2010-11 Rink Wrap: Semyon Varlamov
by J.P. on Jun 14, 2011 11:00 AM EDT
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PrintFrom Alzner to Wideman, we're taking a look at and grading (please read the criteria below) the 2010-11 season for every player who laced 'em up for the Caps for a significant number of games during the campaign, with an eye towards 2011-12. Next up, Semyon Varlamov.
Semyon Varlamov
#1 / Goalie / Washington Capitals
6-1
183
Apr 27, 1988
3
$821,667 cap hit in 2010-11; RFA after 2010-11 season
'09-'10 Rink Wrap: 6.41
8.56
Key Stat: Twenty NHL goaltenders played more minutes in 2010-11 than the 3,087 Varlamov has played since becoming a full-time NHLer at the beginning of the 2009-10 season.
Interesting Stat: Varlamov is 5-2-1/1.87/.934 in his career against the Tampa Bay Lightning, including a 2-1-1/1.49/.949 mark in 2010-11... but didn't see a single minute of ice time in the Caps' second round sweep at the hands of the Bolts.
The Good: Coming off a season in which he posted rather pedestrian numbers (including a 2.55 goals against average and .909 save percentage), Varlamov set career bests in both GAA and save percentage, the former of which ranked fourth among NHL goalies who started at least 25 games, while the latter ranked fifth in that group by a few ten-thousandths of a point. The trio of netminders ahead of Varly on both lists? The three Vezina finalists. Not bad. And even when Varlamov wasn't good, he was (with one notable exception) usually good enough to win - while he posted a 1.58 GAA and .946 save percentage in his 11 wins, he had a 2.49 GAA and .919 save percentage in his 13 losses other than The Manhattan Massacre. In fact, throw out that one game and twenty rough minutes in Anaheim and Varlamov had a sizzling 1.94 GAA and .934 save percentage on the campaign.
Varlamov's season peaked at the turn of the calendar year, when, over a four-game span, he rang up a 3-0-1/.988/.969 mark, shutout the Habs, and won the Superbowl Winter Classic. He also seemed to be rounding into form nicely upon returning from injury at the end of the year, posting save percentages of .913, .923 and .939 in his three games leading up to the the regular season's conclusion.
On a couple of historical notes, Varlamov's .924 save percentage in 2010-11 is the highest single-season mark in team history (minimum 15 games played) and has him sitting atop the franchise's all-time ledger in that category (just ahead of teammate Michal Neuvirth; the two rank second and third, respectively, in Caps all-time GAA).
The Bad: My kingdom for a groin. Yet again, Varlamov was hampered by injuries and unable to play anywhere close to a full season's worth of games. In his three seasons in North America, Varlamov has played 33, 29 and 30 regular season games between Washington and Hershey. This year's injuries cost Varlamov his job... and possibly his shot at a big NHL contract.
Beyond the injuries, there's the record - 11 wins and 14 losses - that's mildly concerning, but that should be taken with a shaker of salt, given the sparkling save percentage. Really, "The Bad" starts and ends with Varlamov's durability.
The Vote: Rate Varlamov below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season - if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.
The Discussion: All things considered (Varlamov's health, his leverage vis a vis the KHL, Neuvirth's contract, Braden Holtby's emergence, etc.) what is the maximum deal to which you'd like to see the Caps re-sign their Russian netminder? Should the Caps entertain trading Varlamov this summer? What would it take for Varly to earn a '10' next season?
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Good season statistically for Varly, except in the GP and W columns. He’s certainly capable of playing at an extremely high level and providing quality goaltending for stretches. But his durability and ability to play for extended stretches seem to indicate that he’s going to be an NHL backup before too long.
I voted 4.
Tortorella: Can I get another question? I went in here in a pretty good mood today, too.
Larry Brooks: So did I.
Tortorella: Well, you obviously f***ed that up, didn't you?
It’s hard for me to see him as a backup. When he plays, he plays very well… how do you limit that performance to a second-stringer? I see him as a #1 or #1a… but his team had better have a real solid second option.
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A rich man’s Brent Johnson?
