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The Bob Hartley effect is making itself felt in Latvia today

 Manuel Sperandio-Lemay
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The Bob Hartley effect is making itself felt in Latvia today
Latvia surprised EVERYONE by beating the USA at the World Championships to claim the bronze medal.

It’s only bronze, and they didn’t win gold, some might say… But it goes much, much further than that. But why?

Simply because this is the first time they’ve even played for an IIHF medal. That’s no mean feat, and yourealize it when you see the images of the celebrations that took place in the country in the last few hours.

Quite a crowd at mass.

The Latvians have been at the party since yesterday morning, when the team beat the USA for the bronze medal.

They committed a more or less “respectful” gesture by going to lay flowers in front of the American embassy in Riga… But hey. Once again, this is an important victory for the country, because it’s the first time it’s been able to taste a medal.

No, the scenario wouldn’t have been the same in Canada if our representatives had won the bronze medal. Nor is it after the Canadians’ victory over the Germans in the World Championship final.

But it’s not the same, for obvious reasons.

Obviously, when we think of Latvia, Bob Hartley’s name comes to mind. Let’s not forget that Hartley was Latvia’s head coach from 2016-17 to 2020-21… And since then, the Latvians have become competitive on the international scene.

Bob Hartley, in a way that only he knows the secret to, has been able to change the mentality of the players there. We know what a gift the former NHLer has for bringing an exemplary attitude to any field hockey organization, and it’s today that his work is bearing fruit.

Without shouting it out loud, I have a strong feeling that he played a big role in Latvia’s bronze-medal “conquest”.

And that’s something he can be damn proud of. Without him, maybe Latvia wouldn’t be where it is today…

And that’s something to be proud of.


In bursts

– I’d do the same.

– Interesting list.

– Golden Knights or Stars tonight?

– Jonathan Sirois (Montreal CF) is on the MLS Team of the Week.

– Well said.

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