Raitis IvanÄns
Raitis Ivanans ( born January 3, 1979 in Riga, Latvian SSR) is a Latvian ice hockey player who played for Dinamo Riga until 2013 in the Kontinental Hockey League in the position of striker.
Career
Ivanans began his playing career in the youth of the successor club of Dinamo Riga, the Riga Juniors. In the season 1996/97 he played for the first time for the first team of Juniors in the Latvian Hockey League and the East European Hockey League. A year later, he moved to North America to the Flint Generals.
In the following years he played in various minor leagues, including for the Milwaukee Admirals, with whom he won the Calder Cup in season 2003/ 04, and Hershey Bears. On July 16, 2004 he signed a contract with the Montreal Canadiens, who initially put him at the Hamilton Bulldogs.
His first NHL game, he completed on 8 October 2005 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were defeated 5-4.
Already in his second game was Ivanans, who is known for his tough style of play and is also called the Enforcer, involved in a fist fight with Zdeno Chára. In this fight he suffered a fracture of the zygomatic bone. After his injury he was reinstated at the Bulldogs for the rest of the season.
On 13 July 2006, before the start of 2006/07 season he signed as a free agent a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings, for on 12 October 2006, he scored his first NHL goal against the Dallas Stars. On 18 March 2007, he signed a contract extension for a further year. A year later, he received a two- year contract, the 2009/10 tied him to the end of the season to the Kings.
After the expiration of this contract he was bound by the Calgary Flames for two years. However, due to multiple injuries, he missed much of the following two years of playing and completed only 2 NHL and AHL - 27 missions during this period. In May 2012, he returned to Europe and was awarded a contract with two years duration at Dinamo Riga, but was disbanded after the 2012/13 season.
Internationally
Ivanans has played in two tournaments, the B- Junior World Championship in 1999 and the Men's World Championship in 2009, for the Latvian national ice hockey team.
Awards and achievements
- 2004 Calder Cup win with the Milwaukee Admirals
NHL stats
(End of season 2011 /12)