Former University of Maine winger Eduards Tralmaks is playing in the International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Ice Hockey Championships in Czechia for his native Latvia.
The 6-foot-4, 207-pound Tralmaks played in 119 games for the Black Bears and registered 39 goals and 43 assists for 82 points during his four seasons including the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign.
The 27-year-old Tralmaks and his Latvian team will play their opener against Poland on Saturday.
There are 16 teams involved and they are divided into two eight-team brackets.
Each team will play the other seven teams in its bracket and the top four teams from each bracket will advance to the quarterfinals.
Latvia is in a group with France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Poland, Sweden and the United States.
Tralmaks signed a contract in 2021 with the Providence Bruins, Boston’s American Hockey League franchise, and played in parts of three seasons with Providence where he racked up 22 goals and 19 assists in 87 games.
He has also appeared in three games for the ECHL’s Maine Mariners and had four goals and three assists.
This past season, he played in the Czechia’s top pro league, Czechia Extraliga, for Rytiri Kladno.
The team is owned and managed by former National Hockey League great Jaromir Jagr, who also played in 15 games.
Tralmaks led the team in goals with 21 in 52 games and he was third in points with 32.
He led the league in power play goals with 12.
Tralmaks’ best season at UMaine was in 2019-20 when he had 14 goals and 16 assists in 34 games. He shared the team lead in goals and was third in points with 30.
