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Team Latvia, HC Lugano, and Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins has been nominated for the NLA goalie of the year award Swiss Ice hockey federation announced.

The award ceremony will be held on August 3rd in Bern where the best of the best players will be attending to take home their awards in different categories such as best rookie player, regular season and playoff MVP awards amongst others.

Jackets prospect Merzlikins has performed to his best ability through his career with Lugano and this year was fantastic for him as well. 18 playoff games the 24-year old averaged 2.17 GAA and saved 93.5% of the opposing shots. Elvis leads all goalies in both categories during the post-season and managed to pull his team to the Swiss finals where the team lost in seven games.

In regular season Merzlikins played 42 games averaging 2.72GAA per game and saving 92.1% of the shots.

In case of a victory, this won’t be the first time that young Jackets prospect will have earned the Jacques Plante trophy as the best goalie as he already won it in 2016.

Elvis has not only been outstanding with Lugano but also been a top-notch goaltender for Team Latvia backstopping his country to 2018 World Hockey Championship 1/8 finals where they fell a little short to Team Sweden.

Elvis Merzlikins is a very athletic butterfly-Goaltender who is well sized and covers a lot of the net. He loves to challenge shooters and never gives up on a shot. Despite his decent reflexes, he is a goaltender who lets the puck hit him and control the rebounds. Needs to play a more composed game, as he tends to overplay certain situations. Handles the puck very well, as Elvis Merzlikins is a respectable stickhandler and can play long outlet passes. (by Rafik Soliman, April 2014)

All the signs are pointing towards a bright future for the goalie who is expected to make the jump to North America in 2019/2020 season.

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