Kristers Gudļevskis

Kristers Gudļevskis (born 31 July 1992) is a Latvian professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing for Fischtown Pinguins of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Gudļevskis was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 5th round (124th overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.[1]

Kristers Gudļevskis
Born (1992-07-31) 31 July 1992
Aizkraukle, Latvia
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 197 lb (89 kg; 14 st 1 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
DEL team
Former teams		 Fischtown Pinguins
HK Ogre
Dinamo Riga
Tampa Bay Lightning
National team  Latvia
NHL Draft 124th overall, 2013
Tampa Bay Lightning
Playing career 2009–present

Gudļevskis is the only player to have played in the ECHL, AHL, NHL, Olympic Games, and IIHF World Championships in the same season.[2]

Playing career

Europe

Gudļevskis started his professional career in the 2009–10 season playing for HK Ogre of the Latvian Hockey League. In the next season, he moved on to play for Dinamo Riga affiliate HK Rīga of the Minor Hockey League (MHL).[3] He played for three seasons with HK Rīga. Throughout the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons he made the Dinamo Riga roster several times as a healthy scratch. On 5 October 2012, he finally made his debut during a 2–1 overtime win against Vityaz Chekhov, replacing injured Mikael Tellqvist after the second period tied at 0–0.[4] Later in the season he played his first full game as starter in a 2–0 loss against Sibir Novosibirsk.[5]

Tampa Bay Lightning

Gudļevskis is only the second (after Artūrs Irbe) and highest-ranked Latvian goaltender ever selected in NHL Entry Draft.[6] Dinamo Riga agreed to release Gudļevskis from the final year of his contract; he later signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL).[7]

Following the Lightning's 2013 pre-season camp, he was reassigned to their ECHL affiliate, the Florida Everblades.[8] While attending pre-season training camp with the Everblades, Gudļevskis was recalled to join the Lightning.[9] He was later reassigned to the Everblades without making the Lightning roster, and made his official North American debut with 20 saves in a 4–1 win over the Orlando Solar Bears.[10]

Gudļevskis was recalled to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL on 24 October 2013,[11] due to an injury to Riku Helenius.[12] He made his AHL debut on 26 October 2013, with a shutout against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.[13] Gudļevskis became the fifth goaltender in Crunch history to post a shutout upon debut.[14] After four games with the Crunch, Gudļevskis once again was reassigned to the Everblades.[15] On 7 December 2013, Gudļevskis was promoted to the Syracuse Crunch in order to give him more AHL ice time.[16] Gudļevskis cemented his place on the Crunch roster posting 10 wins in 21 games. On 15 January 2014, Gudļevskis was named the CCM/AHL Player of the Week.[17]

On 31 January 2014, due to injuries of Ben Bishop and Anders Lindbäck, Gudļevskis received an emergency call-up to the Lightning along with Cédrick Desjardins.[18] Kristers made his first NHL start on 11 April 2014, in a game between the Lightning and the Columbus Blue Jackets, he stopped 36 shots in a 3–2 win for the Lightning. He made his NHL playoffs debut after replacing Lindbäck mid-game on 18 April 2014, against the Montreal Canadiens in the second game of the first round. He replaced Lindbäck in game four of the series as well. During this season, Gudļevskis became the first goalie in the history of the sport to play in an ECHL, AHL, NHL and Olympics in the same season, which also included his Stanley Cup playoffs debut.[19]

On 10 June 2015, in game four of the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks, Gudļevskis became the back-up goalie for fellow prospect Andrei Vasilevskiy, who started the game after Ben Bishop was injured in game two (Bishop played injured in game three).[20]

On 24 October 2015, Gudļevskis played in his second NHL regular season game against the Chicago Blackhawks, stopping 31 shots. Though he had a great effort, he lost in overtime 1–0, when a backhand shot slipped by taken from Jonathan Toews.[21]

On 2 July 2016, the Lightning announced the re-signing of Gudļevskis to a one-year, two-way contract. Gudļevskis played in 41 games with the Syracuse Crunch in the 2015–16 AHL season, posting a 16–12–8 record with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.[22][23]

New York Islanders

On 1 July 2017, Gudļevskis was traded by the Lightning to the New York Islanders in exchange for Carter Verhaeghe.[24] On 11 July 2017, Gudļevskis signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Islanders.[25] In the following 2017–18 season, Gudļevskis was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the duration of the year. In splitting starting duties, he recorded 12 wins in 37 games.

