Kristers Gudļevskis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kristers Gudļevskis |
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Gudļevskis with the Syracuse Crunch in 2016
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| Born | 31 July 1992 Aizkraukle, Latvia |
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| 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 EC VSV HC Slovan Bratislava Brynäs IF Modo Hockey |
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| National team |  Latvia |
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| NHL Draft | 124th overall, 2013 Tampa Bay Lightning |
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| Playing career | 2009–present | ||
Kristers Gudļevskis (born on July 31, 1992) is a professional ice hockey goaltender from Latvia. He currently plays for the Fischtown Pinguins in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), which is a top league in Germany. The Tampa Bay Lightning picked him in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He was the 124th player chosen overall.
Kristers is famous for being the only player ever to play in five different major hockey leagues and tournaments in the same season! These include the ECHL, AHL, NHL, Olympic Games, and IIHF World Championships.
Contents
Playing Career Highlights
Starting in Europe
Kristers began his professional hockey journey in the 2009–10 season. He played for HK Ogre in the Latvian Hockey League. The next season, he joined HK Rīga, a team linked to Dinamo Riga. He played for HK Rīga for three seasons.
He got his first chance to play for Dinamo Riga in the KHL on October 5, 2012. He came into the game when the main goalie got hurt. Later that season, he played his first full game as a starter.
Journey to the NHL
Kristers made history when the Tampa Bay Lightning drafted him. He was only the second Latvian goalie ever picked in the NHL Entry Draft, and the highest one chosen! This was a big step for his career.
After joining the Lightning, he first played for their minor league teams. He started with the Florida Everblades in the ECHL. He made his North American debut with a great win, stopping 20 shots.
Soon after, he moved up to the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL. He had an amazing AHL debut, not letting any goals in! This was a shutout, and he was the fifth goalie in Crunch history to do that in his first game. He quickly became an important player for the Crunch.
On January 31, 2014, Kristers got an exciting call-up to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL because other goalies were injured. He made his first NHL start on April 11, 2014, and helped the Lightning win! He stopped 36 shots in that game.
He even played in the Stanley Cup playoffs that year. During this amazing season, Kristers became the first goalie ever to play in the ECHL, AHL, NHL, and the Olympics all in the same year! He also made his Stanley Cup playoffs debut.
In 2015, Kristers was the backup goalie for the Lightning in Game 4 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals. This was a huge moment, showing how far he had come. He also played another NHL regular season game in 2015, making 31 saves.
Moving to New York and Back to Europe
In 2017, Kristers was traded to the New York Islanders. He played for their AHL team, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, for the whole 2017–18 season.
After five seasons in North America, Kristers decided to return to Europe. He signed a deal with his old team, Dinamo Riga, in the KHL in 2018. Later, he joined the Fischtown Pinguins in Germany's DEL league in 2019.
He also played for teams in Austria and Slovakia before joining Brynäs IF in Sweden in 2022. In June 2022, he signed with Modo Hockey in Sweden. He had a fantastic season with Modo, helping them win their league and move up to the top Swedish league!
In 2023, Kristers returned to the Fischtown Pinguins in Germany. In 2024, his team reached the final game of the DEL championship and became the vice-champions.
International Play
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Latvia |
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| Ice hockey | ||
| World Championships | ||
| Bronze | 2023 Finland/Latvia | |
Kristers became the main goalie for Team Latvia at the 2013 IIHF World Championship. He played very well and was named one of the top three players for Team Latvia in the tournament.
In 2014, Kristers was chosen to play for the Latvian national team at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. In the playoffs, Latvia faced the strong Canadian team, who were the reigning Olympic champions.
Everyone expected Canada to win easily, but Kristers played an incredible game! He stopped 55 out of 57 shots, making it a very close game. Latvia eventually lost 2–1, but Kristers was praised by many for his amazing performance against such a powerful team.
In 2023, Kristers was the backup goalie for Latvia at the 2023 IIHF World Championship. Latvia made history by winning a bronze medal, which was their first-ever medal at the World Championships! Even though he didn't play in any games, he was part of this historic team.
Career Statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | OTL | 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 | 2,760 | 101 | 7 | 2.20 | .920 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 187 | 13 | 0 | 4.16 | .862 | ||
| 2011–12 | HK Riga | MHL | 40 | 16 | 16 | 5 | 2,285 | 91 | 1 | 2.39 | .918 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 257 | 15 | 0 | 3.50 | .896 | ||
| 2012–13 | HK Riga | MHL | 56 | 27 | 18 | 11 | 3,190 | 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 | 1,901 | 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 | 2,429 | 109 | 2 | 2.69 | .905 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 145 | 12 | 0 | 4.96 | .833 | ||
| 2015–16 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 41 | 16 | 12 | 2 | 2,332 | 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 | 1,947 | 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 | 2,037 | 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Fischtown Pinguins | DEL | 25 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 1,517 | 67 | 0 | 2.65 | .904 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | EC VSV | ICEHL | 27 | 9 | 13 | 3 | 1,544 | 72 | 0 | 2.80 | .913 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | HC Slovan Bratislava | Slovak | 7 | — | — | — | 420 | 18 | 0 | 2.57 | .914 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | 13.99 | .756 | ||
| 2021–22 | HC Slovan Bratislava | Slovak | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 928 | 39 | 0 | 2.52 | .909 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021–22 | Brynäs IF | SHL | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 180 | 6 | 0 | 2.00 | .921 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 10.62 | .727 | ||
| 2022–23 | Modo Hockey | Allsv | 39 | 27 | 11 | 0 | 2,366 | 74 | 5 | 1.88 | .920 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 946 | 33 | 3 | 2.09 | .918 | ||
| 2023–24 | Fischtown Pinguins | DEL | 45 | 31 | 14 | 0 | 2,665 | 93 | 2 | 2.09 | .914 | ||||||||||
| KHL totals | 42 | 13 | 24 | 4 | 2,255 | 98 | 3 | 2.61 | .901 | 14 | 9 | 5 | — | — | 2 | 2.16 | .921 | ||||
| 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 | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Latvia | WJC18 | 9th | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 339 | 29 | 0 | 5.13 | .856 | |
| 2011 | Latvia | WJC-D1 | P | 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 | OLY | 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 | |
| 2023 | Latvia | WC |  |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2024 | Latvia | WC | 9th | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 207 | 11 | 0 | 3.19 | .906 | |
| Senior totals | 14 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 750 | 35 | 0 | 2.80 | .917 | ||||
Images for kids
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Gudļevskis with Dinamo Riga in 2019.
