Nation Sites
The Nation Network
CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Canucks’ Arturs Silovs finishes second to Connor Bedard in IIHF Player of the Year voting
Photo credit: Canucks via Twitter
Jun 19, 2023, 13:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 19, 2023, 12:59 EDT
Two future Vancouver Canucks legends finished first and second in IIHF Male Player of the Year voting.
Coming in first and capturing the honour is North Vancouver’s Connor Bedard, who is slated to be selected by the Chicago Blackhawks with the first overall pick at the 2023 NHL Entry Draft in Nashville next week.
Silovs narrowly captured second place, beating out Andres Ambuhl, Moritz Seider, and Adam Fantilli for the honour.
Here’s the explanation the IIHF provided for the voting:
Bedard captured 31.8 per cent of total votes, but the battle for second was notably close. Latvian goalie Arturs Silovs had 19.6 per cent of the vote, just ahead of Swiss forward Andres Ambuhl, 19.2 per cent. German defender Moritz Seider was a distant fourth with 14.3 per cent while another Canadian teenager, Adam Fantilli, had 11.9 percent. German JJ Peterka (2.1 per cent) and Czech Dominik Kubalik (1.0 per cent) also received votes from an international panel that included media from 22 countries and IIHF Family from around the world.
Silovs put on a show at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, as he backstopped Latvia to their first medal in IIHF history. Silovs finished the tournament with a 7-2-0 record and a .923 save percentage en route to capturing the tournament MVP award.
Silovs endeared himself to Canucks fans this past season when he made five starts at the NHL level, looking better with each game he played. Silovs amassed a .908 save percentage across those five NHL starts behind a porous Canucks defence corps. At the AHL level, Silovs improved as the year went on, and finished the season as one of the top goaltenders in the AHL. He put together a .914 save percentage through two starts for Abbotsford in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Canucks drafted Silovs in the sixth round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft at the 156th overall spot.
Breaking News
- Canucks trade rumours: Flyers said no to a trade involving Owen Tippett
- Canucks: Quinn Hughes and Adam Foote address on-ice frustrations
- Scenes from practice: Höglander a full participant, Karlsson stays on Canucks’ top line
- Canucks injury updates: Höglander and Demko could return vs. Sabres next Thursday
- Canucks roster news: Nikita Tolopilo and defenceman Elias Pettersson recalled from AHL