The Canuck Way
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Canucks: 3 Takeaways from the Canucks 5-3 loss to the Seattle Kraken

By Elvijs Norenbergs

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 26: Riley Sheahan #15 of the Seattle Kraken and Tucker Poolman #3 of the Vancouver Canucks collide to gain possession of the puck in the first period during a preseason game at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on September 26, 2021 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 26: Riley Sheahan #15 of the Seattle Kraken and Tucker Poolman #3 of the Vancouver Canucks collide to gain possession of the puck in the first period during a preseason game at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on September 26, 2021 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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SPOKANE, WASHINGTON – SEPTEMBER 26: Arturs Silovs #76 of the Vancouver Canucks looks on against the Seattle Kraken during the first period of a preseason game at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on September 26, 2021 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON – SEPTEMBER 26: Arturs Silovs #76 of the Vancouver Canucks looks on against the Seattle Kraken during the first period of a preseason game at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on September 26, 2021 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

A season in the AHL could do wonders for Arturs Silovs and Danila Klimovich. 

The young Latvian goalie, Arturs Silovs will go down in the history books, starting the first-ever Canucks – Kraken (preseason) game, in which he showed flashes of brilliance and flashes of the jitters.

He started the game very well, finding his rhythm in the first period and shutting out the Kraken team with some saves that kept fans on their feet.

Unfortunately for the team’s ill discipline, Silovs was put to a real test which saw some of his nerves shine through, as the Kraken had plenty of powerplay opportunities.

On several shots, it was noticeable that Silovs was nervous and was doing a little too much in terms of his positioning and his movement as often he would make the first move in anticipation where a veteran goalie wouldn’t bite first.

It is quite possible that his growth was stunted last season as he spent the year in the minor leagues in Latvia, playing for HS Riga and HK Mogo.

The quality of hockey there is not the highest and that showed today as his transition to the North American game was not bad, but also not the greatest despite him winning over a lot of fans after his performance.

Yes, he was left exposed too many times on the penalty-kill, which doesn’t help but his positioning needs a little work and hopefully, a season in the AHL with the Abbotsford Canucks and goalie coach Curtis Sanford will address that.

Silovs was replaced by Spencer Martin in the third period and left the game with three goals against and a decent display overall.

As for the young Belarussian forward, Danila Klimovich, the big bright lights of the Spokane Arena seemed to get to him.

He was noticeable during the game but very little as he did not get a lot of opportunities to showcase his ability.

He is a skillful winger that likes to play in space and in the loss against the Kraken he, unfortunately, did not have a lot of that, so he was kept silent during the game.

The biggest reason for that is the fact that the Canucks could not stop conceding penalties, meaning Klimovich saw less and less ice time, only having one opportunity on the powerplay.

If we would have had a chance to see his skill set more on the powerplay, it is a good assumption that he would be a big part of that unit.

Klimovich made a little appearance in the post-game shootout as he stepped up and unfortunately missed the 1-on-1 against Chris Driedger.

After this game, you can’t be so sure that he is destined to make the final roster but keeping him close in Abbotsford would be great either way.

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