After suffering crushing defeats from both Canada and the U.S. in the World Championship hockey Latvia finally beat Slovenia 3-0, advancing on to the Qualification round.
LatviansOnline's Andris Straumanis reported the results:
The Latvians made quick work of the Slovenes, according to statistics
of the May 6 game provided by the IIHF.
After a scoreless first period
in the Halifax Metro Centre, Latvia's Aleksandrs Ņiživijs earned the
team's first goal on a penalty shot 10 minutes, 5 seconds into the
second period.
A little more than a minute later, Aleksejs Å irokovs
took advantage of a power play to make it 2-0, slipping the puck past
Slovenia's goaltender, Robert Kristan. JÄnis Sprukts and MÄrtiņš
Cipulis were credited with assists.
Å irokovs also scored Latvia's third goal. At 9:32 into the third period, assisted by Cipulis, he shot into an empty Slovene net.
The team celebreated their first victory with about 2000 fans who made the journey to Halifax, Canada to cheer their team on to victory.
Always known for being wild and loud, the fans are gaining national attention. The Toronto Star said that: ''Their deafening banging of the drums have taken over the ''Metro
Centre'' arena. Their fun-loving presence on the streets, in the bars
and at hotels in the Canadian city of Halifax has not gone unnoticed by
local Canadians.''
Several NHL coaches have even joked about buying or renting the fans to take them with to cheer them on.
Canada's coach Pat Burns was quoted as saying: ''can we buy them and bring them to Jersey with us. It
is their Super Bowl. They take it very seriously. I was just hoping
they would get a goal just to see them erupt."
The Chronicle Herald quoted Metro Centre staffer Gwen Langille during a quick break in the game"It's, like, massive crazy in there!!"
"There's a rumour that instead of getting an income tax return, they
get a jersey," joked Shane Doan, forward for Team Canada. "They all have jerseys. It's
incredible. They're just awesome."
