Varlamov, the Avery-proof goalie

by James Mirtle on Apr 20, 2009 9:59 PM CDT Comment 16 comments

There was a little bit of funny business at the end of tonight's Capitals-Rangers game, and as usual, it involved Sean Avery.

Avery was apparently trying to stir something up toward the end of the game, but wasn't having any luck chatting up netminder Simeon Varlamov, who from all accounts doesn't speak any English.

Here is Craig Custance's account:

Boudreau said Avery picked the wrong guy to trash talk because the 20-year-old Russian can't understand a lick of it. "He's trying to stir it up with a guy who doesn't know what he's talking about," Boudreau said.

There was less than three minutes left in the game, and Avery chucked a punch into Varlamov's Hershey Bears themed mask and got tossed out. In all, he had 18 minutes in penalties, played 16:28 and was minus one.

Varlamov, on the other hand, was phenomenal.

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Varlamov!

Too early to proclaim the kid the next Patrick Roy, but his composure and play so far are phenomenal. Can’t help but wonder how Game 1 would’ve gone with Varly in the pipes. The Caps dominated that game and won 75% of the faceoffs – Theodore’s poor play was the clear difference.

Varlamov could still flame out, as he’s very young and today was the first consecutive NHL outing of his career, but his stats are off the charts right now. In two playoff games:

0.50 GAA
.982 save pct.

by Cap74 on Apr 20, 2009 10:14 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Sorry. We all know he’s going to choke, because he’s not playoff tested. You have to learn how to win in the playoffs. If Varlamov understood English, he’d know this.

by J. Michael Neal on Apr 21, 2009 12:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nyuk. That’s pretty funny.

I’ve half-heartedly defended Avery once or twice, but this one was just plain ridiculous.

by Costa24 on Apr 20, 2009 10:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

That picture is just so perfect...

Good on Varlamov for playing so well – he wasn’t so bad in Game 2, I think. I don’t think it’s time to name him the new anything just yet, but if he can help the Caps get Game 4, oh it’d be massive.

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by John Fischer on Apr 20, 2009 10:33 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Even I, the man with an Avery jersey, scratched my head on this one…

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by Rob Luker on Apr 20, 2009 10:56 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Might be time for Avery to have a meeting with his anger management sponsor. Poor little man.

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by puckreport on Apr 21, 2009 12:52 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I love the look or Tortorella’s face in the video as this is all going down.

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by Travis Hughes on Apr 21, 2009 1:22 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

It would have been an entirely different game had Callahan not hit the post on a wide-open net. Instead of 2-0 Caps (after they went down and immediately scored), it would have been 1-1.

The Caps were the better team last night, though, by far. They needed and wanted that game.

Shut up when you're talking to me!

by Afino on Apr 21, 2009 7:42 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

and if Ovie’s shot in game two hadn’t hit the cross bar it would have been 1-1.

What happened, happened. What didn’t, didn’t.

by snowburnt on Apr 21, 2009 2:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And Backstrom got his stick on that puck that hit the post. Callahan said it himself in his presser. Give some credit to the defensive effort.

by Fehr and Balanced on Apr 22, 2009 12:07 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Great pic, makes me giggle ervery time i see it; it looks so special

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by IAmJoe on Apr 21, 2009 10:10 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Funny, no mention of Varlamov chopping Avery in the nuts to start the fracas or the illegal cross check from behind by Erskine just prior to it. Just Avery’s jab. No mention of the linesman not even trying to break it up. Just Avery’s jab. Ridiculous.

And Varlamov wasn’t anything special in this game, no matter how loud the announcers yelled. The Rangers didn’t go hard to the net, rarely got rebounds and barely challenged him. And the Blueshirt power play? Ha. Varlamov is no Terry Sawchuk.

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Let's Go Rangers!

by Scotty Hockey on Apr 21, 2009 12:43 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

ahh...

…that’s the kinda of blind poor-us-homerism I’ve come to love about Rangers fans! Avery did not deserve some calls that he got, and got some calls he didnt deserve. But this was a simple post about the last minute antics the entire arena knew was coming, and by that point, was waiting for because it was at least 3 seconds of “fun” they could have. All it did was make Avery look dopey.

Varlamov played very well. He did everything he was supposed to do – he was strong with his glove – he kept rebounds to the outside. He made a few tough saves through traffic and he made a remarkable stop on Naslund late in 3rd period. The NYR power play was bad (as usual), but it still had 4 PPs when the score was 2-0. I agree that the NYR have to raise their game to the level Washington and make life tough for this kid.

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by poploser on Apr 21, 2009 2:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

No mention of Avery using every dirty trick in the book to get a rise out of the Caps either. How many PIM did he have? No mention of this spear either.

If he wasn’t special in this game, I can’t wait for when he is.

by snowburnt on Apr 21, 2009 2:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs