Latvia's hockey team stumbles

RIGA - Latvians' dream of a birth in the Winter Olympics hockey medal round were dashed Feb. 12 by a 4-1 loss to Germany.

Playing without National Hockey League (NHL) All-Star defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh and Nashville Predators defenseman Karlis Skrastins, Latvia surrendered two quick goals to Germany.

Latvian goalkeeper Arturs Irbe kept the game close with acrobatic saves in the first two periods, but Latvia couldn't muster enough offense to seriously threaten the Germans.

Germany and Belarus, the Group B preliminary round winner, move on to the medal round. They will compete with the United States, Canada, Russia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Finland, which received automatic byes.

Latvia's other games:

Latvia upends Austria 4-2

After scoring two quick goals, Latvia' s goaltender Sergejs Naumovs conceded two easy scores to Austria; the first on a goal-mouth scramble and the second from an apparent dump-in from the left boards that sailed over Naumovs' left shoulder. Latvia's Grigorijs Pantelejevs regained the lead in the second period, and Latvian captain Harijs Vitolins put the game away late in the second period with his first goal of the tournament.

Latvia ties Slovakia 6-6

Latvia set up the elimination game against Germany with a 6-6 tie against Slovakia. With an abundance of NHL stars, including Zigmund Palffy, Miroslav Satan, and Jozef Stumpel, many thought that Slovakia would be the team to advance. But after a disappointing 3-0 loss to Germany, the Slovaks needed a win against Latvia to advance.

After battling evenly through the first period, Slovakia took a 6-4 lead Latvia. But two third-period goals led to a 6-6 tie and the elimination of Slovakia from the tournament.

Other Olympic news:

Arturs Irbe was devastated at the NHL's ruling that he could not participate in Latvia's game against Slovakia. "Disappointed doesn't describe how I feel," he said. "You have such high hopes to do something like this and you want to make your team the best."

Irbe, arguably Latvia's best player and certainly the country's best goalkeeper, was prevented from playing for Latvia against Slovakia by the NHL, though his team, the Carolina Hurricanes, had cleared him to play.

"We were told several months ago Irbe was going to play, then we're told he's not," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said.

"What can you tell a guy when you do this to him?," said Maurice. "We were totally behind him doing this and we worked out our schedule around it." The NHL argued that the quality of league play could be affected if starting goalkeeper Tom Barasso got hurt and a minor-league backup were used.

In a seemingly contradictory move, the NHL allowed David Aebischer to play for Switzerland for the entire preliminary round, even though he is the Colorado Avalanche's backup goalkeeper and the team had to call up a minor leaguer to take his place on the roster.

Speed skater Latvia's Ilonda Luse finished in 30th place in the Ladies 3,000-meter, 26.94 seconds behind the winner.

Lithuania's Irina Terentjeva finished 49th in the women's 15-kilometer Free Mass Start Cross Country Skiing race, 5 minutes, 51 seconds behind first-place finisher Stephania Belmondo from Italy.

Latvia's Juris Germanis finished in 60th out of the 70 competitors who took part in the Men's 30km Free Mass Start, 13:01.5 behind the winner, and 49th in the Men's 15km Classical Style Cross Country Skiing race.

Lithuania's Vladislavas Zybailo finished 52nd in the men's 15km Classic Style Cross Country Skiing race and Vadim Guse finished in 59th place.

In the men's 20km Individual Biathlon, Latvia's Jekabs Nakums finished in 35th place, 5:16.3 behind gold medalist Ole Einer Bjoerndalen of Norway.

Lithuania's Liutauras Barila finished the race in 60th place. Latvia's Ilmars Bricis finished 39th, Gundars Upenieks finished 63rd, and Olegs Maluhins did not finish the race.