Teddy Blueger will wear the captain's 'C' on his sweater for Latvia in next week's Olympic qualification tournament, Latvian head coach Harijs Vitolins announced on Friday.
"I believe that a player who has had a successful season in the NHL, signed a new contract and does a lot of work, deserves to be the captain," Vitolins said of the decision.
Nine countries have already qualified for the Olympics in men's hockey -- The host nation China, along with the top eight teams in the IIHF rankings: Canada, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, United States, Germany, and Switzerland.
The final three spots will be determined in the final qualification tournament, which will be held Aug. 26-29. There are three groups, each comprised of four countries. The winner of each group will qualify for the Olympics. Latvia, ranked No. 10 in the IIHF world rankings, will compete in Group E along with No. 15-ranked France, No. 17-ranked Italy, and No. 21-ranked Hungary.
Blueger has previously played for the Latvian men's national team in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 World Championships, and has a combined three goals and seven assists in 20 games in games with the national team.
