Energija/GV Elektrėnai explained

Team:Energija/GV Elektrėnai
Colour:background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#ED1B24 5px solid; border-bottom:#1598D1 5px solid;
Colour Text:
  1. 000000
Logosize:195px
Founded:1977
City:Elektrėnai, Lithuania
Arena:Elektrėnai Ice Palace
Capacity:2,000
League:OHL
Colours:Red, white, light blue, black
Coach:Arūnas Aleinikovas
Championships:1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2024[1]
Name1:Energija Elektrenai
Dates1:1977–2019
Name2:Energija/GV Elektrenai
Dates2:2020–

Energija/GV Elektrėnai (formerly Energija Elektrėnai) is a Lithuanian professional ice hockey team that plays in the Latvian Hockey Higher League. Energija is the most successful ice hockey team in Lithuania, having won 26 Lithuanian championships.[1] [2] The team is based in Elektrėnai and play their home games at Elektrėnai Ice Palace.

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 fifth out of nine teams whilst qualifying for the second round of competition.[5] Energija won its 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 marked the beginning of the team's dominance of the domestic competition, as they went 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 sixth out of eight teams.[9] During the team's tenure in the EEHL, they were often near the bottom of the table. Energija did not 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 third place game to HK Liepājas Metalurgs. Despite the auspicious start north of the border, the team's first season in the Latvian border was 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 and 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 side's maiden season in Belarus was a decent one, finishing fifth out of 13 teams in the regular season, before losing in the play-off quarter-finals.[11] Their best season in Belarus came during the 2015–16 season, where they reached the play-off semi-finals.[12] The 2015–16 season saw 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 2019–20 season.[19] [20] The team later went on to partner 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]

Owing to the team's dominance of the Lithuanian league, they regularly appeared in continental competition in the 1990s and 2000s. Initially appearing in the European Cup and then its successor competition the Continental Cup. However, they did not 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
width=5%Numberwidth=5%width=15%Playerwidth=8%Catcheswidth=9%Acquiredwidth=37%Place of Birth
33Albertas GrineviciusL2020
30Maxim PonomarenkoR2020Kaliningrad, Russia
1Eduard ZakharchenkoL2020Vladivostok, Russia
Defencemen
width=5%Numberwidth=5%width=15%Playerwidth=8%Shootswidth=9%Acquiredwidth=37%Place of Birth
25Rolandas AliukonisL2020Elektrėnai, Lithuania
12R2020
96L2020Elektrėnai, Lithuania
4Karolis KubiliusL2020Elektrėnai, Lithuania
15L2020
3R2020Vilnius, Lithuania
88L2020Vilnius, Lithuania
77R2020Vilnius, Lithuania
5L2020Elektrėnai, Lithuania
Forwards
width=5%Numberwidth=5%width=15%Playerwidth=8%Shootswidth=8%Positionwidth=9%Acquiredwidth=37%Place of Birth
81LLW/RW2020Vilnius, Lithuania
97LF2020Trakai, Lithuania
76LF2020Trakai, Lithuania
10Gediminas JadkauskasLLW/RW2020
7Karolis KrasilnikovasLF2020Elektrėnai, Lithuania
19Donatas KumeliauskasRF2020Elektrėnai, Lithuania
28RLW2020Vilnius, Lithuania
17Ernest MisiukRF2020
66Patrik MisiukLF2020Vilnius, Lithuania
9Arnas MisiukasLF2020
13Dino MukovozLF2020Vilnius, Lithuania
11Nikodemas NumaviciusRF2020Vilnius, Lithuania
22Oskaras OleinikasRF2020Vilnius, Lithuania
24Rojus PlepysLF2020
6Dmitri RabchukLF2020
22Edgar RybakovRC2020Trakai, Lithuania
60Martin TuchtoLF2020Vilnius, Lithuania
16Edgar RybakovLF2020

