It's a somber Thursday around the NHL, but especially in Ohio as the memorial service for Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks, took place on Thursday morning, with several members of the organization speaking and paying tribute to the 24-year-old.
Kivlenieks had been celebrating the 4th of July at the home of Blue Jackets goalie coach Manny Legace in Novi, Michigan along with teammate and fellow Latvian netminder Elvis Merzlikins and his wife, with whom Kivlenieks lived when an errant fireworks mortar blast struck him in the chest. He would succumb to his injuries a short time later.
During the memorial service, Merzlikins spoke to Kivlenieks, referring to him as a little brother - family, before revealing an absolutely heartbreaking detail from that fateful night. Kivlenieks apparently stepped in the way of the mortar blast to protect Merzlikins and his wife, who is pregnant, sacrificing his own life so they he could prolong theirs.
Kivlenieks may have died as a son, teammate, friend, adopted brother, colleague and many other things in that realm - but he will be forever remembered as a hero.
What a tremendous loss for the Columbus Blue Jackets organization, for Matiss' family, friends, the Merzlikins family and the hockey community as a whole.
