Energija/GV Elektrėnai

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 25 Lithuanian championships.[1][2] The team is based in Elektrėnai and play their home games at Elektrėnai Ice Palace.

Energija/GV Elektrėnai
CityElektrėnai, Lithuania
LeagueOHL
Founded1977
Home arenaElektrėnai Ice Palace
(capacity: 2,000)
ColoursRed, white, light blue, black
       
Head coachArūnas Aleinikovas
Websiteairwellenergija.lt
Franchise history
1977–2019Energija Elektrenai
2020–Energija/GV Elektrenai
Championships
Playoff championships1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.[1]

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 teams 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 teams 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 sides 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 teams 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
Number Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
33 Lithuania Albertas Grinevicius L 2020 –
30 Russia Maxim Ponomarenko R 2020 Kaliningrad, Russia
1 Russia Eduard Zakharchenko L 2020 Vladivostok, Russia
Defencemen
Number Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
25 Lithuania Rolandas Aliukonis L 2020 Elektrėnai, Lithuania
12 Lithuania Mikas Briedys R 2020 –
96 Lithuania Aurimas Gaidauskas L 2020 Elektrėnai, Lithuania
4 Lithuania Karolis Kubilius L 2020 Elektrėnai, Lithuania
15 Lithuania Herkus Marcinkevicius L 2020 –
3 Lithuania Dominykas Motiejünas R 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
88 Lithuania Avgustinas Silinas L 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
77 Lithuania Jan Tuchto R 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
5 Lithuania Justinas Vezelis L 2020 Elektrėnai, Lithuania
Forwards
Number Player Shoots Position Acquired Place of Birth
81 Lithuania Edvinas Boroška L LW/RW 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
97 Lithuania Justas Fedorovicius L F 2020 Trakai, Lithuania
76 Lithuania Karolis Fedorovicius L F 2020 Trakai, Lithuania
10 Lithuania Gediminas Jadkauskas L LW/RW 2020 –
7 Lithuania Karolis Krasilnikovas L F 2020 Elektrėnai, Lithuania
19 Lithuania Donatas Kumeliauskas R F 2020 Elektrėnai, Lithuania
28 Lithuania Timonas Mazulis R LW 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
17 Lithuania Ernest Misiuk R F 2020 –
66 Lithuania Patrik Misiuk L F 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
9 Lithuania Arnas Misiukas L F 2020 –
13 Lithuania Dino Mukovoz L F 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
11 Lithuania Nikodemas Numavicius R F 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
22 Lithuania Oskaras Oleinikas R F 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
24 Lithuania Rojus Plepys L F 2020 –
6 Russia Dmitri Rabchuk L F 2020 –
22 Lithuania Edgar Rybakov R C 2020 Trakai, Lithuania
60 Lithuania Martin Tuchto L F 2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
16 Lithuania Edgar Rybakov L F 2020 –

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

SeasonLeagueGPWLTOTWOTLPtsGFGAFinishPlayoffs
2015–16NLRL24240—0072280641stChampion (Hockey Punks)
2015–16BHL361515—51561321485thSemi-final loss (HC Shakhtyor Soligorsk-2)
2016–17NLRL20200—0060182501stSemi-final loss (Juodupė)
2016–17BHL441819—43651761918thQuarter-final loss (HC Shakhtyor Soligorsk-2)
2017–18NLRL20191—0057155551stChampion(Kaunas Hockey)
2017–18BHL52940—123113933512thDid not qualify
2018–19NLRL18152—014690361stChampion(Hockey Punks)
2019–20Did 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

PlayerPosGPGAPts
Dovydas KulevičiusF405189452644
Rolandas AliukonisD517121358479
Sarunas KuliesiusF353196247443
Aivaras BendžiusF278199161360
Martynas SlikasF318169189358

Penalty minutes: Rolandas Aliukonis, 881

Regular season
  • Most goals in a season: Paulius Gintautas, 42 (2013–14)
  • Most assists in a season: Dovydas Kulevičius, 274 (205–16)
  • Most points in a season: Dovydas Kulevičius, 108 (2015–16)
  • Most penalty minutes in a season: Andrius Kaminskas, 146 (2002–03)

Playoffs
  • Most goals in a playoff season: Povilas Verenis, 10 (2017–18)
  • Most assists in a playoff season: Mikhail Yevstigneyev, 9 (2018–19)
  • Most points in a playoff season: Povilas Verenis, 16 (2017–18)
  • Most penalty minutes in a playoff season: Aivaras Bendžius, 75 (2016–17)

Notable players

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