The Almaguin Spartans are extremely happy to announce the hiring of Andrejs Savičevs, as the Spartans Head Coach. Savičevs comes to the Spartans with an incredible amount of playing and coaching experience at the top junior, professional and international level. As a player Savičevs was a 2003 USHL Draft Pick of the Chicago Steel, represented Latvia Internationally at the World Junior Championships twice and played 6 years professionally in the Latvian Premier League.
As a coach, Savičevs has coached at the professional level in Latvia and Lithuania with DHK Latgale (Latvian Premier League) 2008-2011 and Baltu Ainiai/HC Klaipeda (Lithuania) 2019-2020. As a junior coach, Savičevs coached from 2008-2014 in the top Latvian
league at the U20, U18 and U16 level. Since 2014, Savičevs has led the entire HC Klaipeda Hockey Program from U8 to U17, and during this time has also coached the U16 and U18 Lithuania National Teams.
Savičevs has a bachelor’s degree in education, with a specialized focus in the teaching of sport from Daugavplis University in Latvia. He speaks four languages (English, Russian, Latvian and Lithuanian), which will make the transition for any player to our program from Russia, Latvia, Belarus or Lithuania much easier on and off the ice.
Savičevs is a coach that is able to provide world class skill development and conditioning training for every player in our program. He has completed high level training throughout Europe over the past 20 years, with some of the brightest hockey minds in the world as a player and a coach. Savičevs proven ability to develop players individually and within a team system, will fully prepare our players to compete for a championship this season and prepare players to play at the next level.
Savičevs joins an experienced coaching staff with Andre Laperriere and Brandon Blanche. The Spartans ownership group of Andrew Torrance, Andy Palfrey and David Forde had this to say about the addition of Savičevs to the coaching staff “We are thrilled to have Andrejs joining our coaching staff. His experience as a player and a coach help bring our program to the next level. Every year we have players from all over the world, and having a coach with Andrejs’s experience, international contacts and ability to speak multiple languages, makes our program better immediately. Andrejs came and visited the Spartans this past season before making the decision to move from Europe and join the Spartans. After spending a week with the Spartans, he was very impressed with the Spartans organization and the community and felt very comfortable in making this major move to Canada with his wife Albina. His hiring is also going to benefit the entire hockey community in the region, as Andrejs and the Spartans will be launching their hockey school this fall.”
Our General Manager David Forde has got to know Andrejs over the past 3 years while spending time in Lithuania at the pre draft showcase, which has created great contacts for the Spartans Internationally and has resulted in 15 players joining the Spartans program from this event. Spartans General Manager David Forde had this to say about the addition of Savicevs “I am thrilled to have Andrejs joining our organization. I have got to know Andrejs and his wife over the past 3 years while travelling to Lithuania. Andrejs and his good friend Olegs Koreshkovs (Scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs), organize this first-class event every spring, which attracts top organizations from the GMHL, NCDC, NAHL, Switzerland Top Junior Division, Finland Top Junior Division and the Sweden Super Elite League.
Having had the opportunity to interact with Andrejs on a professional and personal level at this event and having hosted him here for a week last season, I feel 100 percent confident that he is a perfect fit for our program, our team of coaches and the community. He is going to help move our program to the next level, with the assistance of Andre Laperriere and Brandon Blanche who did a great job last season with a very young Spartans team. We have a coaching staff in place that is experienced, proven and extremely committed to developing players and winning a championship. It’s not very often you have 3 coaches in place who have all been head coaches at the Junior level. Our ownership group has brought in all of the right pieces off the ice, now it is my job in collaboration with my staff to bring in the right players to build another championship team”
Andrejs Savičevs had this to say about joining the Spartans “I am very excited to join the Spartans. I enjoy the North American style of game on smaller rinks, as it creates more action and creates battles for the puck. This season with the help of Andre and Brandon we will play a more structured system and force the play a lot more. We will be focusing on fitness and skill development every day with our players. Our goal is to win the cup, even though this is not an easy task, our team will do it’s best every night and compete hard as a group. I am confident we will have a very good team this season and I am looking forward to this new challenge in Canada. Another big factor in working towards a championship is the great ownership group in place here that ensures we have everything we need to prepare to be a championship team and the tremendous support we receive from the loyal Spartans fans. My two goals with our group this season and every year, is to try and win a championship and to push players to the next level of hockey. I can’t wait to meet everyone in the fall. To all of our players, staff, billets, sponsors and fans, I hope you are doing well and stay safe and healthy.”
Welcome aboard Andrejs Savičevs