Return to Dinamo
Gudļevskis with Dinamo Riga in 2019.

As an impending restricted free agent with the Islanders and with his NHL career stalled after five seasons in North America, Gudļevskis opted to return to home in agreeing to a one-year deal with former club, Dinamo Riga of the KHL, on June 21, 2018.[26]He was released on 1 October 2019, after posting a 3.45 GAA and a .863 save percentage in just 9 games.

Fischtown Pinguins

On 2 December 2019, he signed a contract with the Fischtown Pinguins of the DHL.

International play

Gudļevskis became the starting goaltender for Team Latvia in the 2013 IIHF World Championship after original starter Edgars Masaļskis could not recover game form coming from injury. He registered 2–2 win-loss record and was named one of three best players for Team Latvia in the tournament.[27]

On 7 January 2014, Gudļevskis was named to the Latvian national team roster for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.[28] Latvia entered the qualification playoff stage ranked as one of the lowest seeds (ahead of only Norway), amassing no points in group play. In the second round, Gudļevskis got the start in the matchup against reigning Olympic champions Canada, despite the Latvian team upsetting Switzerland earlier with goalie Edgars Masaļskis.

In what was expected to be a routine victory for the Canadian squad, the Latvian team responded with an early equalizer and managed to stay alive behind Gudļevskis' goaltending (saving 55 of 57 shots he faced) until late into the third period, eventually falling in a 2–1 loss. Gudļevskis was praised, especially in Canadian media and sports commentary, for his performance in the quarter-final against the Canadian national team.[29]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2009–10 HK Ogre LHL 9 — — — — — — 6.12 — — — — — — — — —
2010–11 HK Riga MHL 49 26 16 2 2760 101 7 2.20 .920 3 0 3 187 13 0 4.16 .862
2011–12 HK Riga MHL 40 16 16 5 2285 91 1 2.39 .918 4 1 3 257 15 0 3.50 .896
2012–13 HK Riga MHL 56 27 18 11 3190 111 3 2.09 .927 3 0 3 153 19 0 7.42 .747
2012–13 Dinamo Riga KHL 2 1 1 0 82 3 0 2.18 .921 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Florida Everblades ECHL 11 7 4 0 656 20 2 1.83 .925 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Syracuse Crunch AHL 34 18 11 4 1901 85 5 2.68 .901 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 1 1 0 0 60 2 0 2.00 .947 2 0 1 40 2 0 3.00 .900
2014–15 Syracuse Crunch AHL 42 24 12 3 2429 109 2 2.69 .905 3 0 3 145 12 0 4.96 .833
2015–16 Syracuse Crunch AHL 41 16 12 2 2332 110 1 2.83 .907 — — — — — — — —
2015–16 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 1 0 0 1 60 1 0 1.00 .969 — — — — — — — —
2016–17 Syracuse Crunch AHL 37 15 10 4 1947 86 0 2.65 .897 1 0 0 38 0 0 0.00 1.000
2016–17 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 1 0 0 0 12 0 0 0.00 1.00 — — — — — — — —
2017–18 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 37 12 16 5 2037 96 3 2.83 .897 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 Dinamo Riga KHL 31 9 17 4 1669 66 2 2.37 .910 — — — — — — — —
2019–20 Dinamo Riga KHL 9 3 6 0 504 29 1 3.45 .863 — — — — — — — —
KHL totals 42 13 24 4 2255 98 3 2.61 .901 — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 3 1 0 1 132 3 0 1.37 .959 2 0 1 40 2 0 3.00 .900

