Post-Game Talk: IIHF World Championships 2023 (Myers, Bear win Gold with CAN. Silovs wins Bronze with LAT. Silovs named Tourn. MVP)

[VanJack]

Ian Clark is the Yoda of goaltending instructors......thank God Benning reupped him to a new contract, although it was 'touch and go' there for awhile. About the only good thing he ever did.

If Clark can help turn Silovs into the goalie we're seeing in this IIHF tournament, makes you wonder what he can do with a prospect goalie like Nikita Tolopilo in Abbotsford.

With all the 'negatives' surround the Canucks these days--at least goaltending isn't one of them. Canucks are rock-solid in the crease, not only today but for tomorrow.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Another Canuck reference in the IIHF's cheeky power rankings.

 

[Jyrki21]

The Legends of Kings Arturs!!!!!

 

[tradervik]

Ah yes, that was the ranking that had Jurmo at 3 and Lockhart at 7 despite the fact that the club won't even be signing either. Embarrassing from Wheeler.

And that *was* totally off base at the time.

Totally agree on Jurmo and Lockhart, but Silovs at 14 wasn't totally off base. The article came out in mid January before Silovs development curve took off, as I recall.

 

[MS]

Totally agree on Jurmo and Lockhart, but Silovs at 14 wasn't totally off base. The article came out in mid January before Silovs development curve took off, as I recall.

He took off after that, but it was still off base and a few of us commented on it at the time. He was still playing reasonably decent as a starting goalie in the AHL at age 21, and should have been well ahead of several guys on that list. And was obviously better than Ty Young in the WHL.

A few of us put out our own lists in response to that and had him around 6 or so on our lists. Now he's probably top-3.

 

[Zippgunn]

Mine too, and the handling of the goaltending situation in 1997-98 gets more and more comical in retrospect with each passing year.

Burke and Keenan hated each others guts in the end but they were a united front in loving big, bad fight-y goalies and hating small effective good goalies.

The rational for not bringing back Irbe that 'the crease was changing in size slightly and we don't think he can handle the new dimensions' is one of the most abject stupidest things I've ever heard from an NHL GM.

Keenan hated Irbe for some reason. Despite coming in mid-season and posting a winning record (3 games over .500 on a team that was 18 games under) he was passed over for player of the year in favour of Keenan favorite Brian Noonan (who played exactly 8 more games in the NHL before being relegated to the minors forever). Ridiculous. Oh well it was all for the best; he ended up with a Cup ring, something that was never going to happen here...

 

[jigsaw99]

Bear at -2 and 0 points for team Canada. Brutal.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

Only a few months ago The Athletic (Wheeler) had Silovs ranked as the Canucks 14th best prospect right behind Ty Young.

I'm not saying he was totally off base at the time but it does indicate the relative usefulness/uselessness of these rankings.

Oooooooor....

We should not put too much weight on a performance in a hand full of games in WCs where the quality of competition this year is roughly AHL level?

 

[Tables of Stats]

Oooooooor....

We should not put too much weight on a performance in a hand full of games in WCs where the quality of competition this year is roughly AHL level?

How about the back half of his AHL season, his AHL playoff games, his NHL games, and now this run? He's been really good since shaking off a rough start.

 

[VanJack]

Bear at -2 and 0 points for team Canada. Brutal.

Actually, Bear is getting a lot of love from the TSN panel for his defensive play in this tournament....He's been a rock in his own zone, and one of better defenders at transitioning the puck out of the defensive zone.

According to Canucks Army, along with Mackenzie Weegar, Bear has been one of Canada's best d-man at this tournament. As far as points, I doubt he's ever going to be a big-time producer.

But if you play a solid 5-6 role on the Canucks, with the ability to move into the top-4 in case of injury, he's still a valuable piece for Vancouver.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

How about the back half of his AHL season, his AHL playoff games, his NHL games, and now this run? He's been really good since shaking off a rough start.

Varying degrees of good.

Goalie is just about the most volatile position in all of pro sports.

