The Trashman

https://twitter.com/JohnnyGWeir/status/1072590511016501254

https://twitter.com/JohnnyGWeir/status/107265364498890752

And on insta…

"I see you guys are all laughing at my headshot from last year! I appreciate that."

"What happened just before the picture was taken?"

Why is now the right time for you to come out?

"I came home from Calgary after my season ended because of COVID. I was lying in bed one night, just deleted a dating app for the fourth or fifth time, and I was just extremely frustrated because I couldn't be my true authentic self. And in that moment I said, 'Enough's enough. I'm accepting who I am. I wanna live the way I want to. And I'm going to accept myself as a gay man'."

What's it gonna mean to you next season to skate in a game knowing that your truth is out there?

"It's hard to put into words. I'm gonna lace my skates up the same. I'm gonna put my jersey on the same. Strap up my helmet. Pull on my gloves... But I'm finally gonna be able to breathe, and exhale, and show the world the real me. And I'm so excited to see where that will take me - not only as a hockey player, but as a person as well."

Matīss Edmunds Kivlenieks August 26, 1996 – July 4, 2021

Undrafted, Matīss Kivlenieks joined the Columbus Blue Jackets organization in 2017, signing a three-year entry level contract. Previously, he had played for Prizma Riga in the LHL and the Forest Lake Lakers in the MNJHL, as well as the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL. On January 19, 2020, Kivlenieks was called up and made his NHL debut for the Columbus Blue Jackets, earning his first NHL career win the same game, beating the New York Rangers 2-1. In 2021, Kivlenieks made his World Championship debut for Lativa, his home country. He would then lead Latvia to its first ever win and shutout against Canada as Latvia’s starting goaltender for the 2021 IIHF World Championship. Matīss Kivlenieks “was an outstanding young man who greeted every day and everyone with a smile.”