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

Season League GP W L T OTW OTLPts GF GA Finish Playoffs
2015–16 24 24 0 0 0 72 280 64 1st Champion (Hockey Punks)
2015–16 36 15 15 5 1 56 132 148 5th Semi-final loss (HC Shakhtyor Soligorsk-2)
2016–17 20 20 0 0 0 60 182 50 1st Semi-final loss (Juodupė)
2016–17 44 18 19 4 3 65 176 191 8th Quarter-final loss (HC Shakhtyor Soligorsk-2)
2017–18 20 19 1 0 0 57 155 55 1st Champion(Kaunas Hockey)
2017–18 52 9 40 1 2 31 139 335 12th Did not qualify
2018–19 18 15 2 0 1 46 90 36 1st Champion(Hockey Punks)
2019–20 Did 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

Player Pos GP G A Pts
F 405 189 452 644
D 517 121 358 479
F 353 196 247 443
F 278 199 161 360
F 318 169 189 358

Penalty minutes: Rolandas Aliukonis, 881

Season

Regular season

Playoffs

Notable players

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Elite Prospects – Energija/GV Elektrenai. EliteProspects.com. en. January 30, 2021.
  2. Web site: "Energijos" erai atėjo galas?. Sportas.lt. lt. November 30, 2018. January 29, 2021.
  3. Web site: Apie mus – Elektrėnų Airwell Energija . airwellenergija.lt . 17 February 2023 . lt-LT.
  4. Web site: Apie mus – ELEKTRĖNŲ LEDO ARENA. Elektrėnai Ice Palace. lt. February 2, 2021.
  5. Web site: Lithuania – 1976–1977 on EliteProspects. EliteProspects.com. en. February 2, 2021.
  6. Web site: Lithuania – 1985–1986 on EliteProspects. EliteProspects.com. en. February 2, 2021.
  7. Web site: Lithuania – 1986–1987 on EliteProspects. EliteProspects.com. en. February 2, 2021.
  8. Web site: Lithuania – 1989–1990 on EliteProspects. EliteProspects.com. en. February 2, 2021.
  9. Web site: EEHL – 1995–1996 on EliteProspects. EliteProspects.com. en. February 2, 2021.
  10. Web site: NLRL . Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation. lt. February 2, 2021.
  11. Web site: Belarus Vysshaya – 2013–2014 on EliteProspects. EliteProspects.com. en. February 3, 2021.
  12. Web site: Belarus Vysshaya – 2015–2016 on EliteProspects. EliteProspects.com. en. February 3, 2021.
  13. Web site: Naująjį sezoną Kasparaitis užsivilks "Energijos" marškinėlius. Alfa.lt. lt. July 26, 2017. January 30, 2021.
  14. Web site: Darius Kasparaitis putting retirement on hold to join Lithuanian national team. The Hockey News. en. January 17, 2016. January 23, 2021.
  15. Web site: Kasparaitis Is Playing for More Than a Paycheck. TheHockeyWriters.com. en. November 18, 2017. January 23, 2021.
  16. Web site: Ledo ritulio legenda D. Kasparaitis gins Elektrėnų "Energijos" garbę. DELFI. lt. July 26, 2017. January 31, 2021.
  17. Web site: Darius Kasparaitis - EliteProspects.com. EliteProspects.com. en. January 30, 2021.
  18. Web site: Dainius Zubrus - EliteProspects.com. EliteProspects.com. en. January 30, 2021.
  19. Web site: D.Kasparaitis apie Elektrėnuose verdantį skandalą: "Manau, kad "Energija" neturi finansų, o lengviausia buvo apkaltinti kitus". Sportas.lt. lt. October 8, 2019. February 3, 2021.
  20. Web site: "Energijos" direktoriaus pareigas perima V.Mickevičius, komanda ruošiama kitam sezonui. Sportas.lt. lt. December 5, 2019. February 3, 2021.
  21. Web site: Lietuvos ledo ritulio čempionate čiaužys penkios komandos. Delfi. lt. July 15, 2020. January 28, 2021.
  22. Web site: "Geležinis vilkas" ir Elektrėnų "Energija" Lietuvos čempionate jungia jėgas ambicingiems tikslams. Sportas.lt. lt. June 30, 2020. February 3, 2021.
  23. Web site: Elite Prospects – Energija/GV Elektrenai. EliteProspects.com. en. January 28, 2021.