Abols, Artis

He was engaged in hockey from the age of 6, the first coach was Helmut Hitsenbergs, then Mikhail Beskashnov ^[1] . He began his professional career in 1991 in Riga 's Pardaugava , where he played until 1995. In 1996 he moved to Sweden. In Swedish, Finnish and Danish clubs, he played before his return to his homeland in HC 2000 Riga; also in the 1999/2000 season he played two matches for Liepāja Metallurg . Having already switched to coaching, he went on the ice as part of the Ozolnieki / Monarchs (Latvian Major League) and Kurbads teams. For the national team of Latvia held four world championships in the top division (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002). Also the winner of Group C of the World Championship (1993) in its composition. He worked as a commentator on hockey matches ^[2] .

In 2006, after a knee injury, Abols underwent surgery, and the doctor accidentally discovered a hole in the heart of Abols. Artis underwent surgery in Slovakia under local anesthesia: although it was successful, he was banned from heavy loads for six months. In 2008, he received a serious injury to his hand: in one of the game episodes, he did not manage to dodge completely, and the opponent’s player hit his hip with a club in his hip. As a result of the injury, the cartilage was crushed and the ligaments were torn, and it was because of this injury that Abols ended his player's career ^[2] .

Artis graduated from the Latvian Academy of Sports Education , received a coaching license. In 2008, he became an assistant to the head coach in the revived Riga Dynamo . The first three seasons he worked with Julius Schupler , then for almost a half seasons - with Pekka Rautakallio . Since November 5, 2012 he became acting Dynamo head coach, after the resignation of Rautacallio. Under the leadership of Abols, Dynamo Riga won the Cup of Hope 2013 .

On April 30, 2013, he was appointed permanent head coach of Riga Dynamo. He led the team for two seasons. In the KHL season 2013/2014, Riga Dynamo made it to the playoffs, but in the first round in a bitter struggle lost to Donbass . In the KHL season 2014/2015, Riga Dynamo took 12th place in the KHL Western Conference and did not make it to the playoffs. At the end of the season, due to the uncertainty of his future in the team, he left the post of head coach of Dynamo Riga.

On June 3, 2015, he was appointed head coach of the Lada hockey club , acting in the KHL . After the resignation of head coach Sergei Svetlov on September 17, 2015, he was appointed acting head coach of HC Lada . On November 13, 2015, he was appointed head coach of the Togliatti Lada.

Achievements

• Hope Cup Winner 2013

Statistics (head coach)

Last updated: March 06, 2017

• On May 6, 2000, they reported on the radio that one of the players in the Latvian national team, who had won the Russian national team 3-2 a day earlier, had been found to have doping. Upon learning of this, Abols immediately consulted a doctor, suspecting that he might have accidentally taken a prohibited drug. However, it later turned out that the doping report was erroneous ^[2] .
• On September 11, 2017, in a match against SKA (1: 3), Artis Abols received a two-minute removal for using foul language against an arbitrator, which was broadcast live ^[3] , but at a post-match press conference he did not admit that he said something offensive in address of the judge ^[4] .

Married, three children, one of them is hockey player Rodrigo Abols (born 1996; player of the Swedish Örebro and the Latvian national team ).

• Artis Abols - Stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Artis Abols - Stats at European Ice Hockey Online AB
• Artis Abols - Stats on Eliteprospects.com