'Whoa' - Edgars Vengis on his GB call-up and how Leeds Knights helped get him there
IMAGINE one week you’re doing your utmost to impress coaches at the Great Britain Under-20 training camp in Sheffield then – just a few days later – finding out you’ve been picked to represent the GB men’s team for the first-ever time.
That was the reality for Leeds Knights’ 18-year-old forward, Edgars Vengis.
It was announced last week that the teenager – who made his senior breakthrough for the Knights during the 2024-25 season – would be part of head coach Pete Russell’s roster to take on hosts Poland, as well as Italy and Ukraine in the European Cup of Nations.
Vengis, born in Ogre, Latvia but who played the vast majority of his junior hockey in the UK, had been fast asleep not long before he got the news from the GB general manager, Andy Buxton.
He said: “I got a message from Andy Buxton, and I’d only woken up about an hour or so before, so I was still waking up and kind of tired.
“I saw that message and I was just like ‘Whoa.’ I went straight to my parents and told them, then told all my family. Honestly, it was just unreal news. I was ecstatic.”
Vengis followed up his big news with four-points in three games last weekend, playing a pivotal role in what was a maximum six-point return for the Knights, stretching their unbeaten run to six games in NIHL National and elevating them up to fifth in the standings following a stuttering start to the campaign.
The young forward has been receiving big minutes from head coach Ryan Aldridge and that trust is a massive part of the self-belief that has carried Vengis towards his first senior call-up.
He said: “To have that confidence knowing that my coach trusts me to put me in certain situations, means a lot. I feel like I can play freely and just play my game.”
“I’m young, so I always try to play with intensity that other players might not. They might have more skill than I do, but I just play as hard as I can and annoy their D-men by fore-checking really hard and getting into them.”
Vengis was just one of 22 Leeds Junior Knights players - several already playing for one or both of the Knights’ senior teams - that were called up to various GB juniors training camps last month.
Vengis credits the junior set-up for this, adding: “I think ever since the juniors were created, the training sessions, they’re really intense.
“You work on certain skills that other teams don’t really work on and it’s the volume of training that we go through every week. And now that we’re all playing senior hockey, we get even better.”
Vengis has two aims for the upcoming tournament in Sosnowiec - one more important than the other.
“Just win,” he said. “I’ll really try and impress the coaches and work hard. But yeah, just win.”
Vengis is one of seven new faces to be selected for the GB team for the first time, others including Hull Seahawks’ defencemen Noah Kääriäinen.
Others include former Knights’ winger Carter Hamill, now at Milton Keynes Lightning, along with fellow forwards Connor Lee, Ricards Misins and Jake Sacratini.
Defenceman Jake Hayward, Hamill’s Milton Keynes team-mate, also makes the trip as a debutant having been called up to replace Solway’s Liam Stenton, who has been ruled out after picking up an injury in his team’s 5-2 home defeat to Leeds on Friday night.
“This is an exciting trip to Poland as we’re taking some of our most talented young prospects,” said Russell.
“It’s a chance for us to nurture our young talent. With seven Under-20 players joining us, this is a fantastic opportunity for them to engage with GB senior men’s hockey.”
GB open up their Cup of Nations campaign on Thursday against Italy (3pm) before taking on Ukraine at the same time on Friday.
They close out their schedule against hosts Poland on Saturday (1.45pm), meaning Vengis should be back in time to play for the Knights at home to Bristol Pitbulls on Sunday (4.15pm).