Matīss Edmunds Kivlenieks (born 26 August 1996) is a Latvian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). He led Latvia to its first win over Canada and first loss against Kazakhstan during the 2021 IIHF World Hockey Championships.
| Matīss Kivlenieks | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
August 26, 1996 Riga, Latvia | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||
| Weight | 178 lb (81 kg; 12 st 10 lb) | ||
| Position | Goaltender | ||
| Catches | Left | ||
| NHL team Former teams |
Columbus Blue Jackets Prizma Riga | ||
| National team |
 Latvia | ||
| NHL draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 2012–present | ||
Playing career
Latvia
Kivlenieks played for Prizma Riga in the season of 2011–12. That was his only season with the team, and he only played 1 game with a 9.52 GAA. They decided not to keep him, and he went to the Prizma U18 team, where he played as a third-in-line goaltender playing only 12 games, but had a 2.6 GAA.
Junior
With NHL ambitions, Kivlenieks opted to leave Latvia and continue his development in the North American junior leagues, initially joining the Forest Lake Lakers in the Minnesota Junior Hockey League.
Professional
At the end of the season with the Sioux City Musketeers, despite going undrafted, Kivlenieks signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets worth $2,497,500.[1] He started immediately the next season, joining the Blue Jackets, AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters.
During the 2019–20 season, Kivlenieks was recalled on multiple occasions to the Blue Jackets before starting in his NHL debut, earning his first NHL win in a 2–1 victory against the New York Rangers on 19 January 2020. He stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced and finished the night with a .969 save percentage.[2]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T/OT | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | ||
| 2011–12 | Prizma Riga | LHL | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9.52 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Edina Lakers | MNJHL | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3.95 | .908 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | 4.59 | .911 | ||
| 2014–15 | Forest Lake Lakers | MNJHL | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.23 | .930 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | 1.75 | .950 | ||
| 2014–15 | Coulee Region Chill | NAHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 59 | 4 | 0 | 4.05 | .902 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Coulee Region Chill | NAHL | 29 | 16 | 10 | 1 | 1618 | 65 | 2 | 2.41 | .925 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 210 | 12 | 0 | 3.42 | .893 | ||
| 2016–17 | Sioux City Musketeers | USHL | 49 | 36 | 7 | 2 | 2991 | 92 | 5 | 1.85 | .932 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 807 | 28 | 2 | 2.08 | .925 | ||
| 2017–18 | Cleveland Monsters | AHL | 43 | 14 | 21 | 4 | 2296 | 123 | 1 | 3.21 | .891 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Cleveland Monsters | AHL | 14 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 711 | 44 | 1 | 3.71 | .873 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Kalamazoo Wings | ECHL | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 420 | 19 | 0 | 2.71 | .923 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Cleveland Monsters | AHL | 20 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 1194 | 59 | 1 | 2.96 | .904 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 285 | 14 | 0 | 2.95 | .898 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Cleveland Monsters | AHL | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 481 | 18 | 0 | 2.25 | .929 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 124 | 7 | 0 | 3.40 | .901 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 409 | 21 | 0 | 3.09 | .899 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Latvia | WJC18-D1 | 11th | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.37 | .899 | |
| 2015 | Latvia | WJC-D1 | 13th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 241 | 7 | 0 | 1.75 | .928 | |
| 2016 | Latvia | WJC-D1 | 11th | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 245 | 7 | 0 | 1.71 | .941 | |
| 2018 | Latvia | WC | 8th | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Senior totals | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| MNJHL | ||
| Second All-Star Team | 2015 | |
| USHL | ||
| First All-Star Team | 2016–17 | |
| Goaltender of the Year | 2016–17[3] | |
| Player of the Year | 2016–17[3] | |
| International | ||
| WJC-D1 Best Goaltender | 2015, 2016 | |
| WJC-D1 Best GAA (1.71) | 2016 | |
| WJC-D1 Best SVS% (.932) | 2016 | |
References
- ^ "Jackets sign Matiss Kivlenieks to three-year entry level contract". NHL.com.
- ^ "Rookie goaltender Kivlenieks gives Blue Jackets 2-1 win over Rangers in debut". Portland Press Herald. 19 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ a b "Kivlenieks named USHL player and goaltender of the year". Sioux City Journal. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
External links
Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database