All Aboard The Silovs Train: How Goalie Arturs Silovs Led Abbotsford To An AHL Championship

Shortly after the Abbotsford
Canucks began celebrating their Calder Cup championship, a few of the
players got to work. Their goalie was busy doing interviews – because he
was the biggest reason they won the thing – so he didn’t see his
teammates surreptitiously cutting the netting off the Canucks’ goal at
Bojangles Coliseum. (Greatest arena name ever, by the way.)

By the
time Arturs Silovs was finishing up his on-ice interview, his teammates
had managed to remove the mesh from the iron and draped it over his
shoulders. It was symbolic in a couple of ways. First, it reminded all
who watched the Canucks’ playoff run that Silovs was so simpatico with
his net that almost nothing got by him. Second, it was the affirmation
that, as the Canucks knew all along, the net indisputably belonged to
their 24-year-old Latvian goalie, who seems to have a penchant for
playing out of his mind in big games.

Silovs
started each of the Canucks’ 24 games during the 2025 Calder Cup
playoffs, winning 16 while putting up a .931 save percentage and 2.01
goals-against average. He was also named playoff MVP. But that’s not the
half of it. In the final series, the Canucks were outshot 229 to 147 by
the Charlotte Checkers, an average of 13.7 shots per game over the six
games. In Game 1 of the series, Silovs faced 54 shots. That’s not
including the one that went past him when teammate Ty Mueller won a
defensive-zone draw in overtime and pulled it directly into the
Abbotsford net while Silovs was turning around after taking a drink of
water. It was later ruled that Silovs was not set for the play, and the
goal was called back before Danila Klimovich scored on the power play in
double overtime.

More symbolism. It seemed the only time
opponents could figure Silovs out was when he wasn’t ready. But when he
was, his play was remarkable. Silovs posted a .934 SP in the final
series. One of the key reasons the Canucks won the Calder Cup was that
they never lost two straight games. They lost eight times in the
playoffs, and in the games after a loss, Silovs went 8-0, tossed up two
shutouts and recorded a .948 SP. “Arty’s play in those games was
unbelievable,” said Canucks rookie coach Manny Malhotra.

And
because of that, Silovs found himself at the top of the mountain, just
months after struggling through a disastrous start to the NHL season. He
entered the year having created high expectations for himself after
getting the Vancouver Canucks to Game 7 of the second round of the
playoffs in 2024. In 2023, all he did was lead Latvia, the little engine
that could, to a bronze medal at the World Championship. For his
efforts, Silovs was named the top goalie and MVP of the tournament. And
when he was asked what the Calder Cup win means to him, he spoke like
someone who doesn’t expect to be competing for it ever again. “You’re
finishing a part of your career with a milestone,” Silovs said. “Not
everyone can say they won a Calder Cup, right? I think it’s really
special…and I think it’s going to help a lot in the future.”

Yeah,
about that. Things are going to get interesting in Vancouver’s crease.
The brilliant-but-injury-riddled Thatcher Demko has one year left on his
current deal at $5 million, but while trade rumors were swirling, it
appeared a contract extension was in the works. The Canucks signed
30-year-old Kevin Lankinen to a five-year, $22.5-million extension that
kicks in next season. You’d have to wonder whether they would have done
that if they’d known what Silovs was going to accomplish in Abbotsford.
For his part, Silovs has one year left on a deal that will pay him
$800,000 – whether he plays in the NHL or the minors – before he becomes
an RFA with arbitration rights. But what makes all of this so
intriguing is that in order to be sent to the minors in 2025-26, Silovs
would have to go on waivers. That means the Canucks, if they stay status
quo in net, would either have to go with a cumbersome three-goalie
setup or risk losing Silovs for nothing. Hence, the Demko rumors that
began circulating during the off-season.

We do know that Silovs
can play. His body of work in the AHL, internationally and, at times, in
the NHL has proven he’s ready to be a full-time NHL goalie. The fact
that Latvia chose to name him among the first six players for their 2026
Olympic team is a testament to the faith they have in him to deliver on
the world stage. And while he has had his peaks and valleys, he’s not
unlike a lot of young goalies who take a few years – and in many cases, a
few organizations – to find their places in the hockey world. Silovs is
young for a goalie, but he’s also got a cross-section of experience and
success that suggests he deserves a sustained shot at proving he can
stay in the NHL.

Silovs
was brilliant at times for the big club during the 2024 post-season.
But when the NHL crease was his to start the regular season, he
struggled – and he struggled mightily. He gave up five or more goals in
three of his nine starts, and his only two wins of the season came
against the Chicago Blackhawks, and we’re not even sure if those even
count these days.

Brighter days are ahead, one would presume, for
both Silovs and other Canucks prospects who made a push in the playoffs.
For the short term, Silovs was intent on living in the moment and
enjoying the accomplishment. “It’s so special,” he said. “Basically, I
grew up with this team. We started with nearly everyone at the same
time. We had some ups and downs, and to manage to win with the same guys
is unbelievable.”

This article
appeared in our 2025 Champions issue. Our cover story focuses on
the 2025 Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, specifically the elite
play of defenseman Seth Jones, along with a recap of each game of the
Cup final. We
also include features on Sharks center Will Smith and Kraken defenseman
Ryker Evans. In
addition, we give our list of the top 10 moments from the 2024-25 NHL
season.

You can get it in print for free when you subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/Free today. All subscriptions include complete access to more than 76 years of articles at The Hockey News Archive.

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