Latvia unveils jerseys for 2026 Winter Olympic hockey tournament

The Latvian National Hockey Team unveiled its sweaters for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Thursday.

The jerseys feature the distinct maroon and white of the Latvian flag, as well as the country’s coat of arms, designed by  Latvian artists Vilhelms Krūmiņš and Rihards Zariņš. While its base is either maroon or white, it also comes with separate colored shoulder patches and stripes that drop off on the trim, reminiscent of some of their looks in the 1990s.

Latvia is heading to its seventh Olympic Games in men’s hockey. It seeks to return to the nation’s peak Olympic hockey moment, which came when Team Canada advanced to the quarterfinals at the Sochi 2014 Olympics, the last time NHL players participated in the Games ahead of next year’s event. 

Since then, when the 21-year-old Kristers Gudlevskis made 55 saves against a Canadian team that eventually went on to win its last Olympic men’s hockey gold medal, Latvia has enjoyed some stellar performances at the IIHF World Championship, highlighted by a bronze medal in 2023. 

In June, Latvia named the first six players to its roster, including Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzļikins and Pittsburgh Penguins netminder Arturs Silovs, as well as Vancouver Canucks forward Teddy Blueger, Tampa Bay Lightning center Zemgus Girgensons, and Philadelphia Flyers center Rodrigo Abols. The only blueliner named to the roster is Florida Panthers’ Uvis⁠ ⁠Balinskis.

Outside of Blueger and Silovs, all have participated in previous Olympic tournaments before their NHL careers and will now look ahead to the 2026 tournament, which opens on Feb. 11, 2026, before the medal games on Feb. 22. 

Latvia will start its Olympic tournament on Feb. 12, dropping the puck on Group C action against the star-studded United States, before also taking on Germany and Denmark in preliminary play, with hopes of advancing to the quarterfinal stages and a Cinderella run to the medal rounds.