That was brilliant coaching by Teddy Nolan, a tragically underrated NHL head coach of the “Hardest working team in hockey” aka the 1997 Buffalo Sabres. I’ll never forget that guy, or this game. Gudslevskis was brilliant, and he put in a Hasek-esque performance. That is a word I will NEVER throw around haphazardly. I’ll also never forget the 42 year old Sandis Ozolinsh, another criminally underrated guy, and the BEST Latvian hockey player ever. He put his heart, soul and every ounce of effort into this game. I’ll never forget the way he was repeatedly calling for the puck in the closing minutes, literally skating all over the ice trying to tie it up. Memorable performances all around from Latvia. Still wish they would’ve won this one.

@@augustushaynes1311 Ted Nolan was much loved in Latvia, indeed. Having said that, the line around Lauris Darzinsh (with Sprukts and M. Redlihs) had played together since youth hockey, and they worked several years with Oleg Znaroks and Harijs Vitolinsh. Those two drilled them a lot and made them a very hard to stop power play machine. In interviews they recalled that the move with doing the flying change using the whole length of the zone was also drilled by Znaroks, who was very upset after their team lost two goals in a single game after this very trick.