Ricards Landmanis of the Ontario Hockey League’s Collingwood Blues (photo credit – Christian Bender & Spencer Smye / OJHL Images) has confirmed his commitment to join the NCAA Division I University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks beginning with the 2022-23 season.

The 20-year-old from Ventspils, Latvia signed in Collingwood ahead of the ill-fated 2020-21 OJHL season after two seasons with The Hill Academy U18 program in Caledon. He played the previous three seasons in Latvia.

"From Day 1 of Ricards joining the Blues he fit in extremely well,” said Blues Head Coach Andrew Campoli. “He's a fantastic young man and has been a leader and mentor to all players on our roster. His work ethic, communication, consistency has been instrumental in aiding our staff to build the culture we wanted to. Ricards continues to push himself outside of his comfort zone and is always willing to take on a new challenge.”

 “Alaska Fairbanks is getting a player committed to team goals and his personal development and we have no doubt that Ricky will be a key piece for their team in the upcoming seasons”

 The 6-foot-7 defenceman has two goals and seven assists in 30 games with Collingwood this season.

“I am very thankful for all the people who helped me get to the point where I am prepared to take on the next level,” Landmanis said on the Blues’ website. “Not a lot of people have a chance to go play NCAA D1 hockey. Alaska Fairbanks University seems far away at first, but I am sure it is the right/best fit for me.

“Going into my freshman year I will have to match a lot of expectations from hockey to educational execution. This is where I would like to shout out to the Collingwood Blues organization for being my mentor of preparation. Starting from our equipment guys, trainers, coaches, all the way up to management. I have built trust with the organization and they never seem to disappoint. Thank you Collingwood Blues!”

OJHL alumni on the Alaska Fairbanks roster include Harrison Israels and Garrett Pyke from the Oakville Blades and Colin Doyle via the Wellington Dukes.

Congratulations to Ricards and best of luck in the NCAA !

About the OJHL –  “League of Choice”

The Ontario Junior Hockey League is the largest Junior ‘A’ league operating under the auspices of the Canadian Junior Hockey League with 22 member clubs. A proud member of the CJHL and Ontario Hockey Association, the OJHL was originally named the Ontario Provincial Junior ‘A’ Hockey League and it was formed out of the Central Junior ‘B’ Hockey League in 1993-94. With a long and storied history of developing players for the next level, including U SPORTS, the NCAA, CHL, minor pro ranks and the NHL, the OJHL had more than 125 commitments in 2019-20 – including more than 45 NCAA Division I scholarships.