The Last Save: Inside the Blue Jackets Goaltenders’ Friendship and Tragedy

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2021

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When the Columbus Blue Jackets open their season this evening, they will be missing one of their own. Over the summer, Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks was struck and killed by fireworks at a 4th of July celebration in Michigan. It was a tragedy that hit especially hard for Kivlenieks’ friend and teammate, fellow netminder Elvis Merzlikins. The two goaltenders shared more than just their position: they were among just a handful of NHL players from the tiny nation of Latvia. Merzlikins even invited Kivlenieks to live with him and his wife in Columbus. Emily Kaplan joins the show to share the story of their friendship, the tragedy that took one far too young, and how the Blue Jackets plan to honor their fallen teammate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Emily Kaplan, the Columbus Blue Jackets are opening their season tonight at home against the Arizona Coyotes.
0:16.9	The Blue Jackets starting gold tender is a guy named Elvis Merslikens.
0:22.4	Tell me a bit about Elvis.
0:24.6	Elvis is 27 years old.
0:26.7	Firstly, he's one of the best personalities in the league, but he's also a rising star in this league.
0:31.8	Emily Kaplan covers hockey for ESPN.
0:35.4	He comes from Latvia, a small country of less than two million people bordering the Baltic Sea.
0:40.7	Last year, there was only four Latvian players to play in the NHL.
0:44.3	It's a pretty big deal that he's here.
0:46.1	Buck handed here to Abdel Cater.
0:48.0	Right back.
0:48.7	Oh, Elvis moved latterly to make the stop there on Philpola from point-light range.
0:55.2	The Blue Jackets feel great about him as part of their future.
0:58.4	They just gave him a five-year, $27 million contract.
1:03.6	That said, Pablo, this year, he's playing for something much bigger.
1:07.5	Tonight, we are getting new insights into the deadly fireworks accident in Novi that took the
1:12.6	life of NHL goalie, Matisse Kivlinix.
1:15.5	Multiple 911 calls reveal the panicked moments immediately after it happened.
1:22.7	As the Columbus Blue Jackets opened their season tonight, they'll be missing one of their own.
1:29.4	Just three months ago, on July 4th, the team and the entire hockey world was stunned by the
1:36.0	tragic death of young Blue Jackets goaltender, Matisse Kivlennox. So today, we bring you the story
1:43.0	of two friends and the promise to honor a fellow goalie, a fellow teammate, a fellow countryman.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from ESPN, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of ESPN and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.