A kitten on fire, a baby in a blender, both sound as sweet as a playoff surrender.
That seems to be my thought for him. Varly is fantastic when he plays, but play him too much and he breaks.
Proud member of the Popsicle Division of the Cupcake Conference.
Johnson’s problems in his career have gone beyond injury issues. He didn’t start getting injury prone until well after he had become a career backup. He struggled with consistency when he was given shots as a starter, or even a backup with a bigger playing load in the past.
Release the Mackan!
by Killer_Carlson on Jun 14, 2011 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions
We could be so lucky for Varly to get healthy enough to test that.
A kitten on fire, a baby in a blender, both sound as sweet as a playoff surrender.
I’ll compare Varly to Brent Johnson when he too breaks another goalie’s face with one punch.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
by skyywise on Jun 14, 2011 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
4
When he played, he played how I would have expected. I didn’t expect him to be out so long he’d lose the starting playoff gig. That was disappointing.
5
Average of 6 for on-ice performance and a 4 for failing to reach the games started part of expectations. The contract will be interesting, I imagine the Caps want to be low on term with dollars somewhere around Neuvy’s.
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Only a six for on-ice performance? Really?
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Did he seem to vastly out-perform what you expected from him? Maybe a little, and the numbers look great, but what we saw was what we knew he had, IMO.
A kitten on fire, a baby in a blender, both sound as sweet as a playoff surrender.
It’s hard for me to recall how I felt at the time, to be honest, but the numbers are fantastic on their own and as compared to his 2009-10 season. His numbers (other than GP and Pts%, which, of course, are both hugely important) are elite.
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Right, but the sample size diminishes from those and I think there’s a lot of interplay between the team’s new defensive style and his numbers. That goes for the good and bad. Wins and Pt% are going to be better last year, but you could surmise that the better D helped his “individual” stats this season.
A kitten on fire, a baby in a blender, both sound as sweet as a playoff surrender.
4
Varly exceeded my expectations statistically, but the injuries bring his rating down quite a bit. I was expecting him to take the starting job this season.
As for a new deal, I’d like to see 2 years, not much above Neuvy’s in terms of dollars. Let Holtby stay in Hershey for those 2 years, with occasional injury call-ups, and make the decision on goalies then.
Matt Bradley: He has sensitive skin, no?
Seems a high rating for level of play. You didn’t expect him to play well? He didn’t do anything that a maturing skilled goalie would have done. He built off previous seasons.
First of all, if you are going to round, round correctly to 92%. Second, he only started 25 games, which is a small sample size and therefore numbers are less impressive. I didn’t expect such a high percentage, but what I did expect was that he would be better than previous seasons as he got more experience and blah blah. He did that.
c’mon, you expected a .930 ESSV%? That’s elite.
First of all, if you are going to round, round correctly to 92%.
His ESSV% was .930. No rounding.
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… which is, in most people’s minds, the best measure of a goaltender’s true talent/ability.
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Hahaha. You couldn’t win on this one. SIGH
"I couldn't bring myself to cheer for Pittsburgh. But since they won, I may as well use it."
--BB, 2009
by nogoodtrying on Jun 15, 2011 7:13 AM EDT up reply actions
Given the sample size, I think his numbers were solidly in the realm of expectations. Now if he had done that over a whole season…..
This is an almost meaningless statement, unless you mean that 25 games is such a small sample that literally any ESSV% would have been “solidly in the realm of expectations.”
As a quant, I’m delighted to see people try to embrace caution around sample size. But we’re not having a discussion on how you project Varly into the future, the discussion is what is your evaluation of his actual performance last year. His actual performance was at an elite rate. Sample size is irrelevant for that discussion. Sample size is relevant to the discussion of whether you think that’s his “true talent” level.
by CarlosLA on Jun 14, 2011 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
3
Expected him to be the starter and stay healthy with better conditioning. He’s still tantalizing when he is in net, but I want to wear my #40 jersey with confidence next season.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
6
Again, injuries are hard to address. I was leaning 5 but his numbers are so good and after the Poti wrap I can’t dock him too much for being hurt, although I did expect him to stay healthier after all that mess about him going to camp early.
