Viktors Ignatjevs

Viktors Ignatjevs ( born April 26, 1970 in Riga, Latvian SSR ) is a former Latvian ice hockey defender. In his career, he played eleven games in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Since 2010 he works as an assistant coach of Dinamo Riga.

Career

Ignatjevs his playing career began in junior Dinamo Riga, for the team he first entered the ice in the season 1989/90 in the Soviet Hockey League. In the summer of 1992, he was selected to a total of 243 out of the San Jose Sharks in the NHL Entry Draft in 1992 in the eleventh round and moved on to the Kansas City Blades, the farm team of the Sharks, in the International Hockey League. In the season 1995/96 he won with the Utah Grizzlies of the IHL, the trophy, the Turner Cup before he moved to the Long Beach Ice Dogs. With the team from Long Beach, he reached a year later the final of the Turner Cup, but failed the Ice Dogs at the Detroit Vipers. In the summer of 1998 he was taken by the Penguins signed and completed eleven games in the NHL before he missed almost the entire season due to a shoulder injury and could only participate in a play-off game.

Because he got a new contract for the next season, he accepted a contract offer from the Nuremberg Ice Tigers, for which he completed 60 games in the DEL. After only one year in Nuremberg, he joined the Swedish first division club Leksand IF. About Severstal Cherepovets finally the stations and Molot Perm - Prikamye he came to Spartak Moscow, where he spent two seasons. From 2004 to 2008 he was standing by the EHC Linz in the Austrian Hockey League contract. At the beginning of the 2008/ 09 changed the lettering to the Vienna Capitals, in February 2009 HC Bolzano in the Italian league. He reached with his new team winning the Italian championship. After this success, he first completed his active career as a player and wanted to be a coach of the Under-18 Junior of GCK Lions.

In September, he received an offer from HYS The Hague in the Dutch Eredivisie, which he accepted. In 50 games for his new club Ignatjevs reached 47 points scorer before he finally ended his career and assistant coach of Dinamo Riga.

Internationally

Viktors Ignatjevs has played in several World Championships for the Latvian national ice hockey team, including 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.