazan, and Traktor Chelyabinsk. His journey with Dinamo Riga began in 2009, but it didn’t continue for a long time. In 2014, however, he started playing for Dinamo Riga in the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League) again.
True Fans Unite Behind the Club
My love affair with this European hockey team began in 2008. As part of my degree in computer science, I spent a year at the University of Latvia. It so happened that my time living and studying in Riga coincided with the re-establishment of the Dinamo Riga hockey club. It is fair to say that my hockey-mad roommate and I spent more time watching our home team that year than we did studying! Although the club’s performance has wavered a little in recent years, us real fans stay firmly behind our team. So this site is for us true and loyal fans, who support our club and its players through the ups and downs. With our continued support, our club is sure to get their hands on the Gagarin Cup!