Im glad he is doing well and think his stock has gone up quite a bit since january.

Im not penciling him as a blue chipper or in to our lineup for next season.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

What's really impressive about Silovs is how well he's doing considering he played only 21 games between the 2020-21 (1) and 2021-22 (20) seasons.
Benning and co. tried to kill his development, but failed at that too.

 

[Siludin]

Not exactly cheering against Canada, but if they had to lose an international semifinal this wouldn't be a terrible one to choose...

 

[HelloCookie]

Pretty bummed, not gonna be able to see the game live tomorrow. Would've not minded to pay through the nose to cheer the underdogs and Silovs on, but force majeure rained on this party. Psyched for the guy!

 

[tradervik]

Varying degrees of good.

Goalie is just about the most volatile position in all of pro sports.

Im glad he is doing well and think his stock has gone up quite a bit since january.

Im not penciling him as a blue chipper or in to our lineup for next season.

Totally agree, Silovs is not a blue chipper. On the other hand, the kid is a battler and has shown excellent progress, so there is a good foundation for optimism. As you may have already guessed, I like looking for reasons to be optimistic.

If Silovs proves he is capable, I don't see any problem making him Demko's backup provided he gets a decent number of games and is not left sitting on the bench for extended stretches while Demko gets overworked. If he's not up to it, leave him in the AHL for another year.

 

[Tables of Stats]

Varying degrees of good.

Goalie is just about the most volatile position in all of pro sports.

Im glad he is doing well and think his stock has gone up quite a bit since january.

Im not penciling him as a blue chipper or in to our lineup for next season.

I'm not penciling him in to replace Demko or anything but I think he could easily make the jump to a very good backup next season.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

I'm not penciling him in to replace Demko or anything but I think he could easily make the jump to a very good backup next season.

That would IMO limit his playing time too much.

Let him be the no.1 in the A and get starts to help him develop as much as possible while giving him spot duty when one of Demko or his backup is hurt.

 

[VanillaCoke]

Sell high

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Latvia put up a spirited effort but fell 4-2 to Canada (Laughton iced it with an empty netter)

Silovs named one of the Top 3 Players for Latvia at the end of the game, and Latvia plays for the Bronze - they have a chance to get their first medal ever at a major IIHF tournament.

Meanwhile, Canada will play for the Gold against the winner of USA and Germany. Ethan Bear didn’t play today after seeming to get injured at the very end of their quarterfinal. Hope he’s okay.

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Latvia put up a spirited effort but fell 4-2 to Canada (Laughton iced it with an empty netter)

Silovs named one of the Top 3 Players for Latvia at the end of the game, and Latvia plays for the Bronze - they have a chance to get their first medal ever at a major IIHF tournament.

Meanwhile, Canada will play for the Gold against the winner of USA and Germany. Ethan Bear didn’t play today after seeming to get injured at the very end of their quarterfinal. Hope he’s okay.

So conflicted. I want us to win, but also wanted us to lose.

Guess it felt like the many Canucks regular season games over the years.

 

[wonton15]

Ohh man, Germany beat USA. Latvia could’ve had a legit chance for gold

 

[VanJack]

Silovs and Latvia fought hard in this semi-final match with Canada, But realistically, the lineups really don't compare. But through two periods, this Canadian squad was probably wondering what they had to do beat Silovs.

Latvia will be in tough in the bronze medal game against the U.S.....hopefully they don't suffer a letdown, but would be understandable if they did.

In terms of the Canucks prospect pool, Silovs might be be the best story of the year.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Ohh man, Germany beat USA. Latvia could’ve had a legit chance for gold

Honestly, I think Germany might be the favourite going into the Gold Medal Game. I wouldn’t sleep on them.

I do think Silovs will need to stand on his head against USA. They’ve been piling up goals.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Latvia and USA heading to OT - Abols had an incredible chance with seconds left on the clock on a great net drive. I think if he’d held the puck for an extra second and tucked it far side, he’d have scored.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

LATVIA!!!

Congratulations to Silovs and his teammates and Latvia! Wow!