Details Emerge About Blue Jackets Goalie Matiss Kivlenieks’ Fatal Fireworks Accident

Blue Jackets' Matiss Kivlenieks Dies In July Fourth Fire Works-Related Accident (Image: Blue Jackets)

Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Matiss Kivlenieks died in a fatal fireworks accident on July 4.

Kivlenieks was at the team’s goaltending coach Manny Legace‘s Michigan home. He and teammate Elvis Merzlikins traveled to Legace’s home to celebrate the holiday and Legace’s daughter’s wedding ceremony over the weekend.

It was initially reported Kivlenieks suffered a fatal head injury when he fell out of a hot tub during the incident. An autopsy later revealed that wasn’t the case, and instead, his cause of death was chest trauma.

Michigan police stated that a fireworks mortar was properly lit and began firing at people, including Kivlenieks, who was in the hot tub. The goalkeeper was attempting to shield himself from the mortar when he was struck in the chest. Police said that the goalkeeper was 10 feet away from the mortar when he was struck. He died from a percussive injury caused by the blast, causing major damage to his heart and lungs.

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Paramedics and firefighters arrived at Legace’s home at 10:15 p.m. Sunday. Kivlenieks told one teammate not to get into the ambulance with him.

“[Kivlenieks] didn’t want him to have to see that,” the late goalie’s agent, Jay Grossman, said.

Kivlenieks was pronounced dead later at the hospital. The Blue Jackets announced his death on Monday. “It’s with a very heavy heart that we share the news that goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks passed away last night at the age of 24,” the team said on Twitter. “We are heartbroken. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. Rest in peace, Kivi.”

A moment of silence was held for Kivlenieks before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday between Tampa Bay and Montreal. The Canadiens won Game 4, but trail the Lightning 3-1 in the series. Tampa Bay’s coach, Jon Cooper, addressed Kivlenieks’ family after his team’s overtime loss.

“It’s an awful tragedy for anybody, any family to go through that,” Cooper told reporters. “But somebody in the NHL family, as close as we all are as the teams even battling out there, from all the Lightning, our condolences.”