Energija/GV Elektrėnai

Energija/GV Elektrėnai (formerly Energija Elektrėnai) is a Lithuanian ice hockey team that plays in the Lithuania Hockey League. Energija are the most successful ice hockey team in Lithuania, having won 25 Lithuanian Championships.[1][2] The team is based in Elektrėnai and play their home games at Elektrėnai Ice Palace.

Energija/GV Elektrėnai
CityElektrėnai, Lithuania
LeagueNLRL 1991–2009, 2011-2013, 2015-2019, 2020-present
EEHL 1995–1999, 2000-2003
LHL 2003–2012
BHL 2013–2018
Founded1977
Home arenaElektrėnai Ice Palace
(capacity: 2,000)
ColoursRed, white, light blue, black
       
Head coachDovydas Kulevičius
Championships1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.[1]
WebsiteEnergija/GV Elektrėnai
Franchise history
1977–2019Energija Elektrenai
2020–Energija/GV Elektrenai

History

Energija Elektrėnai was founded in 1977,[3] following the completion of the Elektrėnai Ice Palace the year prior.[4] The team immediately joined Lithuanian league and fared well in their first season, finishing 5th out of 9 teams whilst qualifying for the second round of competition.[5] Energija would win their first Lithuanian championship in 1986 after battling with Baltija Klaipėda for the top spot over the course of the season.[6] The following season, Energija made it to the play-off final, ultimately losing to Baltija.[7] The team won their next championship in 1990,[8] and that would mark the beginning of the teams dominance of the domestic competition, as they would go on to win every Lithuanina championship until the 1999 season.

Starting in 1995, Energija participated in the Eastern European Hockey League, a trans-national league featuring teams from Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine. In addition to the EEHL, Energija were given an automatic spot in the final in the Lithuanian league, despite no longer competing in the Lithuanian regular season. Energija's maiden season in the EEHL saw them finish 6th out of 8 teams.[9] During the teams tenure in the EEHL, they were often near the bottom of the table. Energija didn't compete in the 1999–2000 EEHL season, however, they returned to the league in 2001, and remained there until 2003, a year before the league folded.

Subsequently, Energija joined the Latvian Hockey Higher League, they had a strong debut season, making it to the semi-finals, losing to ASK/Ogre. They then lost again in the 3rd place game to HK Liepājas Metalurgs. Despite the auspicious start north of the border, the teams first season in the Latvian border would be their best; they never managed to advance past the quarter-finals.[1] Energija participated in the Latvian league until 2012, when they returned to the Lithuanian league. During their time in Latvia, Energija were again given an automatic spot in the Lithuanian final, and they continued to dominate the league, winning every edition of the competition between 2003-2009.[1]In September 2010, a new league had been formed in Lithuania, the Lithuania Hockey League (Lithuanian: Nacionaline ledo ritulio lyga), of which Energija were founding members.[10] After leaving the Latvian league, Energija played one season in the NLRL, again being crowned champions, before deciding to move solely to the Belarusian second tier, the Vysshaya Liga.

The sides maiden season in Belarus was a decent one, finishing 5th out of 13 teams in the regular season, before losing in the play-off quarter-finals.[11] Their best season in Belarus would come during the 2015-16 season, where they reached the play-off semi-finals.[12] The 2015-16 season would also see Energija return to the NLRL; they continued to field a team in both in the Vysshaya Liga and the NLRL until 2018, when they elected to focus solely on the NLRL.[1] During this season, former NHL star and Olympic gold medallist Darius Kasparaitis briefly played for Energija in order to qualify for the Lithuanian national team, having previously represented Russia.[13][14] He had played for Hockey Punks Vilnius in previous seasons, whilst obtaining national team eligibility.[15][16] The move saw Kasparaitis play one game for Energija, the same team with whom he played as a junior.[17] Fellow ex-NHLer Dainius Zubrus also began his career with Energija.[18] However, Enerjiga only played one season in the NLRL before suffering from financial difficulties which resulted in a dispute with the owners of the Elektrėnai Ice Palace, as a result the team did not compete in the NLRL during the 19-20 season.[19][20] The team would later go on partner with merge with the Geležinis Vilkas hockey school, named after the mythical Iron Wolf, and returned to the NLRL for the 2020-21 season under the name Energija/GV.[21][22]

Due to the teams dominance of the Lithuanian league, they regularly appeared in continental competition in the 1990's and 2000's. Initially appearing in the European Cup and then it's successor competition the Continental Cup. However, they didn't have much success in Europe, only managing to make it out of the initial group stage twice.[1]

Roster

Updated January 28, 2021.[23]

Goaltenders
Number Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
33 Albertas Grinevicius L 2020 -
30 Maxim Ponomarenko R 2020 Kaliningrad, Russia
1 / Eduard Zakharchenko L 2020 Vladivostok, Ukraine
Defencemen
Number Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
25 Rolandas Aliukonis L 2020 Elektrėnai, Lithuania
12 Mikas Briedys R 2020 -
96 Aurimas Gaidauskas L 2020 Elektrėnai, Lithuania
4 Karolis Kubilius L 2020 Elektrėnai, Lithuania
15 Herkus Marcinkevicius L 2020 -
3 Dominykas Motiejünas R 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
88 Avgustinas Silinas L 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
77 Jan Tuchto R 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
5 Justinas Vezelis L 2020 Elektrėnai, Lithuania
Forwards
Number Player Shoots Position Acquired Place of Birth
81 Edvinas Boroška L LW/RW 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
97 Justas Fedorovicius L F 2020 Trakai, Lithuania
76 Karolis Fedorovicius L F 2020 Trakai, Lithuania
10 Gediminas Jadkauskas L LW/RW 2020 -
7 Karolis Krasilnikovas L F 2020 Elektrėnai, Lithuania
19 Donatas Kumeliauskas R F 2020 Elektrėnai, Lithuania
28 Timonas Mazulis R LW 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
17 Ernest Misiuk R F 2020 -
66 Patrik Misiuk L F 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
9 Arnas Misiukas L F 2020 -
13 Dino Mukovoz L F 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
11 Nikodemas Numavicius R F 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
22 Oskaras Oleinikas R F 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
24 Rojus Plepys L F 2020 -
6 Dmitri Rabchuk L F 2020 -
22 Edgar Rybakov R C 2020 Trakai, Lithuania
60 Martin Tuchto L F 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
16 Edgar Rybakov L F 2020 -

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

SeasonLeagueGPWLTOTWOTLPtsGFGAFinishPlayoffs
2015-16NLRL24240—0072280641stChampion (Hockey Punks)
2015-16BHL361515—51561321485thSemi-final loss (HC Shakhtyor Soligorsk-2)
2016-17NLRL20200—0060182501stSemi-final loss (Juodupė)
2016-17BHL441819—43651761918thQuarter-final loss (HC Shakhtyor Soligorsk-2)
2017-18NLRL20191—0057155551stChampion(Kaunas Hockey)
2017-18BHL52940—123113933512thDid not qualify
2018-19NLRL18152—014690361stChampion(Hockey Punks)
2019-20Did not compete

Honours

Lithuanian Championships:

Team records

Career

These are the top five scorers in Energija history.[23]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

PlayerPosGPGAPts
Dovydas KulevičiusF405189452644
Rolandas AliukonisD517121358479
Sarunas KuliesiusF353196247443
Aivaras BendžiusF278199161360
Martynas SlikasF318169189358

Penalty minutes: Rolandas Aliukonis, 881

Regular season
  • Most goals in a season: Paulius Gintautas, 42 (2013–14)
  • Most assists in a season: Dovydas Kulevičius, 274 (205–16)
  • Most points in a season: Dovydas Kulevičius, 108 (2015–16)
  • Most penalty minutes in a season: Andrius Kaminskas, 146 (2002–03)

Playoffs
  • Most goals in a playoff season: Povilas Verenis, 10 (2017–18)
  • Most assists in a playoff season: Mikhail Yevstigneyev, 9 (2018–19)
  • Most points in a playoff season: Povilas Verenis, 16 (2017–18)
  • Most penalty minutes in a playoff season: Aivaras Bendžius, 75 (2016–17)

Notable players

References
  1. "Elite Prospects - Energija/GV Elektrenai". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  2. ""Energijos" erai atėjo galas?" (in Lithuanian). Sportas.lt. November 30, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  3. "Energija Elektrėnai on Facebook" (in Lithuanian). Sportas.lt. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  4. "Apie mus - ELEKTRĖNŲ LEDO ARENA" (in Lithuanian). Elektrėnai Ice Palace. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  5. "Lithuania - 1976-1977 on EliteProspects". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  6. "Lithuania - 1985-1986 on EliteProspects". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  7. "Lithuania - 1986-1987 on EliteProspects". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  8. "Lithuania - 1989-1990 on EliteProspects". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  9. "EEHL - 1995-1996 on EliteProspects". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  10. "NLRL" (in Lithuanian). Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  11. "Belarus Vysshaya - 2013-2014 on EliteProspects". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  12. "Belarus Vysshaya - 2015-2016 on EliteProspects". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  13. "Naująjį sezoną Kasparaitis užsivilks „Energijos" marškinėlius" (in lithuania). Alfa.lt. July 26, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2021.CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  14. "Darius Kasparaitis putting retirement on hold to join Lithuanian national team". The Hockey News. January 17, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  15. "Kasparaitis Is Playing for More Than a Paycheck". TheHockeyWriters.com. November 18, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  16. "Ledo ritulio legenda D. Kasparaitis gins Elektrėnų „Energijos" garbę" (in lithuania). DELFI. July 26, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2021.CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  17. "Darius Kasparaitis - EliteProspects.com". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  18. "Dainius Zubrus - EliteProspects.com". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  19. "D.Kasparaitis apie Elektrėnuose verdantį skandalą: „Manau, kad „Energija" neturi finansų, o lengviausia buvo apkaltinti kitus"" (in Lithuanian). Sportas.lt. October 8, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  20. "„Energijos" direktoriaus pareigas perima V.Mickevičius, komanda ruošiama kitam sezonui" (in Lithuanian). Sportas.lt. December 5, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  21. "Lietuvos ledo ritulio čempionate čiaužys penkios komandos" (in lithuania). Delfi. July 15, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2021.CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  22. "„Geležinis vilkas" ir Elektrėnų „Energija" Lietuvos čempionate jungia jėgas ambicingiems tikslams" (in Lithuanian). Sportas.lt. June 30, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  23. "Elite Prospects - Energija/GV Elektrenai". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.