The success of the Washington Capitals rested on the shoulders of the 21-year-old rookie goaltender Semyon Varlamov.
While his future with the Capitals is uncertain until training camp, there are at least three reasons Varlamov should be on the Capitals’ roster come the start of the 2009-10 season:
1. Varlamov has strong mental performance with an incredible ability to remain calm and focused for an extended period of time.
Goaltending is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical. “Goaltenders have to be mentally tough to stand in front of hard hit shots. A common mental game obstacle for goaltenders is to maintain composure during those hard hit shots and perform with trust,” said master mental game coach Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.
Many that have watched Varlamov in Yaroslavl, Hershey, or Washington note his mental toughness. Greg Manning of Hershey Bears Hockey thinks, “… [Semyon] is like other Russians goalies...calm and focused…. He does not get flustered and can let goals go without dwelling on them. His numbers prove how good he has been and the team seems to have immense trust in him.”
2. With shots at up to 100 mph, Varlamov has “the quiet eye” to make great saves.
The goalie’s reaction time is one of the most important defense mechanisms in hockey. The faster and more accurate the goalie’s reaction, the less likely the puck enters the net. Evžen Kindermann asserts that “Varlamov’s style is very focused on covering angles...good positioning and good reflexes.” Manning agrees that Varlamov “might be one of the most flexible goaltenders in the NHL right now. Also his reflexes are on par with anyone. He plays so far out in the crease that the saves he makes are that much more difficult and impressive.”
Utilizing this brilliant skill to make great saves, this 21-year-old goaltender robbed Pittsburgh Penguin Sidney Crosby in Game 1 with “the save of the playoffs”:
3. Coachability is a characteristics coaches desire in an athlete, and head coach Bruce Boudreau has a workable canvas to develop Varlamov into a top-tier NHL goaltender.
In six regular season games and 13 playoff games, Varlamov has garnered an impressive resume including setting a club record for goaltenders with five straight playoff wins and becoming the fourth NHL goalie to post a shutout before his 21st birthday.
A fan in Yaroslavl, the home of his former team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, commented that “Semyon has become much better compared to his playing for Yaroslavl, and it’s very nice that the Capitals’ coaches have great hopes in him, and it’s even nicer that he completely lives up to their expectations. He started playing on a new level, he’s very reliable, NHL is exactly what he needed….”
While Varlamov is already considered a hot goalie, with coaching from Boudreau and goaltender coach Dave Prior, Varlamov will develop the skills to become one of the hottest goalies since Patrick Roy, his favorite goalie.
While his future with the Capitals is uncertain until training camp, there are at least three reasons Varlamov should be on the Capitals’ roster come the start of the 2009-10 season:
1. Varlamov has strong mental performance with an incredible ability to remain calm and focused for an extended period of time.
Goaltending is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical. “Goaltenders have to be mentally tough to stand in front of hard hit shots. A common mental game obstacle for goaltenders is to maintain composure during those hard hit shots and perform with trust,” said master mental game coach Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.
Many that have watched Varlamov in Yaroslavl, Hershey, or Washington note his mental toughness. Greg Manning of Hershey Bears Hockey thinks, “… [Semyon] is like other Russians goalies...calm and focused…. He does not get flustered and can let goals go without dwelling on them. His numbers prove how good he has been and the team seems to have immense trust in him.”
2. With shots at up to 100 mph, Varlamov has “the quiet eye” to make great saves.
The goalie’s reaction time is one of the most important defense mechanisms in hockey. The faster and more accurate the goalie’s reaction, the less likely the puck enters the net. Evžen Kindermann asserts that “Varlamov’s style is very focused on covering angles...good positioning and good reflexes.” Manning agrees that Varlamov “might be one of the most flexible goaltenders in the NHL right now. Also his reflexes are on par with anyone. He plays so far out in the crease that the saves he makes are that much more difficult and impressive.”
Utilizing this brilliant skill to make great saves, this 21-year-old goaltender robbed Pittsburgh Penguin Sidney Crosby in Game 1 with “the save of the playoffs”:
3. Coachability is a characteristics coaches desire in an athlete, and head coach Bruce Boudreau has a workable canvas to develop Varlamov into a top-tier NHL goaltender.
In six regular season games and 13 playoff games, Varlamov has garnered an impressive resume including setting a club record for goaltenders with five straight playoff wins and becoming the fourth NHL goalie to post a shutout before his 21st birthday.
A fan in Yaroslavl, the home of his former team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, commented that “Semyon has become much better compared to his playing for Yaroslavl, and it’s very nice that the Capitals’ coaches have great hopes in him, and it’s even nicer that he completely lives up to their expectations. He started playing on a new level, he’s very reliable, NHL is exactly what he needed….”
While Varlamov is already considered a hot goalie, with coaching from Boudreau and goaltender coach Dave Prior, Varlamov will develop the skills to become one of the hottest goalies since Patrick Roy, his favorite goalie.
Posts
3 comments:
No doubt Varly will be with the Caps in 2009-2010. Only question will be how many games he starts and who he'll share the net with.
I also expect that Varly will earn a spot on the Caps' roster. I'm hoping the other half of the tandem will be Brent Johnson, but we won't know that for a while yet.
He is an incredibly talented, but young, goalie. I would be in favor of keeping Theo60 on the active roster unless we can make a decent trade. This may, in fact, light a fire under Theo60 and we'll see him perform better for the 2010/2011 season.
There is little doubt that Varlamov is the "goalie of the future" for the Capitals -- it may or may not be next year.
Post a Comment