Elvis is alive! And he almost got Latvia into the tournament quaterfinals

The first big game of the tournament for Merzlikins came against Team Switzerland. He stopped 42 out of 44 shots on goal, helping his team win 4-2. Even after this win, the Latvians were still modestly repeating the phrase that their goal here was just to stay in the top division. The Latvian coach gave his main goalie a rest in the next game against Sweden. Instead, backup goalkeeper Ivars Punnenovs got a chance. However, this proved to not be a very wise decision, as the Latvian team played really well and almost took some points.

In the last game of preliminary round, the Latvians took on Team Germany. The score after two periods was tied 3-3. Merzlikins had to be replaced as he wasn´t playing very well. “I wasn´t between the pipes in the game against Sweden and I saw how many scouts were here. In this game I had them in my mind and that´s why my performance wasn´t good,” admitted the goalie, who celebrated his 18th birthday during the tournament.

In the third period, Latvia managed to grab a 5-4 win to take three points again. Said Merzlikins, “We´ve got strong team this year. It´s better than it was in years before. And that´s the reason why I believed that we could do really well at this championship.” But in the end, Team Latvia didn´t get to the playoff round due to a worse goal differential in comparison with Germany.

Despite not performing well at the end of preliminary round, Elvis has a huge potential to build upon. Like the majority of his hockey peers, he also wishes to play in the NHL. “I would like to play for the Vancouver Canucks or Pittsburgh Penguins,” state the Latvian prospect, with no hesitation.