Mareks Mitens: Living in the Moment

Mareks Mitens: Living in the Moment

Steven Ellis28 Dec 2016Steven Ellis»
 

Imagine the pressure that’s put on a little-known goaltender having to face down against some of the NHL’s next great superstars. That’s Mareks Mitens for you.

 
 
 
 

It can’t be easy playing for a recently promoted junior team.

The odds are against you. You’re playing in a group with some of the best players in your age bracket. Simply grabbing one win can be all it takes to avoid relegation, but getting that win is harder than driving a 1990’s Honda Civic out of a ditch.

So imagine the pressure that’s put on a little-known goaltender having to face down against some of the NHL’s next great superstars.

That’s Mareks Mitens for you.

Before Latvia’s opening game against the United States at the 2017 World Juniors, most people had never heard of Mitens. And that’s fair. Mitens is a part of a young transition of strong, competitive Latvian goaltenders that are on their way to stardom, but unless you follow Latvian prospects, you likely have never heard his name called before.

While the likes of Arturs Irbe and Peter Skudra are long past retired, and Edgars Masalskis’ days are numbered, names like Kristers Gudlevskis, Elvis Merzlikins and Matiss Edmunds Kivlenieks have popped up in the past few years. And now, Mitens was able to throw his hat in the ring and put his best effort forward.

This isn’t the first time Mitens has dressed for the Latvians internationally. At the 2015 Under-18’s, he was named as one of Latvia’s best players on a team that was facing many chances every night. He then took the starting role again for the 2016 tournament, finishing with a similar result. Mitens was a part of Latvia’s Division IA U20 team that won the bronze two years ago, but there was still so much more left to be desired in his mind.

Mitens transition to the smaller North American ice has been tremendous. As an 18-year-old with the NAHL’s Aston Rebels, Mitens came into the tournament with an 18-4 record with eight shutouts, a .945 save percentage and a 1.32 goals against average. If he continues with his strong season in the NAHL, the oldest Junior A league in North America, he’ll have some of the greatest numbers in the history of the league, beating out the likes of Ben Bishop, Ryan Miller and Craig Anderson.

That’s no slouch, that’s for sure.

Latvia trusted him enough to make him the starting goalie against the United States to open the tournament, basically confirming his role as the team’s starting goalie. Mitens stole the spotlight that day, making some incredible stops but his team just couldn’t do enough damage in a 6-1 loss on December 26th.

Still, playing in one of the most prestigious hockey venues in the world, with fans cheering on his team all game long, proved to be one of the biggest moments in his young career.

“Hearing the crowd say, 'Latvia, Latvia' was an amazing feeling,” said Mitens. “When we scored the goal, that was pretty cool.”

Mitens was kept out of Latvia’s second game against Russia, an eventual 9-1 loss in a game where Latvia used both their second and third goaltenders. Neither performed with as much skill or finesse as Mitens.

Expected to be the starting goalie for the remainder of the tournament, Latvia is projected by many to be headed straight for the relegation round, but their meeting with Slovakia on December 30th, their final game of the round robin, can be important if neither team can score a win beforehand.

Mitens doesn’t care who’s they’re facing, saying that his team has to show up to play every single night.

“We’re the underdogs. We have to come up big in every game,” Mitens said.

While it may seem easier said than done, Mitens, and the Latvian team in general, looks much stronger than the squad that lost 16-0 to Canada at the 2010 World Juniors. While the team still looks vastly outmatched, Mitens and the rest of the team as a whole look more balanced and more determined to show their skill.

Mitens seems to agree.

“This is the biggest tournament of our lives,” said Mitens.


Follow me on Twitter, @StevenEllisNHL.

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