Iveta Koka

Iveta Koka (born 9 March 1982) is a Latvian ice hockey forward, currently playing for AIK Hockey Dam in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). She began playing with the Latvian national team in 1995 and holds the title for most career points in team history. Having scored over 240 points in the SDHL, she is currently the oldest active player in the league, and is the all-time leading scorer from Latvia.

Iveta Koka
Born (1982-03-09) 9 March 1982
Height 170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 65 kg (143 lb; 10 st 3 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shoots Left
SDHL team
Former teams		 AIK Hockey
Leksands IF
HC Tornado
National team  Latvia
Playing career 1995–present

Playing career

Early in her career, Koka played in the Russian Women's Hockey League with HC Tornado and in the Swiss Leistungsklasse A with the Ladies Team Lugano.[1] From 2012 to 2018, she played for Leksands IF Dam in the SDHL, putting up 179 points (81 goals + 98 assists) in 176 games for the club.[2] She currently stands as the third highest scorer in Leksands history.

After leaving Leksands, she joined AIK in Stockholm for the 2018–19 SDHL season. After scoring only 6 points in 19 games in the 2019–20 SDHL season, she signed an extension with the club and posted 4 points in her first 7 games of the 2020–21 season.[3]

International play

Koka made her debut with the Latvian national team at the 1995 IIHF European Women Championships, several weeks after her thirteenth birthday. Her next major international tournament was the 1999 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships – Pool B, the first lower-divisions tournament to be organized unde the IIHF Women's World Championship, where she recorded 3 goals and 7 assists (10 points) in five games and was selected as Best Forward of the tournament by the directorate. She scored six points in five games at the lower divisions championships the next year, held in her native Latvia.[4]

After Latvia was relegated in 2008, she scored 20 points in 5 games at the 2009 IIHF Women's World Championship Division II, earning honors as tournament MVP, contributing significantly to Latvia's undefeated streak and leading the team to gaining promotion right back to Division I.[5][6] In 2014, she captained the country to promotion from Division 1B to 1A.[7]

In total, Koka has served as Latvian national team captain during five international seasons, most recently during the qualification tournament for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

References
  1. Brože, Ulvis (18 December 2016). "Kapteine Koka: "Latvijā sieviešu hokejam lielākoties nepievērš uzmanību"". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  2. Ekholm, Peter (7 June 2018). "Trotjänaren har gjort sitt i Leksand". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  3. Olausson, Robin (27 May 2020). "Lettiske veteranforwarden stannar i AIK". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  4. Kirse, Marta (13 April 2000). "World champ ice hockey tournaments in Latvia". The Baltic Times. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  5. "IIHF World Womens Championship Div. II - Best Players Selected by the Directorate" (PDF). reports.iihf.com. IIHF. 18 April 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  6. "Latvijas sieviešu hokeja izlase atgriežas pirmajā divīzijā". Delfi (in Latvian). 16 April 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  7. "Latvijas sieviešu hokeja izlase sāk gatavoties pasaules čempionātam". LSM (in Latvian). 28 March 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
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