Elvis is about to start his sixth season in the National Hockey League (NHL), but only in his first year did Columbus qualify for the Stanley Cup. In the following, it was mostly among the weakest.
“I’ll be honest, I’ve sat and thought about it for a long time – where, what happened and why it’s like this now, why it’s not like it was the first year I came here. Then it was fun, it was cool, but now only losses, saw after saw,” the goalkeeper admits that mentally such a situation is difficult. “It’s not like people aren’t trying. They work and try, but somehow it doesn’t work out. This is not a time to point fingers and blame players, coaches or the club. We need to get together and change it somehow.”
“I really don’t know where the problem is. I have sat and thought maybe I am the problem?! There are many things, but I don’t know why it happens like this. I’ve only played in the NHL in Columbus, so I can’t tell you what other teams are like. I think Columbus has a good organization. No one spares money here – what is needed is provided. We have now rebuilt the entire dressing room, they redid the arena this summer lounge (rest – aut.) zone. People in Columbus love hockey. Even if we lose games, they still come and support us,” says the Latvian.
Merzlikin says that if the team gets into a losing streak during the season, in order to break it, everyone in the locker room must be united as a family. “Playing in the national team was a great pleasure, and not because I play hockey, but because I can be with my teammates. Jokes, joys and sorrows, do not take offense at each other. It’s that family. We had it in Switzerland and it was here too, but you have to understand that, for example, if you lose seven games in a row, it’s not easy, you don’t want to talk. You don’t want to go to work because you can’t, but you need to get out of that hole. This can only be done together, not individually or in groups. I believe that we will learn to do it.”
“Now there will be a new season, a new coach, a new general manager, a lot of things will change. This is a completely fresh page, our club and organization needed one. You don’t need to leave anything from the old, you need everything new,” concludes Elvis Merzlikin, who once said that during the All-Star Game vacation, he went into the ocean and started crying and yelling, but then got drunk to express his emotions. “Then that atomic bomb just exploded. I will not forget that day. I was trying to figure out what was going on because it really hurts my heart and I’ve been depressed playing hockey. It’s not pleasant and I just unloaded, talked to myself and asked – what is it? That’s all I’m capable of?! That’s all I’ve been to?!”
“This is not what I dreamed of from childhood, that I would lift the cup. Because I want to lift it! It’s my dream and I keep dreaming about it, but I get slapped in the face and shown that this is the reality. I haven’t looked for the easiest ways or changed my attitude towards hockey, I haven’t changed anything. This is a team sport and you have to try to improve with your teammates,” Merzlikin emphasizes that his life’s dream has not changed.
Although he is already 30 years old, he has represented only two teams in his career. Last season, however, the situation had matured so far that Merzlikin went to request a change. “This is the real business. If it is exchanged elsewhere, then it is exchanged. I would love to win with Columbus, they’ve never done it and it would be something historic,” says the goalkeeper.
The entire interview with Elvi Merzlikin, in which he takes a wide look into both the vicissitudes of the Columbus Blue Jackets and the relationship with the Latvian hockey team read the August “Sports Avize”, which can only be found in the best press outlets this week
2024-08-28 16:15:37