HK Kurbads

HK Kurbads is an ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It is a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League and also compete for the Latvian Cup, winning Latvian Hockey League in 2016–17 and 2017–18 season. The team played its home games at Vidzemes Ledus Halle in Ogre until 2017 when the new arena was built in Rumbula, Riga.
==History==
HK Kurbads was founded by Andis Pikans, Janis Siraks and Gints Zviedritis in 1996 as an amateur team and played in various amateur championships until 2013 when they joined Latvian Hockey Higher League. The team started playing its home games at Ogre.
In their debut season, as several stronger players joined the team they won the regular season, yet lost in the play-off final to HK Prizma.
For 2014-15 season team were joined by players like Rodrigo Laviņš and Aleksandrs Macijevskis and desipe finishing only 3rd on regular season, they reached finals again, just to lose HK Mogo in series 2 to 4.
In 2016 team reached finals for the third time and this time lost to HK Liepāja in series 3 to 4. That was the first time in history for a Latvian Hockey League final requiring all 7 games to decide the winner.
As for 2015–16 Latvian Cup was resurrected Kurbads managed to reach finals, where they lost to HK Mogo.
In 2017 Kurbads reached finals for the 4th time and this time losing 0 to 3 games in series, managed to come back and win against HK Mogo, therefore winning their first championship and qualifying for next seasons IIHF Continental Cup. In Latvian Cup they reached finals and lost to HK Mogo for the second time 2:3 OT.
In next season they debuted in IIHF Continental Cup by winning all 3 games in Group B at home, but falling short in next round by narrowly losing, in what was the deciding game, to Sheffield Steelers with score 2–4 and thus finishing 3rd in group and failing to advance. In Latvian Cup they reached finals again, yet lost once again in a thrilling game to HK Mogo 2:3 OT. In league, despite finishing regular season in 3rd place, they managed to sweep the finals against HK Zemgale to win for the second year in a row.
==Rivalry with HK Mogo==
As both teams being based in Riga and having frequently played against each other in several league and cup finals, it has started a small rivalry between two, and therefore even the regular season meetings carry some increased significance to both teams.
==Season by season results==
Season 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	Finish	Playoff
2013–14 Latvian Hockey League	30	19	3	5	3	172	90	68	1st 	Lost in final 2–4 (HK Prizma)
2014–15 Latvian Hockey League	30	20	1	2	7	167	81	64	3rd 	Lost in final 2–4 (HK Mogo)
2015–16 Latvian Hockey League	30	18	4	3	5	162	74	64	3rd 	Lost in final 3–4 (HK Liepāja)
2016–17 Latvian Hockey League	30	19	3	1	7	144	83	64	2nd 	Won in final 4–3 (HK Mogo)
2017–18 Latvian Hockey League	30	17	2	4	7	131	75	59	3rd 	Won in final 4–0 (HK Zemgale)
===Tournaments===
*2015–16 Latvian Cup – Lost to HK Mogo 3–4 in the final.
*2016–17 Latvian Cup – Lost to HK Mogo 2–3 in the final.
*2017–18 Latvian Cup – Lost to HK Mogo 2–3 OT in the final.
*2017–18 IIHF Continental Cup – 3rd in Group D of the Third Round. Failed to advance.
*2018–19 IIHF Continental Cup – 3rd in Group D of the Third Round. Failed to advance.
==Players and personnel==
===Current roster===
Season 2017/2018
==== Goalies ====
* 30 Uldis Calpa
* 35 Nils Grinfogels
* 31 Guntars Reiss
==== Defense ====
* 12 Toms Bluks (C)
* 33 Aleksandrs Galkins 
* 22 Mārtiņš Gipters
* 44 Hārdijs Parādnieks
* 77 Mārtiņš Porejs
* 14 Jēkabs Rēdlihs
* 5 Arturs Sorokins
* 10 Renars Valters (A)
==== Forwards ====
* 8 Edgars Brancis
* 47 Mārtiņš Cipulis
* 94 Gatis Gricinskis
* 18 Toms Hartmanis (A)
* 38 Martins Lavrovs
* 21 Arturs Logunovs
* 91 Rihards Remins
* 81 Deivids Sarkanis
* 13 Jānis Sprukts
* 6 Juris Štāls
* 7 Jānis Straupe
* 9 Dāvis Straupe
* 95 Juris Upītis
* 71 Toms Zeltiņš
* 29 Mārcis Zembergs
* 19 Sandis Zolmanis
==Notable players==
*Guntis Galviņš (born 1986), Latvian ice-hockey player
*Sergejs Pečura (born 1987), Latvian ice hockey player
*Eliezer Sherbatov (born 1991), Canadian-Israeli ice hockey player
===Head coaches===
*Aigars Razgals, 2013
*Aigars Cipruss, 2014
*Gints Bisenieks, 2014–2015
*Pēteris Ostošovs, 2015–2016
*Rodrigo Laviņš, 2016-2017
*Pēteris Ostošovs, 2017
*Aleksandrs Macijevskis, 2017-present
==References==
==External links==
*kurbads.lv
*facebook
*eliteprospects
Category:Ice hockey teams in Latvia
Category:Established in 1996
Category:Latvian Hockey League teams