A 10 is being able to play 65 games and putting up these kind of numbers over that kind of sample size. A Conn Smythe is probably an automatic 10 as well.
I’d sign him back at anything less than 2.5 (short term), but if someone gives him a 3 million dollar offer sheet it gets tough. He’s not really worth 3, but losing him for less than a first is a gut punch. I think that’s a real smart offer for someone to make, maybe PHX. Ideally he’ll sign for something close to Neuvirth, but I think he’s going to want, and push for, a healthy bit more coin.
A kitten on fire, a baby in a blender, both sound as sweet as a playoff surrender.
Different perspectives. I dropped Poti significantly for the injury. But he was available for far less of the season than Varly was, so I wouldn’t drop Varly that much. But I don’t know how much to zing him for. When he played, it certainly was at least to expectations, maybe better. So I’m thinking a 4, but haven’t decided yet. Of course, it would help me if there wasn’t a bot voting equally on 1-10.
Don’t try to figure Sasha out. Just ride the wave.
6
The on-ice play was great – won/loss record notwithstanding. It was the durability, again. If it’s frustrating to us I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to him.
Part of me wonders if his on-ice play is so dominant because he plays so little – and as a result doesn’t play many long stretches without a lot of rest. I would love for him to stay healthy long enough to find out.
I agree with F&B above in regards to signing him. It would really hurt to lose a guy this talented for little to nothing in return. Fortunately we do have Neuvy and Holtby to lessen the blow. But it would still suck.
by BradleyFightingVehicle on Jun 14, 2011 11:43 AM EDT reply actions
3
25 starts is abysmal. High level of play, but if he’s only good for a couple dozen starts then he’s not worth much money nor a roster spot.
I think GMGM holds the line at a cheap 1 or 2 year deal and accepts the KHL risk, or at least that’s what I’d do.
That he was a First rounder is a sunk cost at this point. The lesson one should draw from this is don’t draft goalies with early picks, but I don’t think GMGM has gotten that memo. Maybe the examples of Rinne, Thomas, Niemi etc. will sink in.
should the caps entertain trading him this summer?
You need a trading partner. Who is going to offer anything of any meaning for a player who can’t stay healthy in a position most of the NHL has realized isn’t worth paying much (given the suppy of talent relative to the demand)?
25 starts is abysmal. High level of play, but if he’s only good for a couple dozen starts then he’s not worth much money nor a roster spot.
25 starts is a decent number of GP for a backup goalie, do you think a backup isn’t worth much money or a roster spot? Varly is going to be cheap, I don’t think he will make more money than is acceptable for a backup. Not that I think he should be the backup when he’s healthy but that’s another argument.
I think 25 starts for a backup goalie is great, if you knew that you could use him throughout the season for those 25 starts.
But with him, you can’t. He was injured for long stretches, so there was never a time when you could say, “I’ll play him every fourth game”. That’s a backup goalie in the NHL.
Bingo.
Plus 25 games for a backup isn’t great, and I’m not convinced it’s decent, which was the claim. only 15 goalies started 57 games or more last year, so half the teams needed more than 25 starts from their backups.
The lesson one should draw from this is don’t draft goalies with early picks
And don’t draft forwards, either? Drafting goalies in the first is very risky, but the injury risk is present at any position. Varly has NHL-talent. Many early-pick goalies do not.
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If I reference a lot of stats, just assume I haven't seen anything to contradict or invalidate them.
by red army line on Jun 15, 2011 10:08 AM EDT up reply actions
I think all the early-pick goalies have NHL talent, they just don’t have NHL focus/mental talent. I think goalies are so volatile and unpredictable that you shouldn’t be using a first on them. It’s different from injuries.
A kitten on fire, a baby in a blender, both sound as sweet as a playoff surrender.
I see that, just disagreed that Varly specifically is more evidence to the “don’t draft goalies early” theory.
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If I reference a lot of stats, just assume I haven't seen anything to contradict or invalidate them.
by red army line on Jun 15, 2011 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions
I wouldn’t use him as my best example, but I do agree with the conclusion.
