Elvis Merzļikins

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LatviaLatvia  Elvis Merzļikins Ice hockey player
Elvis Merzļikins
Date of birth April 13, 1994
place of birth Riga , Latvia
size 191 cm
Weight 85 kg
position goalkeeper
number # 30
Catch hand Left
Draft
KHL Junior Draft 2012 , 3rd round, 87th position
Dinamo Riga
NHL Entry Draft 2014 , 3rd round, 76th position
Columbus Blue Jackets
Career stations
2009-2019 HC Lugano
since 2019 Columbus Blue Jackets

Elvis Merzļikins (born April 13, 1994 in Riga ) is a Latvian ice hockey goalkeeper who has been under contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League since March 2019 .

Career

Merzļikins plays in the butterfly style . He came to Switzerland at the age of 15 and played for the HC Lugano juniors from the 2009/10 season. He made his debut in what was then National League A on September 28, 2013 in a 2-1 win against Lausanne HC . He was soon able to establish himself and was recognized as the best young player of the 2013/14 season at the Swiss Ice Hockey Awards . In the NHL Entry Draft 2014 , the Columbus Blue Jackets pulled him in the third round in 76th place.

In the playoffs of the 2015/16 season , Merzļikins was instrumental in ensuring that HC Lugano moved into the final against SC Bern for the first time since 2006 . His 93.58% capture rate in 15 playoff games was the best of any NLA goalkeeper. Nevertheless, the final series was lost with 1: 4. Over the entire 2016/17 season , the catch quota was only slightly lower at 93.09%. At the Spengler Cup 2016 , Merzļikins was appointed to the All-Star Team.

After six years in the professional field of HC Lugano, Merzļikins signed an entry contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets from the National Hockey League in March 2019 . The rights to him acquired in the Entry Draft 2014 had already expired at this point. With the jackets, he filled the gap left by the departure of Sergei Bobrowski and has since been used regularly as a backup for Joonas Korpisalo .

International

As a member of the Latvian U20 national team , Merzļikins took part in the U20 World Championships in 2012 and 2013 . At the 2016 World Cup , he was appointed to the Latvian national team for the first time . He made his international debut on May 6, 2016 in Moscow when Latvia lost 2-1 to Sweden in overtime. He also played at the 2017 World Cup .

Achievements and Awards

  • 2018 Jacques Plante Trophy
  • 2018 Latvia's Ice Hockey Player of the Year

International

Career statistics

Status: end of the 2018/19 season

Regular season Playoffs
season team league Sp S. N OTN Min GT SO GTS Sv% Sp S. N Min GT SO GTS Sv%
2011/12 HC Lugano U20 Elite A Juniors 8th 3.52 3 5.07
2012/13 HC Lugano U20 Elite A Juniors 30th 2.76 4th 3.84
2013/14 HC Lugano U20 Elite A Juniors 12 2.07 10 1.68
2013/14 HC Lugano NLA 22nd 11 10 0 1269 45 1 2.13 92.5 1 0 1 80 1 0 0.75 97.6
2014/15 HC Lugano NLA 21st 11 7th 1 1309 57 1 2.61 91.3 1 0 1 38 2 0 3.33 85.7
2015/16 HC Lugano NLA 44 23 13 4th 2713 125 1 2.76 92.2 15th 9 6th 930 36 0 2.32 93.7
2016/17 HC Lugano NLA 40 19th 16 1 2408 116 3 2.89 91.6 11 5 6th 654 25th 0 2.29 93.3
2017/18 HC Lugano NL 40 19th 15th 1 2431 110 4th 2.72 92.1 18th 11 7th 1104 40 0 2.17 93.5
2018/19 HC Lugano NL 43 22nd 18th 0 2559 104 5 2.44 92.1 4th 0 4th 273 18th 0 3.95 87.2
Elite A Juniors total 50 2.72 17th 2.79
National League (A) overall 210 105 79 7th 12689 557 15th 2.63 92.0 50 25th 25th 3078 122 0 2.38 93.0

International

Represented Latvia at:

year team event result Sp S. N Min GT SO GTS Sv%
2011 Latvia U18 World Championship Div. I. 1st place 2 2 0 120 1 1 0.50 97.8
2012 Latvia U20 World Cup 9th place 1 0 1 60 14th 0 14.00 72.0
2012 Latvia U18 World Cup 9th place 4th 1 2 184 15th 0 4.88 88.5
2013 Latvia U20 World Cup 10th place 3 0 3 133 13 0 5.85 86.0
2014 Latvia U20 World Cup Div. IA 2nd place 3 1 1 127 5 1 2.36 90.0
2016 Latvia WM 13th place 5 1 4th 268 13 0 2.91 91.2
2016 Latvia Olympic qualification 2nd place 2 1 1 91 2 0 1.32 93.1
2017 Latvia WM 10th place 6th 3 3 364 12 1 1.98 93.4
2018 Latvia WM 8th place 7th 4th 2 360 9 2 1.50 94.0
2019 Latvia WM 10th place 5 1 4th 237 11 0 2.78 91.4
Juniors overall 13 4th 7th 624 48 2 4.61 88.5
Men overall 25th 10 14th 1320 47 3 2.14 92.7

( Legend for the goalkeeper statistics: GP or Sp = total games; W or S = wins; L or N = defeats; T or U or OT = draws or overtime or shootout defeats; min. = Minutes; SOG or SaT = shots on goal; GA or GT = goals conceded; SO = shutouts ; GAA or GTS = goals conceded ; Sv% or SVS% = catch quota ; EN = empty net goal ; 1  play-downs / relegation ; italics : statistics not complete)

Web links

Commons : Elvis Merzļikins  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Swiss Ice Hockey Awards 2014. (No longer available online.) Swiss Ice Hockey Federation , September 14, 2014, archived from the original on April 27, 2018 ; accessed on April 26, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sihf.ch
  2. ↑ Lugano-Elvis has no ear for Stepanek's comforting words. Blick , April 13, 2016, accessed April 26, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Genoni chases Bührer's record, the SCB their own. Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen , October 20, 2017, accessed on April 26, 2018 .
  4. ↑ 14. Triumph for Team Canada. Spengler Cup , December 31, 2016, accessed April 26, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Blue Jackets sign 2014 third round pick Elvis Merzlikins. nhl.com, March 20, 2019, accessed on March 20, 2019 .
Columbus Blue Jackets logo
Squad of Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2019/20 season
personal data
SURNAME Merzļikins, Elvis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Merzlikins, Elvis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Latvian ice hockey goalkeeper
DATE OF BIRTH April 13, 1994
PLACE OF BIRTH Riga , Latvia