The death of 24-year-old goalkeeper Matis Kivlenieks was announced on Monday afternoon by the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation.
On the official website of the organization, they expressed condolences to the family and friends of the athlete, as well as to his colleagues.
The federation noted that his hard work, the native of Riga, earned the place of the main goalkeeper in the national team at the last World Cup and a contract with Columbus, for which he managed to play only eight games in the NHL.
“Kivlenieks has become a real example in sports thanks to his fighting qualities, hard work and dedication to his work.
Matis's departure is a great loss not only for Latvian hockey, but also for the entire Latvian people, ”Delfi is quoted as saying.
Later, information about the tragedy was confirmed in the Columbus Blue Jackets, the colors of which the athlete defended.
On the official website of the team, they said that the cause of death was an accident.
The 24-year-old goalkeeper sustained serious head injuries in a fall.
Doctors were immediately summoned to the scene, but it was not possible to save the young man.
“We are shocked and saddened by the loss of Mathis.
We offer our deepest condolences to his mother Astrid, family and friends at this devastating moment.
Kiwi was an outstanding young man.
He met every day and everyone with a smile.
We will never forget what he has done for our organization in four years of work, ”said the president of the hockey operations club John Davidson.
According to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, the league is mourning over the sudden and tragic death of an athlete.
“On behalf of the entire NHL family, I offer deep condolences to his family, friends and partners in the Blue Jackets and the Latvian national team.
Everyone who knew him and was friends with Mathis will miss his love for life and passion for the game, ”the NHL official website quoted Bettman as saying.
The memory of the deceased was also honored in the Russian Ice Hockey Federation.
“The life of the Latvian national team goalkeeper Matis Kivlenieks was tragically cut short.
He was only 24 years old.
Our most sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the hockey player.
We grieve, ”wrote on the FHR's Twitter account.
A little later, the media found out some of the details of the tragedy.
It was reported that the death was caused by "careless handling of pyrotechnics" during the celebration of US Independence Day.
Moreover, two versions were voiced: that Kivlenieks died of a head injury and that a fragment of a firecracker hit the player in the chest, after which he died on the spot.
The Athletic portal spoke with Novi Police Lieutenant Jason Meyer, who said that death came from hitting his head on concrete.
He said that the young man ran out of the jacuzzi with several friends after a fireworks launch failed, slipped and fell unsuccessfully.
However, a later autopsy showed that the cause of the death of the hockey player was a chest injury after a fireworks explosion.
Death was considered accidental.
The tragic death of the goalkeeper is even more frightening when you consider that just a month ago he successfully defended the colors of his country at the home World Cup.
At the championship of the planet, the goalkeeper spent four matches in which he conceded nine goals.
But he showed himself most vividly in the starting confrontation with Canada in the first round of the group stage.
Kivlenieks deflected all 38 shots on his goal and helped the Balts win a sensational victory - 2: 0.
True, the two final meetings of the group stage at the last frontier of the Latvians were no longer held by him, and without Matis the team failed to make it to the playoffs.
For him, this planetary championship was his debut in his career.
In 2018, he was also included in the national team's application for the tournament, but never appeared on the ice.
Young age then did not allow Mathis to fight for a place at the base.
The pupil of the Riga "Prism", who made his debut at the adult level back in the 2011/12 season, from childhood dreamed of going overseas and managed to realize his aspirations.
Young Kivlenieks went to North America, where the Forest Lakers became his first team.
In 2017, the hockey player made another major step forward in his career - he signed a contract with the Columbus farm club, Cleveland Monsters.
So Mathis became even closer to his dream and continued to gain experience in the AHL.
The Latvian's progress did not go unnoticed, and in the 2019/20 season he joined the Blue Jackets main team.
And in January, he made his long-awaited debut in the NHL.
Kivlenieks took a place at the last frontier in the match against New York Rangers and helped his team win an important victory - 2: 1.
That season the Baltic states played five more meetings in the regular championship and conceded 14 goals in total.
In the season that ended, he added to his asset two more fights in the NHL at the very end of the regular season.
In both, Columbus faced Detroit.
The first meeting ended with the defeat of Matis's team (2: 5), and the second - with a victory in overtime (5: 4).
Actually, in the last post on his Instagram page, Kivlenieks just shared a photo from the match against the Red Wings with subscribers.
Unfortunately, Mathis is no longer destined to go out on the ice.
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Publication from Matiss Kivlenieks (@ m_kiv80)