A kitten on fire, a baby in a blender, both sound as sweet as a playoff surrender.
In what way? I see this as a case of “avoid guys with durability issues” rather than “avoid goalies”
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If I reference a lot of stats, just assume I haven't seen anything to contradict or invalidate them.
by red army line on Jun 15, 2011 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Goalies are too unpredictable to take in the first. Too many cases of first round goalies not panning out, it’s not worth the risk when you have so many talented skaters that are easier to predict.
Of course people want to avoid durability problems, but how do you do that ex ante?
A kitten on fire, a baby in a blender, both sound as sweet as a playoff surrender.
Got nothing to do with injuries.
Don’t draft goalies in the first round b/c supply vastly exceeds demand of decent enough goalies and goalie talent at the NHL level isn’t nearly as variable as goal scoring talent.
Draft players you believe are goal scorer’s in the first round. That’s the rarest talent that is the most highly concentrated in a relatively small segment of players even at the NHL level.
I wouldn’t just say goal scorers, but for the most part I’m 100% with you. Stud D aren’t goal scorers, but are extremely valuable and if you can get them in the draft they’ll be much cheaper than trying to find them on FA.
A kitten on fire, a baby in a blender, both sound as sweet as a playoff surrender.
4
Below expectations. I was/am decidedly in the Varly camp IF HEALTHY. He wasn’t healthy, and gets dinged a bit for that. More importantly, he WAS healthy (in theory) at the end of the season but still didn’t get the nod for the playoffs. So, below expectations.
The Discussion: All things considered (Varlamov’s health, his leverage vis a vis the KHL, Neuvirth’s contract, Braden Holtby’s emergence, etc.) what is the maximum deal to which you’d like to see the Caps re-sign their Russian netminder? Should the Caps entertain trading Varlamov this summer? What would it take for Varly to earn a ‘10’ next season?
It’s really hard for me to say what his max deal is. If we go at all long-term, I think the dollars have to be low due to his fragility thus far in his career. So for 3+ years, I don’t want a cap hit of over 1.5. For a 1 or 2 year deal, I could go a little higher. And really, with his injury history, they probably shouldn’t be giving him a 3+ year contract anyway. So I guess the most I would offer is 2 years at 4 mil.
Even thought I like him better than Neuvy as a goalie (my personal Depth Chart would be Varly/Holtby/Neuvy in a healthy vaccuum), I think they should entertain trading him, though I don’t think they can get value for him right now. I think it would be best if either Neuvy or Varly is gone by the trade deadline and a veteran is brought in to back up the last man standing, with Holtby spending the vast majority of his time in Chocolatetown.
To earn a 10 next year, very similar to F&B above: grab the starting job and don’t let it go, play 60+ games, maintain “top 5” numbers in the league while doing so. Maintain that level in the playoffs. And regardless of regular season, Conn Smythe = automatic 10. that probably goes for every player on the team.
so you’re holding it against Varly that he was healthy at the end of the season but the coaches went with Neuvy? How was that his fault when he worked himself back into shape and was ready to go at the end of the season? I think he lost the starting position due to his injuries, which is fair to ding him for, but not some coaches’ decision.
that’s a fair point, I probably shouldn’t hold it against him that he came out on the wrong end of a coaches decision. I do hold it against him, however, that I agreed with that decision despite being an admitted fanboy of Varly. That does not mesh with my expectations for him going into the season.
5
I thought going into the season he would be elite on ice but could he stay on ice.
8 for on ice performance
3 for durability
to paraphrase “he was who we thought he was”
7
I don’t really think it’s fair to factor in injuries when judging a player. I think the scores should be based on how they played when they played
That being said, I figured Varly’s #’s would come down eventually but I was pleasantly surprised that he did well yet again.
Interesting to see the votes spread out very egalitarian-ly.
I voted 4, because of injuries and the way they affected his ability to meaningfully help the team.
It would have been sweet to see Varly take the No. 1, because he is really great to watch in net.
4
Varly was 5 and 9 against playoff teams this year (including overtime losses) with an .899 sv% in those 14 decisions.
