Blades Alum Gudlevskis Named to Latvian Olympic Team

Riga, Latvia – Hockey Latvia announced Tuesday that goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis—who started the 2013-14 season with the Florida Everblades—will be among the three goalies to represent the country at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Gudlevskis is the first former or current Everblade to be named to an Olympic roster.

“Kristers is a very good goaltender and is highly deserving of his Olympic nomination,” lauded Everblades president and general manager Craig Brush. “We wish him the best of luck in Sochi.”

At age 21, Gudlevskis played 11 games this season for the Blades, posting a 7-4-0 record with a 1.83 GAA and a .925 SV%. He was most recently called up to the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League on December 4.

The 6’3” netminder was a fifth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, going 124th overall to the Bolts.

Hailing from the southern Latvian town of Aizkraukle, Gudlevskis will be joined on the Olympic team by current NHL forward Zemgus Girgensons (Buffalo) and former NHL’ers Sandis Ozolinsh, Oskars Bartulis, Arturs Kulda, Kaspars Daugavins and Martins Karsums.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the Blades return home to open a four-game homestand with a 7:30pm Friday showdown with the first-place South Carolina Stingrays at Germain Arena.

Tickets are on sale right now at the Capital Bank Box Office, open Monday-Friday, 10:00am until 6:00pm.

Friday’s top-two South Division clash will be broadcast live online at FloridaEverblades.com and on the Everblades’ app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, with a video webcast available through America ONE, the official broadband and mobile broadcaster of the ECHL, at www.americaonesports.com. Pregame coverage will get under way at 7:15pm.

Beat the Box Office!

Don’t want to pay the box office rate for Everblades tickets? You don’t have to! Save up to $7.00 per ticket with great 10 and 20-game flex plans and group rates for the remainder of the 2013-14 campaign. Lock in your flex plan or group seats now for the Blades’ next home game on January 10.

For more information call 239-948-7825, or stop by the Everblades main office located at Germain Arena.

Office hours are Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.The Everblades are the proud ECHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning.

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