Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team The Czech men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of the Czech Republic. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. It is governed by the Czech Ice Hockey Association. The Czech Republic has 72,075 players officially enrolled in organized hockey (0.7% of its population). The Czechs won the gold medal at the 1998
Latvia women's national ice hockey team Latvia women's national ice hockey team The Latvian women's national ice hockey team represents Latvia at the International Ice Hockey Federation's IIHF World Women's Championships and is controlled by the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation. Latvia had 77 female players in 2011. The Latvian team has never qualified itself for an Olympic tournament. Having failed to qualify for Group A of the 1999 world championship, Latvia debuted in the Women's world championship within Group B. In the following Tournaments, the Latvian Team competed at this level (renamed Division I in 2003). They were saved from demotion in 2005, further to the