Latvia Holds Holiday After Bronze Medal At IIHF World Championships

Folks in Latvia were going crazy while celebrating the country's first medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships.

The bronze medal — which was the nation's first in IIHF competition — resulted in a national holiday.

The Latvians co-hosted this year's IIHF World Championships with Finland, so that means this tournament was an even bigger deal than usual for the nation where hockey is the national sport.

After a shock run to the medal round, the Latvians faced the United States in the bronze medal game. Because of the ongoing Stanley Cup playoffs, the David Quinn-led Americans fielded a team that wasn't rife with superstars but did feature several NHL regulars like Buffalo's Alex Tuch as well as Pittsburgh's Nick Bonino and Casey DeSmith. They also had plenty of touted prospects including Flyers draft pick Cutter Gauthier who had a stellar tournament (just sayin').

Meanwhile, most of the Latvian players' names wouldn't ring a bell for most North American fans. But who cares, those dudes played their asses off and beat the United States in overtime thanks to a goal from Kristians Rubins a defenseman for the AHL's Calgary Wranglers.

Despite the strong Latvian contingent on hand, that game was played in Tampere, Finland. However, don't think for a second that they weren't losing their collective minds in Riga, because they were.

Alright, so — if there was any doubt — Lativa is a certified hockey nation.

Monday Was A Holiday In Latvia

For that reason, the Latvian parliament passed a bill that made the Monday after the historic win a national holiday.

“Celebrating the success of the Latvian hockey team could encourage everyone to strive for excellence in their work, in their skills,” the bill read, per USA Today. “Celebrating this day together would strengthen the national self-confidence and cohesion of the Latvian society.”

I'm bummed for the boys on Team USA, but congratulations to the folks in Latvia. This is cool.

Elsewhere in the tournament, Canada defeated Germany to win the gold medal at this year's IIHF World Championship.

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