Kristiāns Pelšs

Kristiāns Pelšs ( born September 9, 1992 Preiļi, † June 11, 2013 in Riga) was a Latvian ice hockey player in the position of left winger. He stood from 2012 with the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League contract and played in the 2012/13 season for their farm team, the Oklahoma City Barons and the Stockton Thunder.

• 3.1 International

Career

Pelšs began his junior career in the city of Daugavpils in southeastern Latvia, where he attended a hockey school. In 2008 he moved to DHK Latgale, who played this season in the Belarusian Extraliga. At the same time he completed for the second team in 22 games of the Latvian Hockey League and was there with 20 points best scorer of the team. He then got a contract with the Dinamo- Juniors Riga, the newly established farm team Dinamo Riga in the Extraliga and stood during the 2009/10 season in 46 games on the ice.

NHL Entry Draft 2010 Pelšs was selected in the seventh round in a total of 181 position of the Edmonton Oilers, at the same time Dinamo Riga KHL Junior Draft secured the 175th position overall transfer its rights for the Continental Hockey League. In addition, the winger also from the Canadian junior team Edmonton Oil Kings in the first round of the CHL Import Draft was selected.

In August 2010, Kristiāns Pelšs then decided for a change to North America and the Oil Kings joined in, playing in the Western Hockey League. In his debut season he was able to immediately earn a regular place in the squad the team and was with 33 points from 63 games the best rookie scorer of the Oil Kings. In the season 2011/12 Pelšs able to increase its yield point with 50 points again. He also doubled with 28 goals its value from the previous season. The Oil Kings closed the regular season on top of the first place in the league and secured by a 4-3 victory in the final series of the Portland Winter Hawks also the Ed Chynoweth Cup as the winner of the WHL playoffs. Pelšs scoring 10 points in 17 games. As a representative of the WHL Edmonton Oil Kings were thus qualified for the Memorial Cup and finished it on the fourth.

May 1, 2012 Pelšs signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers. In the 2012/13 season so he first moved to the Stockton Thunder, the farm team of the Oilers in the ECHL. He scored five points in 13 missions and was appointed in October 2012 for three games in the preparation of the Oklahoma City Barons of the American Hockey League.

On December 5, 2012 Kristiāns Pelšs has been banned from the ECHL for 21 games after he had beaten the game against the Bakersfield Condors an opponent 's racket face. The American Hockey League locked Pelšs for over a month. After this lock the Lette was appointed to the cadre of the Oklahoma City Barons and was able to establish themselves there during the season. On February 15, 2013 against the Texas Stars, he scored his first goal in the AHL.

Internationally

Pelšs was appointed for the first time in the squad of the Latvian national team for the Under-18 World Youth Championship in 2009 and grew with the team into the top division. In the following year he was appointed to the U18 selection and scored two goals in six games, but could not prevent the re- descent of the team from the top division.

In the U20 World Youth Championship Pelšs was again in the squad of the junior national team and helped the selection with four points from five games, also for promotion to the top division. In 2012 he was appointed captain of the junior national team, with whom he finally reached the league at the U20 World Cup.

Death

On June 11, 2013 Pelšs was reported by his family as missing after media had reported the 20 -year-old had jumped from a bridge in Riga. These reports, however, were not initially approved by the local authorities and the Edmonton Oilers. Only four days later Pelšs body was found and confirmed his death.

Awards and achievements

• 2012 Ed Chynoweth Cup win with the Edmonton Oil Kings

Internationally

• 2009 promotion to the top division at the U18 Junior World Championship Division I
• 2011 promotion to the top division at the U20 Junior World Championship Division I

Career Stats

( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )