Kristaps Sotnieks
Born (1987-01-29) January 29, 1987
Riga, Soviet Union
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 192 lb (87 kg; 13 st 10 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
KHL team
Former teams
Dinamo Riga
HK Riga 2000
Lada Togliatti
National team  Latvia
Playing career 2005present

Kristaps Sotnieks (born January 29, 1987) is a Latvian professional ice-hockey defenseman. He currently plays for Dinamo Riga in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Playing career

In his first season in senior hockey in 2004/05 Sotnieks mostly played for the reserves squad of HK Riga 2000 which played in the Latvian hockey league, however he also played 5 matches in the main team of Riga 2000 in Belarusian Extraliga. Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout the squad of Riga 2000 was quite impressive that year, including NHLers Kārlis Skrastiņš, Sergejs Žoltoks and Darby Hendrickson, thus it was especially tough for youngsters like Sotnieks to get through on the main team. In 2005 Sotnieks played in five matches for Latvia at the U18 World Championships.

The next season Sotnieks was already a regular player in the main team of Riga 2000 which won bronze medals in the Belarusian Extraliga. In 42 matches he scored one goal, gave 4 assists and got 10 penalty minutes. In 2006 Sotnieks represented Latvia at the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Canada, earning 2 points for assists as Latvia was relegated to Division I.

The next two years Riga 2000 played only in the Latvian hockey league with Sotnieks as one of the most reliable defenders on the team. In 2005, 2006 and 2007 as a member of Riga 2000 Sotnieks won Latvian league titles.

When Dinamo Riga was formed in 2008 Sotnieks wasn't among the players who were expected to be playing regularly for the side which included former NHLers like Duvie Westcott and Filip Novák, as well as a whole selection of players who had played for Latvia national ice hockey team at several world championships - Atvars Tribuncovs, Rodrigo Laviņš, Guntis Galviņš, Krišjānis Rēdlihs, Oļegs Sorokins and Agris Saviels. Thus Sotnieks was expected to be a leading defender for HK Riga 2000 (the farm club of Dinamo) playing in the Belarusian league. However, Sotnieks became a regular for Dinamo. As of 17 February 2009, he has played 43 matches for Dinamo in the KHL, scoring two goals.[1]

International play

In February 2009 Sotnieks played for Latvia national ice hockey team in the Qualification to 2010 Winter Olympics, scoring two assists in three games and earning Latvia a qualification spot at the Olympics.[2]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2004–05 HK Rīga 2000 BLR 50004
2004–05 HK Rīga 2000 LAT 2121314 20004
2005–06 HK Rīga 2000 BLR 3714510 50000
2005–06 HK Rīga 2000 LAT 36912
2006–07 HK Rīga 2000 LAT 3436967 112024
2007–08 HK Rīga 2000 LAT 4022428 72024
2008–09 Dinamo Rīga KHL 4621334 30002
2008–09 HK Rīga 2000 LAT 700014
2009–10 Dinamo Rīga KHL 4802228 90226
2009–10 Dinamo Juniors Rīga BLR 10110
2009–10 Dinamo Juniors Rīga LAT 51232
2010–11 Dinamo Rīga KHL 4526812 110114
2011–12 Dinamo Rīga KHL 4924641 60112
2012–13 Dinamo Rīga KHL 4735812
2013–14 Dinamo Rīga KHL 53561149 71120
2014–15 Dinamo Rīga KHL 55461034
2015–16 Dinamo Rīga KHL 602121426
2016–17 Lada Togliatti KHL 56681424
2017–18 Lada Togliatti KHL 172028
2018–19 Dinamo Rīga KHL 55371028
2019–20 Dinamo Rīga KHL 60461020
2020–21 Dinamo Rīga KHL 260444
2021–22 Dinamo Rīga KHL 2711210
KHL totals 6443668104330 3615614

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
2005 Latvia U18 D1 50002
2006 Latvia WJC 60226
2007 Latvia WJC D1 51232
2009 Latvia OGQ 3 0 1 1 2
2009 Latvia WC 70118
2010 Latvia OG 41014
2010 Latvia WC 60110
2011 Latvia WC 60446
2012 Latvia WC 70000
2013 Latvia OGQ 3 0 0 0 0
2013 Latvia WC 700012
2014 Latvia OG 50110
2014 Latvia WC 71238
2015 Latvia WC 700027
2016 Latvia OGQ 3 0 1 1 2
2016 Latvia WC 71232
2017 Latvia WC 70220
2018 Latvia WC 80220
2019 Latvia WC 70110
2021 Latvia WC 70220
2021 Latvia OGQ 30002
2022 Latvia WC 70222
Junior totals 1614510
Senior totals 1113222575

References

  1. "Dinamo Riga Statistics". Kontinental Hockey League. 2010-02-03. Archived from the original on 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
  2. "Team Latvia Statistics" (PDF). IIHF. 2009-08-02. Retrieved 2009-08-02.


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