Vitālijs Samoilovs

Vitālijs Samoilovs
Date of birth	April 19, 1962
place of birth	Riga , Latvian SSR
size	183 cm
Weight	82 kg
position	goalkeeper
Catch hand	Left
Career stations
1981-1989	Dinamo Riga
1989-1991	HK Sokol Kiev
1992-1993	Latvijas tent Riga
1996	Riga Alianse

Vitālijs Samoilovs ( Russian Виталий Анатольевич Самойлов / Witali Anatoljewitsch Samoilow; born April 19, 1962 in Riga , Latvian SSR ) is a former Latvian ice hockey goalkeeper , who won the gold medal with the Soviet national team in 1988 .

Career

Vitālijs Samoilovs began his career at Dinamo Riga and was the goalkeeper of the club in the 1980s, which belonged to the Vysschaja Liga , the highest division of ice hockey in the Soviet Union. At the U18 European Championships he won the gold medal and was named the best goalkeeper. Two years later he took part with the Soviet U20 selection in the Junior World Championship , where the team took fourth place.

The best season of his career was the 1987/88 season , when he was called up for the first time for a major tournament in the Soviet national team. He had previously made his international debut on November 1, 1986 in a game against Czechoslovakia. At the Canada Cup 1987 he was the third goalkeeper of the Sbornaja and was therefore not used in the course of the tournament. At the 1988 Winter Olympics , he was used in a game and won the gold medal with the USSR selection. At the end of the season he was surprisingly Soviet runner-up with Dinamo.

On May 20, 1988, he played his last international match, a total of ten internationals between the posts. During the 1988/89 season he struggled with an injury and lost his regular place to the up-and-coming Artūrs Irbe . Therefore, he moved in 1989 within the league for HK Sokol Kiev , for which he was active until 1991. He was still active in the Latvian ice hockey league until the mid-1990s before finally ending his career. Overall, he was in 231 games in the Wysschaja Liga in goal.

Achievements and Awards

• 1980 gold medal at the U18 European Championship
• 1980 Best goalkeeper in the U18 European Championship
• 1988 gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games
• 1988 Soviet runner-up with Dinamo Riga
• 1996 Latvian champion with Riga Alianse

Web links

• Vitālijs Samoilovs at eurohockey.com
• Vitālijs Samoilovs at hockeydb.com (English)
• Vitālijs Samoilovs at chidlovski.net
• Vitālijs Samoilovs at olimpiade.lv