Silovs Looking to Build From Olympic Experience

While Arturs Silovs and Team Latvia fell short of capturing a medal at this year’s Winter Games in Italy, being an Olympian is something he will never forget.

“I think it’s what a lot of athletes are trying for,” said Silovs, who rejoined his Penguins teammates on Sunday. “Not a lot of guys get an opportunity like that, and you have to be grateful for it and the country that you play for. For sure, you want to play more games, make the quarterfinals, and see what’s going to happen there, but it didn’t happen this time for us.

“It’s just taking pride in playing every single game with the national team jersey and showing some enjoyment to the fans.”

Silovs was in net to help Latvia get just their fourth-ever win at the Olympics with NHL players participating. In the Preliminary Round, he made 26 saves to get a 4-3 victory against Germany.

“You want to win games,” Silovs said. “It’s a great feeling, beating Germany, because it’s not an easy task. They have great players, and for us, I think it was a good accomplishment.”

What was most impressive during that game was that Leon Draisaitl, one of the league’s best players, had ten shots on goal – and Silovs turned them all aside.

“I think he had a lot of opportunities,” Silovs said. “I just tried to play the best as I can, and it doesn’t matter who is in front of or against me, I just want to stop the puck.”

Silovs appeared in three of Latvia’s four games. His performance against Germany specifically was another example in a growing list of how he can rise in big moments.

“It’s just another experience for him,” Head Coach Dan Muse said. “He’s had a lot of them. Just from talking with him before he went over, just hearing his excitement, how proud he was to be representing his country. It was awesome to get the chance to see him over there and see him compete.”

Given how tight the athletes' schedules were during the tournament, Silovs didn’t have as much free time as he would have liked. With team meetings at 9 PM each night, and three games in four days, Silovs was focused on staying sharp.

“It was hard to go for dinner, because all of the places were opening at 7:30,” Silovs said. “If you wanted to go somewhere, it was going to be really tight time-wise. I didn’t really go, I usually just had food after the meetings, so I didn’t have to rush.

“I was just kind of in a hockey bubble. For us, it ramps up pretty quick.”

Regardless of the schedule or the results, it was still an unbelievable experience for Latvia at the Olympics. Looking back on this tournament, Silovs will always remember the time he got with his teammates and the bonding they did as a group.

“You don’t see them too often, and I think that it’s nice to be around them and just have some talks, have some fun, and play with each other,” Silovs said. “I think it’s a great time.”

“Even taking away the win, I think it’s a great memory to have, and I think that it’s just something to build from.”