The quarterfinals are very cool. Interview with Latvian Hockey Team Video Dr. Peter Grom / Day

The World Championship is approaching rapidly, what is the readiness of the Latvian national team now, and how will it change when the race comes even closer?

There are still a little stags. I was not on the test games against Austria because I continued to work on the Zemgale/LBTU team. Likewise, we were almost parallel to the match at a time when the team met Finland – four battles in four days. At the end of this marathon, I was able to start preparing for the closing test games fully and also collecting information about our opponents at the World Cup. At the beginning of the random preparation phase, we and the head coach looked at the prepared video information, he confirmed, and then handed it over to Lauris Dārziņš, who shows the video to the players. So my job positions are endangered because Lauris is a zealous student.

The tournament will take place in Stockholm, in a relatively well -reached place for Latvian fans. Is it already known what special to count on there?

Spectators will have to help me get to the dressing room during the championship. Let them not offend when I see that I run the stairs, lame and push people. Usually I try not to push, but sometimes I can come. As a team, we look forward to full grandstands and loud support. Will it bother me? No, it’s cool to look around in a freelance, though not much during the game. Similarly, when I hear Latvian in the corridors, I feel pleasant, knowing that there are many mine around the championship, not just opponents.

You haven’t been to the championship in Stockholm before, but you have been to the other group in Herning. Where would I prefer to drive this year?

When we played in Herning last time, the Latvian team reached the quarterfinals, so the memories from there are good, but why not happen in Sweden? In Herning, the hotel and hall was not large, there was a calmer atmosphere, here, I think it would be more lively and louder. In Stockholm, congestion could also be. In that sense, it would be more convenient in Herning, but I would love to have a championship in a new city.

Herning can be compared to 2022 in Tampere when Elvis Merzlikin complained about the conditions in the hotel?

Yes, Herning wasn’t a big hotel. I do not want to say that the rural hotel, but the bed moved slightly. I have to work a lot with a computer, and I often do it in bed, then it was as it was. At the same time, however, in Herning, as a smaller city, I was able to ride my head by bike. I strongly doubt it will meet in Stockholm. However, living conditions are not so important to me, the most important thing for me is how fast I can get from the hotel to the hall. I liked it in Tampere and in Riga, where I was able to walk and managed my time myself, I didn’t have to order transport.

The first game of the championship for Latvia will be against France, the fans will only wait three points, then the next day, Canada will face it. What will be the Video Rene Mode at the time?

Already now I can say that the regime will be heavy. The first games will take place the day before, but France will not play yet – we and they start on the second day. I also go to both first -day games. When we meet Canada, they will have played, so that the material will be made, so the biggest black horse will be France. Let’s get ready for them after the test game performance, we will have their records.

Last year we started against a potentially weaker team and the duel with Poland became known as the game of Ricochet. The video strener could only catch his head at the time?

The goalkeeper could catch the most of his heads, but it was harder for me to decide whether to take a challenge for our goal or not (Kaspar Daugavins’ goal scoring in the third third was not initially included because of the goalkeeper, believing that the lock was changed. Honestly, the longer the judges watch, the more you start to get nervous there. Yes, it was a ricochet game and went on an unwanted direction, but thank God we ended up breaking it and winning it, even though it was not easy. I think this year we have to go much better.

Further after a day’s pause, Slovenia and then Sweden will face it. How do you like such a schedule that first and for a weaker opponent first and then immediately the next day potentially stronger?

If I look at my position, as if anyway, I’m just turning. However, the prospect of the sample must be looked at more. We are expected to have three paired games, and to be honest, it’s not easy. I would like more days. The fact that the weakest opponent first is, theoretically, is better – warm up on the first day and then the next day you are already in the game. Sometimes that one holiday is slightly out of the rhythm. Knowing that we will have three matches, I hope we go to that rhythm and be able to adapt quickly – the first to win the weaker opponents and be ready to play the second game, not tired.

Although Latvia’s goal is to win in every match, we often hear comments after the games that we were not in a decent mood for that weakest opponent.

I really hope that when I show the video, I can better mobilize people for the game. However, my clips usually have opponents’ tactics. Cool, if we have already played against those opponents either last year or in test games, I can show some clips of these games as well. For example, Slovenia will have met Canada before the game, but I assume Canada will dominate that match, and the Slovenians will be a bit different.