Rihards Marenis | Photo: Zane Bitere / LETA
Latvian ice hockey team striker Rihards Marenis in the podcast “The ninth” compared the former head coach of the national team, Bob Hartley, with the current captain of the team, Harry Vitolinas.
Marenis participated in his first world championship in 2019. “I had no options. If I made it, I knew what my role would be – to come with energy, play in the minority, in the fourth shift and “dilute” the opponents. Everything was fresh for me and I “soaked up” everything like a “sponge” to give myself the best chance. Of course, I heard texts from guys who were already in their third year [Hārtlija vadībā] – as much as one and the same thing. Even in the following years, that information got a little old for me, I wanted something new, but what Bob did worked to a large extent. We played a lot of good games, we beat Canada because of his details,” said Marenis.
“I liked it, it was something completely new,” the 31-year-old striker recalled of his time with the national team at Hartley. “I had respect for Bob because I knew his resume, and it's not for nothing that he has won those cups and achieved such achievements. With him, it was always clear to me what I had to do in order to get to playing, but if I started doing something more, didn't work somewhere, then he would very quickly cut back the playing time.”
“Precise game with the stick, you have to go for the goal, don't complicate anything, it's better to press, but in defense it's better to throw the puck out of the zone – he's very [savā spēles plānā] emphasized. At the same time, he saw less ability in us than Harry did. Why did we get bronze last year? Because he sees that we can do more than throw the puck out of the zone on the board. Maybe that was a problem on Bob's part, he put in quite large frames. He had his negative sides, but he was able to get “under the skin” and “squeeze the juice out” of everyone – even those who might not be motivated – so that the players would want to prove themselves. Bob had an “old school” mentality – he didn't care if the players hated him, but if it brings the team together, then the job is done,” said Marenis.
Meanwhile, Hartley's successor, Vītoliņš, took office in the summer of 2021 before the Olympic qualification tournament. “Everything [pie Vītoliņa] was different, the system was different. But like I said, he saw that we could play a little bit more. It felt like we were nothing to Bob, after his experience in the NHL, that we could just throw the puck out and run after it. Vītoliņš wanted us to play hockey,” emphasized Marenis.