The Florida Eels are extremely excited to announce goaltender Karlis Mezsargs, a Florida Eels alum, is rostered on the Latvian World Junior Championships team, and has committed to NCAA Division I University of Massachusetts at Lowell (UMass-Lowell).

Karlis currently plays for the USHL’s Tri-City Storm. He is 6-feet-3-inches and 185 pounds, and catches left. He has played two previous occasions for the World Juniors for Latvia.

In 2019-20 he played for the Eels’ USPHL Elite team for 17 games and had a solid 2.52 GAA and enjoyed a .924 save percentage. Last year, he was tracked by some of the top scouts in the world and was on the NHL Draft scouting list.

Eels Premier Coach Frankie Scarpaci noted,” Karlis is a highly skilled goalie. He had outstanding skill set, was a strong competitor and had an unwavering commitment to his craft. He did so many of the things that make you better during his off ice training. He would arrive at the rink hours before others and stay later to gain extra training. He would watch videos for hours scouting out his next opponents. He has tremendous work ethic.”

There is no doubt in his mind that Karlis was a young man who would excel in his game.

GM Frank Scarpaci noted, “Karlis is a high character young man who displayed tremendous determination and dedication to his team and his game. He brought high energy and enthusiasm not only to his game but in practices. We are very proud of him and we are honored that he played for our Elite team. It is living example of how our Elite team develops players for the Next Level of play.”

Specifically, with Karlis he has advanced to the World Juniors three times for Latvia, he is playing for the Tri-City Storm of the USHL and, next season, at UMass-Lowell. Now that is impressive. Congratulations buddy!