That was a pretty nice debut. I am very happy for our young goaltender and we all believe he will be a big part of our future. He is a dominant goaltender already down in Hershey and to win 2 to 1 in Hockey Night in Canada is indeed a big thrill.
He was remarkably calm in net. He played much focused, very safe hockey and he didn’t get rattled at all. He is a very athletic goalie but he is also very astute and very analytic in his preparation and style of play.
If you remember, we received the first round pick that we used to draft Varlamov in the Brendan Witt trade from Nashville. Witt now plays for the New York Islanders as “he didn’t want to be part of a rebuild.” We drafted Simeon at the 23rd spot and we think he will be a big part of our future. We are loaded up and down the lineup with talent and I am proud of the job our amateur scouts have done in picking terrific young players to come into our system. I am also proud of the folks at Wikipedia who have already updated Varlamov’s profile with the win last night! (See it here.)
I am also happy for our team. Last week, many fans on our message boards and some media types were quite worried about the notion of our having to play against the Bruins, Senators and Canadians in such a short period of time. We came out of play unscathed and now have the 3rd best record in the East which is really terrific news considering how short handed we have been.
How do you think his performance is going to affect the current goalie situation? Theodore has been inconsistent and Johnson has played well but he has been injured. After such a great performance I think he should be given the chance to play some more at the top level.
Just curious on how thats going to play out. Again, like so many others, I was really impressed on how well he played, not backing down under pressure and such.
As a sidenote, congrats on a great week of hockey for the team. Beating Boston, Ottawa, and Montreal in the same week is quite a feat for a team that has been so rattled with injuries. It’s great to see these young kids from Hershey come up and play with such passion and poise. Speaks volumes to the coaching and scouting at that level.
Looking forward to coming home and seeing the Caps beat the Blues on Thursday!
C-A-P-S CAPS! CAPS! CAPS!
A great debut! The future looks very bright here in Washington with Varlamov being one of the three possible starters here (Machesney and Neuvirth also look great!)
And let’s not forget about Brett!
(Did you let him keep his jersey?)
i dont see sending this kid back to Hershey
Varli is a MONSTER. Since you drafted him ive watched every peice of footage I could find on him. I went to the first pre-season game and finally saw it live and impressed didnt describe it. Hasak comes to mind when I watch him. When I herd the news on sports night before the game I was thrilled. You figure hed be nervous in his NHL debut on national tv in the meka of hocky no less. Nope He was 3 feet above the crease on point shots and didnt back down from any rushes. How fast is this kid side to side. He is amazing. His vision is unbelievable his glove hand is super fast and his instincts are incredable. Did anyone notice the Hasak roll on one of the saves and the pose after the glove save. PIMP
Our 1st rd selections this decade have been downright impressive. A complete reversal from our disastrous 90′s drafting.
He was great. Didn’t look intimidated at all. I thought it was money of both Tom Poti and the fan in Montreal to exchange Poti’s stick for the puck so Varlamov can have a keepsake of his 1st NHL game/win.
Job well done drafting Varlamov.
I covered the rookie scrimmage in September and agree that Varlie is calm and skilled in the net.
I’m looking forward to seeing him at the Phone Booth.
Varlamov was just superb last evening. What a game to savor. My wife and I made a trip to Hershey just to watch him in goal, and he did not disappoint that night, either. Coach BB was also very proud of his young net minder, and Ovechkin was just beaming with joy at his fellow countryman.