Wheeling, WV – The Wheeling Nailers, the proud AA affiliate of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins, are proud to announce that one of their own will be representing his country at the upcoming Olympics.

Former Wheeling Nailer Armands Berzins will again represent his home country of Latvia in the 2010 games in Vancouver in late February. This will be the second time he has played in the Olympics and he has also represented his country in several other international tournaments as well.

Berzins currently plays for Dinamo Riga of the Kontinental Hockey League (formerly the Russian SuperLeague) which is considered to be the strongest league in Europe. He’ll be extremely familiar with the Latvian roster as 15 of the players on the team come from the same Dinamo Riga squad as Berzins. The team also has two current NHL’ers as well as two AHL players.

Berzins is a native of Riga, Latvia and is in his second season with his hometown team. The 26 year old Berzins played for the Wheeling Nailers in 2004-05 and had one goal and 10 assists in 57 games. The defensive minded forward was a 5th round pick of the Minneosta Wild in 2002. Between his season in Wheeling and his current Riga squad he has also spent single seasons in the Czech and Slovakian leagues.

This is the 11th time Berzins has represented his country in international competition dating back to 2000 when he played in the World Under-18 Championships and later in the World Junior Championships in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He then played for Latvia in their Olympic Qualification games in 2005 and 2009 as well as in the Olympics in 2006 and in the World Cup in 2007.

Latvia is currently 10th in the International Ice Hockey Federation’s world rankings and are hoping for their first medal in the sport. Latvia had to win a qualification tournament in February to reach the 12 team field and defeated Hungary, Ukraine and Italy to make it to the Vancouver games.

Latvia reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 World Championships. One of their biggest Olympic highlights was when the team battled to a 3-3 tie against the United States in the 2006 games.

The former Wheeling Nailer’s drive to reach the medal round begins February 16th when they take on Russia at midnight. Their other prelim games are against the Czech Republic on February 19 and against Slovakia on February 20.

The Wheeling Nailers have several great giveaway promotions coming up and some exciting home games. Saturday, January 9th is Youth Backpack night for the first 1000 kids age 14 and younger courtesy of BB&T. Saturday, January 16th is Nailers Ski Cap giveaway for the first 2500 fans courtesy of WesBanco.

Tickets for the Wheeling Hockey Hall of Fame Dinner on Friday, January 29th and Hall of Fame Game on Saturday, January 30th honoring former Doug Sauter and Nick Bedway are on sale now. Call the Nailers at 304-234-GOAL or log-on at wheelingnailers.com for more information.

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