I root harder for the doomed.
4
When he played, he met expectations. His injuries are becoming more of a concern and disappointing since he arrived early last season to work on strength and conditioning.
(Yes, I know about the avatar hounding - just pretend mine is invisible.)
Actually Varly played 30 games this year, 27 NHL and 3 in Hershey. For some reason his 3 Hershey games aren’t on hockey-reference. or nhl.com but here is a link to the AHL page. I think Varly was physically capable of playing more than 30 games, he was on the bench at times to let Neuvy play, not always because he was injured. He has not shown yet that he can handle a starter’s load of games.
I’m uncertain what rating to give Varly. but I guess I’ll go with a 6. I was hoping that he would experience less injuries after he came early at the start of the season to work out. I thought he improved him play this season compared to last season. He only really had two bad games that I can recall (the Rangers debacle none of the team showed up for, and being pulled against the Ducks). I was impressed with his stats, I actually thought he should of had the start in the playoffs. I’m not going to hold it against him in the rating because he didn’t get the start, I thought he should of played at least one game in the playoffs (the last one) if not more. Another plus for Varly is that he showed up big time on the big stage of the Winter Classic. It would of been interesting to see if he could of done the same in the playoffs this year.
I want the Caps to resign Varly and Neuvy and do the tandem for another season and leave Holtby in Hershey until he is needed an injury replacement.
argh! I try not to act as a grammar / spelling enforcer, but I can’t ignore this any longer. As a fellow VTCapsFan, we’ve got to work on this habit of yours:
I was impressed with his stats, I actually thought heshould of(“should’ve” or “should have”) had the start in the playoffs. I’m not going to hold it against him in the rating because he didn’t get the start, I thought heshould of(“should’ve” or “should have”) played at least one game in the playoffs (the last one) if not more. Another plus for Varly is that he showed up big time on the big stage of the Winter Classic. Itwould of(“would’ve” or “would have”) been interesting to see if he could of done the same in the playoffs this year.
I have actually been working on this particular weakness lately when I write in Word because Word points out my failures. Sadly, I am not so anal that I type all my posts for Japers in Word first before posting here so you get to read my bad grammar. I consider it a victory when my post has no typos or misspellings. But you are right, we should always aspire to improve ourselves. I probably just used bad grammar in that sentence too so write me off in this area. To defend VT, I will point out that I took zero English classes there because my only degree from VT was a masters in statistics, so they do not deserve any blame.
So do you have any thoughts on Varly from my post, VT Grammar police? You confused me above because you were harsh on Varly but claimed to be a huge fan but thought he didn’t deserve to be the starter. Why?
For the most part I agree with what you said. Based purely on stats, he gets a 6 from me, because my expectations were pretty high. And if he had put up those kind of stats while playing a lot of games, he would’ve gotten an even higher rating…I think the small sample size makes it easier to upwardly inflate numbers (see Holtby, Braden). However, part of my expectations were for him to solidify his hold on the #1 job, be the man in the playoffs, and improve his conditioning / endurance so as not to miss so many games with injury. Major fail on all counts, hence the overall vote of 4.
Regarding my thoughts that he didn’t deserve to be the starter in the playoffs, it comes down to his record and my gut feeling, really. Despite the fact that he and Neuvy had nearly identical stats down the stretch, I felt like more often than not varly gave up early / soft goals, which allowed the other team to go into a defensive shell. Whatever the reason, the team did NOT give him any offensive support and his W/L record was significantly worse as a result. I’m a fan of “gut feelings”, and my gut said Neuvy would give us a better chance of winning playoff games, in large part because he seemed to do a better job this season of making the “timely save” that I felt we often didn’t get from Varly.
Interesting tidbit, from a fanpost I wrote on this topic: Varly was the victim of a shutout by the opposing team in 6 of his last 20 full games.
