Teammates, fans pay tribute to Kivlenieks

Tributes for Matiss Kivlenieks poured in from far and wide after news of the Blue Jackets goaltender's passing broke Monday morning.
"Rest In Peace Kivi," CBJ forward Gus Nyquist

Kivlenieks played in eight games in a Blue Jackets sweater, six in 2019-20 and two more this past season. The native of Riga, Latvia, won his first career start against the New York Rangers in January 2020 and bookended his career with one final victory, the season finale of this past season as he backstopped the Blue Jackets past Detroit in overtime at Nationwide Arena.
While Blue Jackets fans only got to see him play in a handful of games with the team, the 5th Line still was devastated to learn of Kivlenieks' passing. A makeshift memorial featuring messages from Blue Jackets fans as well as flowers and other mementos appeared Monday afternoon at the front door of Nationwide Arena, and a number of fans gathered at R Bar in the Arena District, which opened to give fans a place to celebrate Kivlenieks' life on Monday evening.

"We had a loss in the family today," Matt Pfeffer of 614 Hockey told the crowd before an 80-second moment of silence in honor of Kivlenieks' uniform number. "Today was a hard day for all of us as 5th Liners and Blue Jackets fans. Number 80 is no longer with us, and it hurts."
Blue Jackets fan Jessica Peters tripped from her home in Logan County to meet with friends at R Bar, first stopping at the arena to drop off flowers and balloons.
"I wanted to come down here and be with friends," she said. "It just felt like we had to be here. It's very, very sad, but it just shows the community that the Blue Jackets have, that everybody has come together even in the middle of summer for something this tragic. We're here for each other."
Across the country, CBJ and hockey fans placed hockey sticks outside the door of their houses in honor of Kivlenieks, populating the hashtag #SticksOutForKivi on social media.

The NHL also recognized the memory of the CBJ goaltender, staging a moment of silence before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night in Montreal.
"The National Hockey League was saddened to learn of the sudden and tragic passing of goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks," Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. "On behalf of the NHL family, we extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends and teammates in both the Blue Jackets organization and his native country of Latvia. His love for life and passion for the game will be deeply missed by all those who have been fortunate to have him as a teammate and a friend."
Kivlenieks, 24, was born in Latvia but moved to the United States as a teenager to chase his hockey dreams. He started at age 17 with the Edina Lakers of the MNJHL, a Tier III league that no longer exists and was much more likely to produce NCAA Division III athletes and club hockey players than NHLers, leaving him a long and largely untraveled road to make it to the NHL.
But Kivlenieks had a great second year in the league in 2014-15, earning him a chance to play in the Tier II NAHL a year later while also skating with Latvia's youth international teams. After a year with Coulee Region of the NAHL, Kivlenieks moved on to the Tier I USHL, where he won league MVP honors in 2016-17 when he went 36-7-6 for Sioux City with a dominating 1.85 GAA and .932 save percentage.
Kivlenieks had planned to attend Minnesota State University but that performance made him a sought-after free agent in NHL circles, and he signed with the Blue Jackets that summer. Since then, he spent the bulk of the last four seasons with the Cleveland Monsters, playing a total of 85 AHL games with the farm club in that span. In his eight NHL games, Kivlenieks posted a 2-2-2 record, a 3.09 GAA and .899 save percentage.
His last act on the hockey stage was perhaps his most important, though, as his 38-save shutout for the Latvian national team over Canada to start the World Championships in May in his hometown of Riga kickstarted a wild celebration in the capital city.
"My little brother, what to say, I really loved you," CBJ goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, a close friend of Kivlenieks and a fellow Latvian, posted amid a long message on Instagram. "You will be our guardian angel."
A sampling of the tributes posted by members of the Blue Jackets and Monsters organizations follow.