Rodrigo Laviņš

Rodrigo Laviņš (born 3 August 1974) is a Latvian former professional ice hockey coach and former defenceman. He currently holds the record for most caps in the Latvian national team, haveing played in 226 games.

Playing career Laviņš began his career with his hometown team Pārdaugava Rīga. He then moved to North America in 1994, starting with the East Coast Hockey League where he played for the Raleigh IceCaps and the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks. He also had a spell in the Colonial Hockey League with the Muskegon Fury. In 1997, he moved to the International Hockey League with the Las Vegas Thunder. He then moved to the Tacoma Sabercats of the West Coast Hockey League the same season.

Laviņš returned to Europe in 1998, splitting the year in Finland's SM-liiga with Jokerit and Sweden's Elitserien with AIK. He returned to Finland the next season, splitting the year with HPK and Ilves before moving to the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany, suiting up for the Augsburger Panther. Laviņš returned to Russia in 2001 where he spent two seasons, playing for Molot-Prikamye Perm and Dynamo Moscow.

He returned to Latvia in 2003, signing with HK Riga 2000 where he stayed for three seasons. He came back to Sweden in 2005, joining Brynäs IF for two seasons and then split 2007-08 with Södertälje SK and Russian side Metallurg Novokuznetsk.

In the 2008–09 season, he played for Dinamo Riga in the newly formed Kontinental Hockey League, remaining with the team through the 2013-2014 season. Laviņš joined HK Kurbads in the Latvian league for the next 2 seasons, acting as a player-assistant coach in the 2015-16 season. He stopped playing the following season and became head coach for one year, winning the Latvian Hockey League in the 2016-17 season.

International He was named to the Latvia men's national ice hockey team for competition at the 2014 IIHF World Championship.

Coaching career Upon retirement, in 2015 Laviņš founded his youth academy - the R. Laviņš Hockey School (R. Laviņa hokeja skola, also the R. Laviņš Sports Studio; R. Laviņa sporta studija), which fields the teams Baltu Vilki (notable alumni include Alberts Šmits), Mārupe Baltu Vilki and Baltu Lūši.

Personal life Laviņš' son, Martins Rodrigo Laviņš, currently plays for the University of New Hampshire. He made his debut in the Latvian national team at the 2024 IIHF World Championship.

Rodrigo Laviņš owns a homestead in Jēkabpils Municipality (in the area of the former Sala Municipality).

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1990–91 RASMS Rīga USSR-3 6 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1991–92 RASMS Rīga CIS-3 32 4 3 7 6 — — — — — 1992–93 Pārdaugava Rīga IHL 41 1 6 7 20 2 0 0 0 2 1992–93 Pārdaugava Rīga LAT 11 3 2 5 6 — — — — — 1993–94 Pārdaugava Rīga IHL 30 0 0 0 16 2 0 0 0 4 1994–95 Raleigh IceCaps ECHL 25 2 7 9 30 — — — — — 1994–95 Tallahassee Tiger Sharks ECHL 44 3 9 12 36 11 0 3 3 8 1995–96 Tallahassee Tiger Sharks ECHL 52 10 14 24 86 2 0 1 1 0 1996–97 Muskegon Fury CoHL 16 4 4 8 16 — — — — — 1996–97 Tallahassee Tiger Sharks ECHL 50 11 27 38 45 1 0 0 0 2 1997–98 Tacoma Sabercats WCHL 10 4 4 8 6 8 2 10 12 8 1997–98 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 48 3 7 10 53 3 0 0 0 2 1998–99 Jokerit SM-l 10 0 2 2 14 — — — — — 1998–99 AIK SEL 15 1 2 3 10 — — — — — 1999–00 Ilves SM-l 31 4 4 8 59 — — — — — 1999–00 HPK SM-l 22 3 8 11 22 8 1 1 2 10 2000–01 Augsburger Panther DEL 46 1 5 6 38 — — — — — 2001–02 Molot–Prikamye Perm RSL 43 5 5 10 36 — — — — — 2002–03 Dynamo Moscow RSL 24 1 6 7 20 3 0 1 1 6 2002–03 Dynamo–2 Moscow RUS-3 6 1 2 3 10 — — — — — 2003–04 HK Rīga 2000 LAT — — — — — 3 0 2 2 4 2004–05 HK Rīga 2000 BLR 42 6 21 27 10 3 0 0 0 0 2004–05 HK Rīga 2000 LAT 4 0 2 2 2 8 0 5 5 2 2005–06 Brynäs IF SEL 45 5 2 7 28 4 0 2 2 2 2006–07 HK Rīga 2000 LAT 6 1 4 5 6 — — — — — 2006–07 Brynäs IF SEL 43 0 2 2 42 7 1 0 1 6 2007–08 Metallurg Novokuznetsk RSL 13 0 2 2 18 — — — — — 2007–08 Södertälje SK SEL 34 0 1 1 10 — — — — — 2008–09 Dinamo Rīga KHL 49 1 6 7 22 3 0 0 0 4 2009–10 Dinamo Rīga KHL 52 3 8 11 30 6 0 1 1 4 2010–11 Dinamo Rīga KHL 32 4 3 7 20 9 0 1 1 6 2011–12 Dinamo Rīga KHL 28 0 1 1 23 — — — — — 2012–13 Dinamo Rīga KHL 30 0 1 1 16 — — — — — 2012–13 HK Liepājas Metalurgs BLR 9 2 1 3 14 — — — — — 2013–14 Dinamo Rīga KHL 15 0 1 1 4 — — — — — 2014–15 HK Kurbads LAT 26 3 18 21 14 12 0 4 4 4 2015–16 HK Kurbads LAT 13 2 10 12 0 1 0 0 0 0 2018–19 HK AKO/Mārupe LAT-2 4 0 1 1 0 — — — — — ECHL totals 171 26 57 83 197 14 0 4 4 10 SEL totals 137 6 7 13 90 11 1 2 3 8 KHL totals 206 8 20 28 115 21 0 3 3 16

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1993 Latvia WC C 6 1 0 1 4 1994 Latvia WJC 4 1 9 10 2 1996 Latvia WC B 7 0 0 0 0 1997 Latvia WC 8 0 3 3 4 1998 Latvia WC 6 0 1 1 6 1999 Latvia WC 6 0 0 0 2 1999 Latvia WC Q 3 0 0 0 2 2000 Latvia WC 7 1 2 3 4 2002 Latvia OLY 4 0 0 0 4 2002 Latvia WC 6 1 1 2 2 2003 Latvia WC 6 0 2 2 4 2005 Latvia OGQ 3 0 0 0 0 2005 Latvia WC 6 0 1 1 2 2006 Latvia OLY 5 0 1 1 0 2007 Latvia WC 6 1 3 4 27 2008 Latvia WC 6 0 2 2 16 2009 Latvia WC 6 0 2 2 4 2010 Latvia OLY 4 0 0 0 2 2012 Latvia WC 7 0 0 0 0 2014 Latvia WC 7 0 0 0 6 Junior totals 4 1 9 10 2 Senior totals 109 4 18 22 89