WHEN ELVIS MERZLIKINS HEARD the Columbus Blue Jackets had another Latvian goalie in the organization, he was excited -- but also confused.
"My first question was: Who the hell is this guy?" Merzlikins says. "I had never heard about him, never knew about his existence."
That goalie was Matiss Kivlenieks, who came to America when he was 16 with dreams of making it in the NHL. He worked his way up through junior hockey, bouncing from Minnesota to Wisconsin to Iowa before signing with the Blue Jackets in 2017.