(WWJ) -- There were tears and there was laughter Thursday as dozens gathered to remember Matiss Kivlenieks.
Kivlenieks, a goaltender for the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, was killed in a fireworks accident on the Fourth of July at the home of former Detroit Red Wings goalie Manny Legace, who now works as a coach for the Blue Jackets.
Legace choked back tears as he remembered the 24-year-old native of Latvia, who he said was “like a son” to him.
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“Look how many lives you’ve touched, Mattis. Look how many lives you’ve touched,” Legace said. “Torts even flew in. And he hates goalies.”
“Torts,” of course, is former Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella, who was one of many friends, coaches and teammates in attendance Thursday in Upper Arlington, Ohio to remember a young man who Legace described as family.
“He got to be a brother to my daughter and my son, a great friend to our nephew,” Legace said. “Michigan was his second home. Ever since Kivi joined our organization, he would come up and live with my wife and I every summer. He became a son to us. He lived with us through the pandemic.”
The memorial service was streamed live on YouTube and social media platforms.
Kivlenieks was at Legace’s home in Novi on the Fourth of July to celebrate the wedding of Legace’s daughter, Sabrina, when a mortar-style firework tipped over and began firing towards people at the gathering.
Kivlenieks suffered severe chest trauma, causing damage to his heart and lungs. His teammate and fellow goaltender, Elvis Merzlikins said Kivi “died as a hero.”
“He saved not just many lives, but when it happened, I was standing 20, 30 feet back of him and I was hugging my wife,” Merzlikins said. “He saved my son, he saved my wife and he saved me.”
Merslikins’s wife, who is pregnant, told reporters they plan to name their child after Kivlenieks, whom they considered to be family.
Novi police have turned over their investigation of the incident to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, but are still viewing Kivlenieks’s death as an accident. No charges were recommended to the prosecutor.