Matiss kivlenieks11/10/2023 On the plane ride home, Kivlenieks was thanking everyone: the players who blocked shots for him, the defensemen who clogged lanes. Kivlenieks made 31 saves to lead Columbus to a 2-1 win over the New York Rangers. "And then that's what happened," Merzlikins says. "You're good," Merzlikins told his teammate. He skated over to Merzlikins on the bench, as he was playing backup that night. At the first commercial break, Kivlenieks was clearly nervous. He was 23, and making his NHL debut at the world's most famous arena. Kivlenieks' first Blue Jackets start came on Jan. "We didn't just become best friends," Merzlikins says. "He's a psychopath like my wife," says Elvis, who, afraid, would hide in his office when Matiss and Aleksandra watched. ![]() After years of begging her husband to watch horror movies, Aleksandra finally had someone to enjoy them with. "I'm not joking, he was cleaning that car every three days," Merzlikins says. Kivlenieks helped around the house he walked Koby, the family dog (a cavapoo), without being asked, and never let dirty dishes go unattended.īut what did Kivlenieks care for the most? His beloved BMW. Kivlenieks was on a minor league salary and Merzlikins had an extra room anyway. When it became apparent Kivlenieks would be sticking around, Merzlikins invited the rookie to live with him and Aleksandra. "And I think that's why they became so close. "For them, being in the US and being able to speak Latvian with one another, they just felt like family from the immediate moment where they met," Merzlikins' wife, Aleksandra, says. That the paths of Kivlenieks and Merzlikins converged, in Ohio of all places, to form the NHL's first all-Latvian goalie tandem, felt karmic. Only 25 Latvians have ever skated in the NHL. Latvia is a country of fewer than 2 million bordering the Baltic Sea it houses 19 indoor ice rinks and has roughly 7,500 registered hockey players. He was NHL-ready by the time he joined the Blue Jackets in 2019. Merzlikins, married and three years older than Kivlenieks, established himself by playing professionally in Switzerland. He worked his way up through junior hockey, bouncing from Minnesota to Wisconsin to Iowa before signing with the Blue Jackets in 2017. ![]() That goalie was Matiss Kivlenieks, who came to America when he was 16 with dreams of making it in the NHL. "I had never heard about him, never knew about his existence." ![]() "My first question was: Who the hell is this guy?" Merzlikins says. WHEN ELVIS MERZLIKINS HEARD the Columbus Blue Jackets had another Latvian goalie in the organization, he was excited - but also confused. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĬolumbus Blue Jackets' Elvis Merzlikins tries to move on after death of Matiss Kivlenieks
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