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Tharix · 07-31-2017, 04:37 PM

(Exactly 1700 words. My first article. I'm from Latvia btw, so English isn't my first language. Also I just realised the title is wrong, rip)

The Season 36 SMJHL Draft is coming up soon. There are many new prospects who are scrambling to get their names out there so the GMs notice them, and among them is 18-year old Latvian goalie Roberts Kļaviņš. Born in the Latvian capital city of Riga, this young player is very eager to show what he is capable of. When I contacted him and asked him for an interview, he practically exploded!

So, Mr. Kļaviņš, why don't you tell our readers something about yourself?

Well... My name is Roberts Kļaviņš, I'm from Latvia, I am 18 years old and I love to play hockey! I learned to skate when I was 5 and started playing hockey when I was 6. I started out as a forward, but switched to goalie after a few months.

Why did you start playing hockey?

I got into hockey because my mom used to be a hockey player. She played on one of the top women's teams in the Soviet Union and Latvia. She even made the Soviet national team once! She retired from playing when I was born so she could take care of me. I remember when I was around 3 or 4 years old we used to rewatch her old games and I was just amazed. I wanted to be just like her when I grew up and sure enough, I ended up getting her to teach me how to play! At first, when I was learning how to skate, I couldn't stay up for more than a few seconds at a time, but I learned rather quickly. As I said before, I used to play forward, but I decided to switch to goalie because I was scared of getting hit. *laughs* I learned to play goalie very quickly and within a couple of months I was making saves left and right! We still play a game sometimes.

You talked about your mom quite a bit, but what about your dad? Did he do anything to support you?

My dad was and still is my #1 fan. He goes to all of my games! Oh, and he always got my team free pizza after the games when I was little. He owns a pizzeria in downtown Riga. He doesn't give us free pizza anymore though, since we have to stay in shape now. Well, most of the time. *laughs*

What do you think was the point when you decided "I'm going to be a professional hockey player."?

I had been considering it for a few years at that point, but I made the decision when I was 16. A few scouts for Dinamo Riga - Latvia's best hockey team - showed up to some of my teams games. One night, after I had had a very good game - a 48 save shutout - my coach pulled me aside and told me "The scouts want to talk to you. It seems like he recognises your talent. This could be your chance to go pro." I went to see the scouts and they told me "We like what we see, you have lots of potential. You could become a star if you keep developing." This is when I decided to fully commit to becoming a professional player. I started practicing even more, sacrificing my other hobbies to fully focus on hockey.

Alright, so now I want to find out more about you as a player. What is your playstyle like?

I mainly stay in my crease. I don't like leaving it because.. well... I still am a bit scared of getting hit! *laughs* When training, I focus on reactions and moving quickly, though I have recently been working on my rebound control, endurance, style control and a few other things.

Do you have any distinct weaknesses?

Yeah. I think almost every player has some sort of weakness. My biggest weaknesses are skating and puck control. I'm really not that good at controlling the puck, especially outside of my crease. I'm also not too good at stopping penalty shots, so hopefully I won't have to face too many!

I know that a lot of hockey players, especially goalies, are very superstitious and have all sorts of weird traditions. What about you?

Oh, yes! Of course I have some weird traditions! I like to eat two ham & peanut butter sandwiches before games. Most people are disgusted by it, but I really like it! Another tradition I have has to do with my stick tape. I tape my stick in a W shape - I did it once when I was 14 because I thought it would be cool and unique. I ended up having a good game and decided to keep doing it because I feel like it gives me good luck. Many think that the superstitiousness of hockey players is very ridiculous, but we take these traditions of ours very seriously. Every player has their own little thing that they do for good luck before or sometimes ever during games.

Are there any hockey players you look up to?

Yes, definitely. There are lots of fantastic goalies I idolize. Grant Fuhr, Dominik Hasek, Ron Hextall and many other famous goalies who changed the game forever are heroes in my book. Then you have the great Latvian players. Sandis Ozoliņš, even though he isn't a goalie, is beloved by many, many Latvians, including me. I hope that in the future I can have just an much of an impact on Latvian hockey as he did. I really look up to Artūŗs Irbe as well, I'm sure you know him. He was very popular in North America, right? But my favorite player of all time is Edgars Masalskis. The man was the centerpiece of the national team for over 15 years, and I am lucky enough to have witnessed his entire career. I broke down in tears after watching his last career game. He is the player who I look up to more than any other.

What SMJHL team would you like to be drafted by?

Ooh, that's a good question. I have been contacted by the GMs of several teams with all kinds of offers. I'm very excited to see who drafts me! I don't think I really want to say which team I'd like to be drafted by - this close to the draft you have to be very careful with what you say and do. One little slip-up has the potential to ward off any GMs who could be looking at me. In the end, I think I'd be fine with playing on pretty much any of the teams. They all seem very good!

What about the SHL? Any SHL teams that interest you?

Huh. I haven't really thought about that far in the future yet. A lot can change in a couple of seasons, so I can't really tell you what team I would like to be on. Judging by location though, I think it would be nice to live somewhere like Toronto, Minnesota, LA or Portland. I don't have anything against playing on the other teams and living in the other cities though, those are just the ones I would prefer.

What current SHL player is your favorite and why?

Right now it would probably be Kyle Wahlgren. Even though I was cheering hard for Toronto during the Challenge Cup Finals, Wahlgren is still my favorite player. I just love watching all of the crazy saves he makes, some of the saves that he made in the finals were crazy!

Let's step away from hockey for a bit, what are some other things you like? I'm sure that the readers would love to find out more about you as a person.

Well, let's see... I really like water skiing. I've been doing it for a couple of years now. I love the feeling of gliding over the water with the sun in my eyes and the wind in my face, I just wish there were more hockey players who water ski as well! I also like playing video games - my favorite at the moment is Rocket League, but I also play some Sid Meier's Civilization V and a few other games as well. I also go swimming sometimes.

You wear the number 90 on your jersey. Why 90?

1990 was the year that Latvia declared its independence from the Soviet Union. It was a really important year in Latvian history, which is why I have decided to honor it by wearing the number 90 on my jersey.

What do you think about the other players that are in your draft class?

Most of them are great, very talented players. Some of them could really become superstars. The other goalies are very tough competition, which is why I really want to show that I'm the best goalie in this draft class. They're all very nice, too. I certainly wouldn't mind being on a team with some of them, they'd be great teammates.

Do you think there is a lot of pressure for you to perform well?

I'm really not sure about that. Personally, I feel like this is one of the advantages of being a goalie. Most of the attention and expectations are aimed towards the forwards and defensemen in the draft. The goalies often seem to get neglected in cases like this, but I personally think that's a good thing - even though I'm not really affected by pressure much, some of the other guys are probably happy to stay relatively unknown and not hyped up much because it's less pressure on them to perform well.

Well, Mr. Kļaviņš, thank you for the interview! You certainly gave me some great insight on what it's like to be a potential star player. It was really interesting finding out your point of view on many things. Thank you!
It truly seems like being a SMJHL prospect is harder than it may seem. These players spend their entire childhoods training to get to this point, and now they're almost there. It will certainly be interesting to see how these teams pick and where these players - especially Kļaviņš - end up playing.