Fallen Blue Jackets goalie remembered as friend, hero
Columbus Blue Jackets fans visit a makeshift memorial in front of Nationwide Arena Monday, July 5, 2021, in Columbus, Ohio, to remember Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks who died of chest trauma from an errant fireworks mortar blast in what authorities described Monday as a tragic accident on the Fourth of July. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete) July 15, 2021 - 3:02 PM
UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio (AP) â Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks was hailed as a friend and hero during a memorial service held Thursday for the player who died on the Fourth of July from an errant fireworks mortar blast.
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AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File
Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks was hailed as a friend and hero during a memorial service held Thursday for the player who died on the Fourth of July from an errant fireworks mortar blast.
Authorities have said the firework at a private home northwest of Detroit tilted slightly and started to fire toward people nearby. Kivlenieks was in a hot tub and was trying to move out of the way of the firework when he was struck.
He suffered chest trauma and was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Fellow Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins, a close friend of the 24-year-old Kivlenieks, told the mourners at the Schoedinger Funeral Home in Upper Arlington that his teammate saved him and his pregnant wife the night he was killed.