Kristaps Sotnieks

Kristaps Sotnieks (born January 29, 1987) is a Latvian professional ice-hockey defenseman. He currently plays for Dinamo Riga in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Playing career In his first season in senior hockey in 2004/05, Sotnieks mostly played for the reserves squad of HK Riga 2000 which played in the Latvian hockey league, however he also played 5 matches in the main team of Riga 2000 in Belarusian Extraliga. Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the squad of Riga 2000 was quite impressive that year, including NHLers Kārlis Skrastiņš, Sergejs Žoltoks, and Darby Hendrickson, thus it was especially tough for youngsters like Sotnieks to get through on the main team. In 2005, Sotnieks played in five matches for Latvia at the U18 World Championships.

The next season, Sotnieks was already a regular player in the main team of Riga 2000, which won bronze medals in the Belarusian Extraliga. In 42 matches, he scored one goal, gave 4 assists, and got 10 penalty minutes. In 2006, Sotnieks represented Latvia at the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Canada, earning 2 points for assists as Latvia was relegated to Division I.

The next two years, Riga 2000 played only in the Latvian hockey league with Sotnieks as one of the most reliable defenders on the team. In 2005, 2006, and 2007, as a member of Riga 2000, Sotnieks won Latvian league titles.

When Dinamo Riga was formed in 2008 Sotnieks wasn't among the players who were expected to be playing regularly for the side which included former NHLers like Duvie Westcott and Filip Novák, as well as a whole selection of players who had played for Latvia national ice hockey team at several world championships - Atvars Tribuncovs, Rodrigo Laviņš, Guntis Galviņš, Krišjānis Rēdlihs, Oļegs Sorokins and Agris Saviels. Thus, Sotnieks was expected to be a leading defender for HK Riga 2000 (the farm club of Dinamo) playing in the Belarusian league. However, Sotnieks became a regular for Dinamo. As of 17 February 2009, he has played 43 matches for Dinamo in the KHL, scoring two goals.

International play In February 2009 Sotnieks played for Latvia national ice hockey team in the Qualification to 2010 Winter Olympics, scoring two assists in three games and earning Latvia a qualification spot at the Olympics.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2004–05 HK Rīga 2000 BLR 5 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 2004–05 HK Rīga 2000 LAT 21 2 1 3 14 2 0 0 0 4 2005–06 HK Rīga 2000 BLR 37 1 4 5 10 5 0 0 0 0 2005–06 HK Rīga 2000 LAT — 3 6 9 12 — — — — — 2006–07 HK Rīga 2000 LAT 34 3 6 9 67 11 2 0 2 4 2007–08 HK Rīga 2000 LAT 40 2 2 4 28 7 2 0 2 4 2008–09 Dinamo Rīga KHL 46 2 1 3 34 3 0 0 0 2 2008–09 HK Rīga 2000 LAT — — — — — 7 0 0 0 14 2009–10 Dinamo Rīga KHL 48 0 2 2 28 9 0 2 2 6 2009–10 Dinamo Juniors Rīga BLR 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 2009–10 Dinamo Juniors Rīga LAT — — — — — 5 1 2 3 2 2010–11 Dinamo Rīga KHL 45 2 6 8 12 11 0 1 1 4 2011–12 Dinamo Rīga KHL 49 2 4 6 41 6 0 1 1 2 2012–13 Dinamo Rīga KHL 47 3 5 8 12 — — — — — 2013–14 Dinamo Rīga KHL 53 5 6 11 49 7 1 1 2 0 2014–15 Dinamo Rīga KHL 55 4 6 10 34 — — — — — 2015–16 Dinamo Rīga KHL 60 2 12 14 26 — — — — — 2016–17 Lada Togliatti KHL 56 6 8 14 24 — — — — — 2017–18 Lada Togliatti KHL 17 2 0 2 8 — — — — — 2018–19 Dinamo Rīga KHL 55 3 7 10 28 — — — — — 2019–20 Dinamo Rīga KHL 60 4 6 10 20 — — — — — 2020–21 Dinamo Rīga KHL 26 0 4 4 4 — — — — — 2021–22 Dinamo Rīga KHL 27 1 1 2 10 — — — — — KHL totals 644 36 68 104 330 36 1 5 6 14

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 2005 Latvia U18 D1 5 0 0 0 2 2006 Latvia WJC 6 0 2 2 6 2007 Latvia WJC D1 5 1 2 3 2 2009 Latvia OGQ 3 0 1 1 2 2009 Latvia WC 7 0 1 1 8 2010 Latvia OG 4 1 0 1 4 2010 Latvia WC 6 0 1 1 0 2011 Latvia WC 6 0 4 4 6 2012 Latvia WC 7 0 0 0 0 2013 Latvia OGQ 3 0 0 0 0 2013 Latvia WC 7 0 0 0 12 2014 Latvia OG 5 0 1 1 0 2014 Latvia WC 7 1 2 3 8 2015 Latvia WC 7 0 0 0 27 2016 Latvia OGQ 3 0 1 1 2 2016 Latvia WC 7 1 2 3 2 2017 Latvia WC 7 0 2 2 0 2018 Latvia WC 8 0 2 2 0 2019 Latvia WC 7 0 1 1 0 2021 Latvia WC 7 0 2 2 0 2021 Latvia OGQ 3 0 0 0 2 2022 Latvia WC 7 0 2 2 2 Junior totals 16 1 4 5 10 Senior totals 111 3 22 25 75