If you started to get worried Wednesday afternoon when you heard that Arturs Silovs may not end up playing for Latvia in this weekend’s Olympic hockey qualifying tournament in Riga, maybe you thought to take deep breaths.
Latvia, after all, didn’t have to declare its final roster until two hours before their first game in this weekend’s tournament. That’s 10 a.m. Pacific Time vs. Slovenia.
When Latvia first registered their roster Wednesday, they named only two goalies. There was still time for Silovs, who is slated to be the Vancouver Canucks’ backup this season and who played a starring role for Latvia at the world championship in 2023, to be added as the third goalie.
But then 8 a.m. Thursday came and went and rather than Silovs being added to the roster, the Latvians opted instead for Eriks Vitols, who plays for JYP in Finland.
No Silovs. Instead Latvia is going with Vitols, former NHLer Kristers Gudlevskis and former Nashville farmhand Gustavs Grigals, who currently has no team at all.