Riga, April 14, LETA. The Olimp / Venta 2002 team was crowned Optibet Hockey League (OHL) 2020/21 on Tuesday.
“Olimp” / “Venta 2002” in “Inbox” hall in Pinki with 5: 1 (1: 0, 2: 1, 2: 0) won “Zemgali” / LLU, which lost to 4 wins with 0-4.
The home team scored the first goal in the 15th minute of the first period. “Olimp” / “Venta 2002” player Lauris Bajaruns forced the opponents to make a mistake in their defense zone, as a result of which Miķelis Rēdlihs won the puck. An experienced attacker took it to Maksim Shirokov, who noticed Kirill Galoh in front of the goal, but he in turn passed to the free Fyodor Jarovinsky.
The Olympians made a decisive blow in the middle of the second period, when they twice realized the numerical majority. Initially, in the 30th minute of the game, Emīls Ezītis slipped the goal, but his first shot was not accurate. The attacker immediately afterwards came to the rebounded puck and threw it over the shoulder of Rihards Cimermanis. Less than a minute and a half later, Georgijs Pujacs received a puck on the blue line and noticed the bustle in front of the goal. The experienced defender threw the puck into the top left corner of the goal, reaching 3: 0.
“Zemgale” / LLU team head coach Artis Ābols immediately took a half-minute break after losing the third goal. By the end of the second period, Jelgava had managed to regain one goal by passing Robert Petrovich to Ralph Jevdokimov along the goal, who was infallible from a close distance.
Only the “Olimp” / “Venta 2002” team scored in the last third. Lauris Bajaruns skillfully “calculated” the opponent’s defender in the first minute of the period and in the end also played Cimerman. Seven minutes later, Galoha reached a safe 5: 1 from a narrow angle. In the second half of the third, the players of both teams repeatedly did not hesitate to raise their fists, but this did not affect the result of the game.
The most valuable player of the elimination tournament was Mikēlis Rēdlihs, who left the Continental Hockey League (KHL) unit Riga “Dinamo” in the middle of November last year.
In the first three games of the series, “Olimp” / “Venta 2002” won with 3: 1, 4: 1 and 3: 1. In the “Olympians” series, up to four victories are in the lead with 3-0 and on Tuesday in case of victory they will be crowned Latvian champions.
Jelgavnieki was superior to the “Mogo” / LSPA team with 4-2 in the semi-final series up to four victories, but “Olimp” / “Venta 2002” won “Liepāja” with 4-1.
So far, neither of the finalists has raised the cup in honor of their victory in the “play-off” tournament overhead. “Olimp” / “Venta 2002” this is the first final, but Jelgava club lost the only final series in the history of the team in the spring of 2018 against Riga “Kurbads” with 0-4.
This season, the teams met six times in the main tournament, and the Jelgava team was superior in five. Once it happened in overtime, but was lost only once with a minimum of 1: 2.
“Zemgale” / LLU has a more stable line of defense, while the Riga team has several very experienced hockey players, who alone can decide the course of the fight with their individual skills.
The most productive player of “Olimp” / “Venta 2002” in the elimination tournament was the experienced Mikēlis Rēdlihs, who scored six goals and six assists in nine games. The second place with six goals and three passes is taken by “Zemgale” / LLU attack leader Frank Razgals.
The main tournament was won by “Zemgale” / LLU, which won 62 points in 36 games, surpassing the opponents in the final – “Olimp” / “Venta 2002” by six.
In the 2020/2021 season OHL plays “Mogo” / LSPA, “Olimp” / “Venta 2002”, “Zemgale” / LLU, Hockey school “Riga”, Daugavpils “Dinaburga”, “Prizma” / IHS and “Liepāja” .
Last season, eight teams played in the Latvian Premier League, but in the 2020/2021 season there is one team less, because “Kurbads” does not play in the tournament.
The playoffs were not played last season, but “Olimp” was declared the winner of the local championship. The newcomer to the tournament won the decisive points after “Riga” did not come to the last match of the season with the “Kurbads” team.
With the success, Olimp earned the opportunity to compete in the Continental Cup organized by the International Hockey Federation (IIHF), but the international competition was canceled.
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