Details emerge about Silovs injury that could impact Canucks season
The Vancouver Canucks have a problem.
The start of the new NHL season is approaching fast, and the league’s top two goaltenders are both dealing with health issues.
News previously broke that starter Thatcher Demko is still recovering from an injury suffered in Game 1 of the first round. Now it’s been revealed that second-string Arturs Silovs is dealing with health issues of his own.
Silovs was shockingly left off the Latvian roster for an upcoming Olympic qualification tournament. It’s now clear that his absence is due to injury.
The Latvian hockey federation posted on social media today to clarify the situation with the young goalie. The following quote has been translated into English.
“Initially, it was planned to register goalkeeper ArtÅ«rs Å ilov for the tournament, who, unfortunately, did not manage to recover quickly enough from knee ligament inflammation, which prevents him from participating in the tournament games with maximum efficiency.”
PaziÅojums!
SÄkotnÄji turnÄ«ram bija plÄnots pieteikt vÄrtsargu ArtÅ«ru Å ilovu, kuram, diemžÄl, neizdevÄs pietiekami Ätri atlabt no ceļgala saites iekaisuma, kas liedz piedalÄ«ties turnÄ«ra spÄlÄs ar maksimÄlu atdevi.— LV Hokeja federÄcija (@lhf_lv) August 29, 2024
A subsequent tweet from the federation reads as follows:
“This injury could threaten the start of the new season in the Vancouver Canucks NHL club. The national ice hockey team of Latvia has announced goalkeeper Äriks VÄ«tola, who just yesterday played a game with the Finnish club JYP, and today he will go on the ice with the Latvian national team.”Ā
Team Latvia general manager Rudolfs Kalvitis further clarified the goalie’s status in a statement made to CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal.
“It was determined he is not 100% healthy due to a little bit of inflammation in his knee. We were concerned & don’t want to push him; he should be fine for the Canucks camp.”
“This kid is a workhorse; the inflammation was from overuse, overtraining, and working hard all summer. He needs rest, we are also thinking of the Canucks, it is his 1st year of a new deal.”
Just talked with Latvian GM Rūdolfs Kalvītis on the status of #Canucks goalie Arturs SIlovs.
Kalvītis : It was determined he is not 100% healthy due to a little bit inflammation in his knee.
We were concerned & don't want to push him, he should be fine for the #Canucks camp.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) August 29, 2024
Silovs signed a new two-year deal with the team this summer.
The fact that both Silovs and Demko are injured with less than a month to go before training camp is less than ideal for the Canucks.
Jiri Patera and Nikita Tolopilo are the next goaltenders up for the Canucks. They have a combined eight NHL games between them. The team has been rumoured to be interested in adding another goalie with more experience ahead of this season.
The Canucks start training camp in Penticton on September 19, and Demko is not expected to be available. It remains to be seen how serious Silovs’ injury is and if he’ll be ready for the start of camp.
The Latvian goalie had a breakout playoffs last spring after he was thrust into action due to injuries to the Canucks top two netminders. He picked up a clutch shutout in Game 6 of the first round and helped the Canucks reach Game 7 in the second round.