Matiss Kivlenieks, a 24-year-old goaltender for the Columbus Blue Jackets, died Sunday night after a Fourth of July fireworks mortar explosion, police said.
Kivlenieks and several others were in a hot tub in Novi, Mich., around the time a fireworks mortar detonated, Novi Police Lt. Jason Meier told The Washington Post. An autopsy conducted Monday by the Oakland County medical examiner determined that the cause of death was chest trauma and that Kivlenieks did not die because of striking his head in a fall, as authorities initially believed.
