photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / ANDRE RINGUETTE
Eduards Tralmaks made an instant impact with a goal and two assists in Latvia’s 6-0 win over Great Britain.
The Grand Rapids forward jetted into Switzerland after coming out of the AHL playoffs to add extra heft to the Latvian offence.
“It’s great,” said Tralmaks in front of a delighted Latvian fanbase in Zurich. “That [first period] was huge for us just to get momentum going and confidence. Everything else follows from that.”
For Britain, a sixth loss in six games confirmed an immediate return to Division IA. The Brits could still tie Hungary on three points, but lost the head-to-head meeting between the countries.
British forward Liam Kirk pulled no punches after the loss. “Honestly, I think from start to finish, I think we were just really bad,” he said. “We were going into these last two games and we still wanted to try and avoid relegation. I don’t think we even came out badly, but then we just switched off: bad turnovers, lack of awareness, lack of compete.”
Latvia, meanwhile, has hopes of a playoff spot. Harolds Vitolins’ team currently has nine points, level with Austria and pushing Germany down to fifth. Hungary awaits in the final game of the preliminary round while the Germans finish against GB.
Tralmaks, 29, was one of six different goalscorers in Sunday’s game, which also saw captain Rudolfs Balcers move to six goals at the 2026 IIHF World Championship, tying a national record set by Arvids Petersons back in 1939.
And the tournament’s leading goalscorer is enjoying his success. “It’s great,” he said. “I’m happy that my shots go in. Unfortunately, I could have had way more today! Got a little mad, but that’s the game. I'm happy that the team has started to score and glad for the win today.”
Things might have been different if Pete Russell’s men had managed to convert a second-minute power play. But despite decent looks for Liam Kirk and Dave Clements, the best chance went to Latvia when Sandis Vilmanis raced away to test Mat Robson in the British net.
Latvia’s first power play set the tone: six shots on Robson, and two more efforts off the post. There was no PP goal but the momentum shifted decisively and Martins Dzierkals opening the scoring over nine minutes. Egle played a huge role, starting with his chip-and-chase down the right before heading net front and fooling the defence with a deft feed for Dzierkals to slot home.
The Brits had a flurry of chances to tie the game, but Kristers Gudlevskis continued his excellent form in this tournament before Latvia went down the ice and doubled the lead through Deniss Smirnovs. Smirnovs was involved again before the intermission, redirecting a Roberts Mamcics shot for Balcers to make it 3-0 on 19:18.
A long road back for GB got even more arduous at the start of the second when Balcers turned provider on a power play goal for Tralmaks. Balcers’ cross-ice feed dropped for Tralmaks on the right-hand dot and he unleashed a one-timer past the overworked Robson.
Britain created a couple of chances for a consolation goal – Mark Richardson had a look and World Championship rookie Bayley Harewood sprinted away on a counter.
But nothing was going to stop Latvia. A defensive lapse led to another chance, and Egle did superbly to capitalize. He showed great patience to pick his spot and thread the needle between Robson, the near post and a tumbling Nathaniel Halbert. And it was 6-0 before the second intermission when Renars Krastenbergs hammered home a cross-ice feed from the lively Vilmanis.
Ben Bowns took over from Robson in the British net for the third period. He made a good stop to stone a short-handed break from Balcers midway through the frame and the same power play saw Gudlevskis deny Travis Brown in a scoreless final stanza.
“I think we played a solid game today,” concluded captain Balcers. “We finally scored some more goals. I’m just happy that we played solid through 60 minutes today.”
The Grand Rapids forward jetted into Switzerland after coming out of the AHL playoffs to add extra heft to the Latvian offence.
“It’s great,” said Tralmaks in front of a delighted Latvian fanbase in Zurich. “That [first period] was huge for us just to get momentum going and confidence. Everything else follows from that.”
For Britain, a sixth loss in six games confirmed an immediate return to Division IA. The Brits could still tie Hungary on three points, but lost the head-to-head meeting between the countries.
British forward Liam Kirk pulled no punches after the loss. “Honestly, I think from start to finish, I think we were just really bad,” he said. “We were going into these last two games and we still wanted to try and avoid relegation. I don’t think we even came out badly, but then we just switched off: bad turnovers, lack of awareness, lack of compete.”
Latvia, meanwhile, has hopes of a playoff spot. Harolds Vitolins’ team currently has nine points, level with Austria and pushing Germany down to fifth. Hungary awaits in the final game of the preliminary round while the Germans finish against GB.
Tralmaks, 29, was one of six different goalscorers in Sunday’s game, which also saw captain Rudolfs Balcers move to six goals at the 2026 IIHF World Championship, tying a national record set by Arvids Petersons back in 1939.
And the tournament’s leading goalscorer is enjoying his success. “It’s great,” he said. “I’m happy that my shots go in. Unfortunately, I could have had way more today! Got a little mad, but that’s the game. I'm happy that the team has started to score and glad for the win today.”
Things might have been different if Pete Russell’s men had managed to convert a second-minute power play. But despite decent looks for Liam Kirk and Dave Clements, the best chance went to Latvia when Sandis Vilmanis raced away to test Mat Robson in the British net.
Latvia’s first power play set the tone: six shots on Robson, and two more efforts off the post. There was no PP goal but the momentum shifted decisively and Martins Dzierkals opening the scoring over nine minutes. Egle played a huge role, starting with his chip-and-chase down the right before heading net front and fooling the defence with a deft feed for Dzierkals to slot home.
The Brits had a flurry of chances to tie the game, but Kristers Gudlevskis continued his excellent form in this tournament before Latvia went down the ice and doubled the lead through Deniss Smirnovs. Smirnovs was involved again before the intermission, redirecting a Roberts Mamcics shot for Balcers to make it 3-0 on 19:18.
A long road back for GB got even more arduous at the start of the second when Balcers turned provider on a power play goal for Tralmaks. Balcers’ cross-ice feed dropped for Tralmaks on the right-hand dot and he unleashed a one-timer past the overworked Robson.
Britain created a couple of chances for a consolation goal – Mark Richardson had a look and World Championship rookie Bayley Harewood sprinted away on a counter.
But nothing was going to stop Latvia. A defensive lapse led to another chance, and Egle did superbly to capitalize. He showed great patience to pick his spot and thread the needle between Robson, the near post and a tumbling Nathaniel Halbert. And it was 6-0 before the second intermission when Renars Krastenbergs hammered home a cross-ice feed from the lively Vilmanis.
Ben Bowns took over from Robson in the British net for the third period. He made a good stop to stone a short-handed break from Balcers midway through the frame and the same power play saw Gudlevskis deny Travis Brown in a scoreless final stanza.
“I think we played a solid game today,” concluded captain Balcers. “We finally scored some more goals. I’m just happy that we played solid through 60 minutes today.”