Irbe is not suitable for the NHL, Merzlikins – for the Latvian national team…

It seems that it was during the 1992 Winter Olympics when a colleague in Albertville got hold of an American newspaper with a hot “news” about Irbi. Those young men and women who have not experienced those years in Latvia may think that there is something complicated: tell your mother to google what America thinks about Irbi. I don’t want to lie, but I think that in February 1992, western newspapers were not yet available for purchase in Riga. However, the western-oriented “Diena” tried to sell this extra “news” about Irbi in its advertising leaflet, which decorated newsstands. That Irbe is not suitable for the NHL! Which was actually the opinion of an American journalist.

For us, Irbe was then a two-time world champion, the best goalkeeper of the 1990 World Championship, in America – a small Eastern European from the USSR, who has no chance to play in the NHL. Because goalkeepers of such a small height (1.75 m) simply do not play in the NHL! In addition, in Kansas City (a farm club in the IHL) and even more so in the San Jose Sharks, which was a new team in the NHL, Arthur could hardly miss a game. The team is weak, Irbe’s numbers – 86.8% of saved shots, 4.46 average allowed pucks per game… They could not have been much better for the two main goalies Jeff Hackett (89.2/3.84) and Jarmo Milis (86.7/5) ,02). Because Sharks was trash. The first season in the NHL… I don’t know if Artur believed that that lapel was not my handiwork, because I was the head of the “Diena” sports department… It turned out that Irbe fits the NHL very well, having played there for 14 seasons.

But the first five seasons were neither this nor that. At least by the numbers.