International
Year Team Event Result GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2010 Latvia WJC18 9th 6 0 4 0 339 29 0 5.13 .856
2011 Latvia WJC-D1 11th 1 1 0 0 60 1 0 1.00 .941
2012 Latvia WJC 9th 5 1 4 0 279 24 0 5.15 .865
2013 Latvia WC 11th 4 2 2 0 243 9 0 2.22 .925
2014 Latvia OG 8th 2 0 2 0 119 7 0 3.50 .919
2016 Latvia OGQ DNQ 2 1 0 0 88 3 0 2.04 .923
2018 Latvia WC 8th 2 0 1 1 121 10 0 4.97 .839
2019 Latvia WC 10th 4 2 1 0 179 6 1 2.01 .909
Senior totals 14 5 6 1 750 35 0 2.80 .917

[30] [31]

References
  1. "2013 NHL entry draft 5th round selections". NHL. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  2. "Columbus Blue Jackets - Tampa Bay Lightning - April 11th, 2014". NHL.com.
  3. "MHL Player profile" (in Russian). mhl.khl.ru. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  4. "Vityaz vs. Dinamo – rooster" (in Russian). khl.ru. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  5. "Sibir vs. Dinamo – game report" (in Russian). khl.ru. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  6. "Gudļevskis kļūst par otro latviešu vārtsargu, kuru izvēlas NHL draftā" (in Latvian). DELFI.lv. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  7. "Lightning Sign Kristers Gudlevskis to Entry-Level Contract". nhlnewslightning.com. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  8. Tampa Bay Lightning (29 September 2013). "Lightning announce roster cuts". nhl.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  9. Tampa Bay Lightning (11 October 2013). "Bolts Recall Gudlevskis". nhl.com. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  10. floridaeverblades.com (24 October 2013). "Goaltender Gudlevskis Recalled to AHL Syracuse". floridaeverblades.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  11. Tampa Bay Lightning (11 October 2013). "Goaltender Gudlevskis Recalled to AHL Syracuse". nhl.com. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  12. Lindsay Kramer (24 October 2013). "Injury will keep Syracuse Crunch goalie Riku Helenius sidelined at least two weeks". www.syracuse.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  13. Jeremy Houghtaling (26 October 2013). "Gudlevskis, big second period lift Syracuse Crunch over Sound Tigers, 5–0". auburnpub.com/. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  14. Jeremy Houghtaling (30 October 2013). "Superstitious Gudlevskis Making Most of Opportunities". boltprospects.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  15. floridaeverblades.com (11 November 2013). "Gudlevskis Reassigned to Everblades". floridaeverblades.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  16. Damian Cristodero (5 December 2013). "Gudlevskis shakes up Lightning's organizational depth in net". tampabay.com. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  17. http://theahl.com/gudlevskis-named-ccm-ahl-player-of-the-week-p189791
  18. "Lightning recall goalies Desjardins and Gudlevskis". Tampa Bay Lightning. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  19. Smith, Joe (24 September 2015). "Consistency eludes Lightning goalie Kristers Gudlevskis". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  20. "Vasilevskiy starts Game 4 for Lightning; Bishop out". National Hockey League. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  21. Hedger, Brian (24 October 2015). "Toews gives Blackhawks win against Lightning". NHL.com. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  22. Lightning, Lightning (1 July 2016). "Lightning Re-Sign Goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis". Tampa Bay. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  23. Lindsay Kramer (14 October 2013). "Syracuse Crunch returns goalie Kristers Gudlevskis to Florida of ECHL". syracuse.com. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  24. "Islanders Acquire Gudlevskis". NHL.com. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  25. "Gudlevskis Agrees To Terms". NHL.com. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  26. "DINAMO RĪGA panākusi vienošanos ar Gudļevski — Hokeja kluba Dinamo Rīga oficiālā mājaslapa". www.dinamoriga.lv (in Latvian). 21 June 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  27. "Best players of each team selected by coaches" (PDF). IIHF. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  28. LHF (7 January 2014). "Nolans nosauc sastāvu Olimpiskajām spēlēm" (in Latvian). lhf.lv. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  29. Andrew Podnieks (19 February 2014). "Canada avoids upset in 2–1 win". iihf.com. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  30. "KHL Player profile" (in Russian). khl.ru. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  31. "IIHF Player stats" (PDF). iihf.com. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
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