Matiss Kivlenieks' tragic accidental death on July 4th has hit the hockey world hard, but perhaps no one harder than teammate, close friend and fellow Latvian goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, who was present at the time that the tragedy occurred at the home of Columbus Blue Jackets goalie coach Manny Legacy in Novi, Michigan.
On Wednesday, Merzlikins had to face the unfortunate task of responding to an ignorant Twitter comment regarding Kivlenieks' death after a user by the name of @cyberjacob tagged Merzlikins and inferred that it was he and Kivlenieks' irresponsible partying that caused an errant fireworks mortar blast to strike Kivlenieks in the chest, resulting in his untimely and unfortunate death shortly thereafter.
The reality, of course, is that the fireworks were being operated by a trained individual who was in compliance with all state laws and that the mortar blast mishap is not exactly a rare occurrence with legal fireworks, such as the ones that were used on July 4th at Legace's home in Michigan.
It's a good lesson in not speaking before you have all the details. In this case, @cyberjacob would be wise to offer up a heartfelt apology to both the Kivlenieks family, Merzlikins and the Columbus Blue Jackets organization for his insensitive and presumptive comments.