See I had opposite gut feelings from you. I thought Neuvy looked like a poo poo platter of crap in his last games before the playoffs, very mentally weak. There was one game where I was sure he would be pulled after letting in two goals early, he sucked so bad, and thought the only thing saving him was the fact he was already picked as the playoff starter. I feel that Neuvy had more of a tendency to let in weak goals, or at least he was doing that at the end of the season and in the playoffs. I am quite curious to see the result of F&B soft goals analysis the next season if the Caps keep Neuvy and Varly. Actually I would love for him to go back and do it for all of this season but I realize he has a life.
I saw your post at the time but it was dated March 30 and left off the last few games. I was looking at the games until the end of the regular season to judge Neuvy and Varly, probably because I ended up going to a fair number of those in person (I sit behind the caps bench about 15 rows up and watch both goalies) and I thought it was the most relevant to the playoffs, but maybe not. I was happy that Neuvy seemed to rebound some mentally the last game of the season and in the beginning of the playoffs but didn’t understand why he’d be so mentally weak when he was just picked as the starter.
Looking at their last few games played going into the playoffs, starting from when Varly came back from his knee surgery:
Varly
3/25 Ottawa .913 sv% L
3/29 Carolina .923 sv% OT L
4/6 Florida .939 sv% W
Neuvy during the same time period
3/22 Philly .879 sv% W
3/31 CBJ .870 sv% W
4/2 Buffalo .895 sv% W
4/5 Toronto .905 sv% W
4/9 Florida .957 sv% L
Varly played 30 games this year, 27 NHL and 3 in Hershey
Thx – corrected.
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JP, the ahl.com link that I provided has the aggregate stats for those 3 games this season in Hershey if you care to update your table above. They are not impressive though, Varly played those games in November after coming off the preseason injury. 3.36 GAA and 0.855 sv% in 3 GP. He was recalled in a hurry after playing those 3 games to backup Holtby against the Devils on 11/22 due to a Neuvy lower body tweak (Holtby was killed 0-5 but they left him in because Varly had just played 3 games with his wonky groin). Varly was quite impressive though his next several games for the Caps so perhaps the less than stellar stats in Hershey were a function of Bears’s play combined with him shaking off the rust. His next four games played were all wins:
11/24 Car .938 sv%
11/26 TB 1.00 sv%
11/28 Car .929 sv%
12/1 St. Louis .974 sv%
Thanks. I’m going to leave the table as-is – those were rehab starts, not merit-based demotions and such.
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4
He played pretty well when he was in there and the statistics were good when he was in there. That said, his Win-Loss record was a losing record (11-14). When push comes to shove, you have to win games, and Varly didn’t. Sure he had some nights when the team let him down, but that’s not going to account for all of it.
The injuries didn’t help him with the expectations either. He lost a boatload of games due to injury.
As for next season.. we’ll see if he’s here. I have a feeling there will be a team in the KHL that might toss Varly a $14M 4 year deal… if they do, the Caps should just let him go. He should not be making more than the team’s starting goaltender and should be paid (right now) as if he were the back up (he is).
To get a 10 here next year, he’d have to beat Neuvy out of the starting job (which, if he wants to be the starter, he will have to do, playing as well as Neuvy means Neuvy keeps the job) and he would have to post a record that is well over .500, possibly getting 30+ wins.
Winnipeg? Winnipeg??? Oy...
When push comes to shove, you have to win games, and Varly didn’t. Sure he had some nights when the team let him down, but that’s not going to account for all of it.
It’s his fault his team didn’t score?
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If I reference a lot of stats, just assume I haven't seen anything to contradict or invalidate them.
by red army line on Jun 15, 2011 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions
3
While I have come to expect Varly missing some time due to injury, the season hadn’t even started an he was hurt. He played very well, but was relegated to backup (fairly or not) because he is so effing brittle. The expectation was that he would seize the number 1 job and play well. He played well, but since he only made 27 starts instead of 55+, he didn’t meet expectations.
To earn a 10 next season, he has to play as well as he did this year, but for those 55+ starts. And he has to be the man in the playoffs. The 10 becomes a -10 if he does all that but for another team.
can you please explain how you realistically expected Varly to start 55+ games when he played 33 and 29 regular season games in the previous two seasons? His 30 GP was right in line with his past seasons. Sure, I think we would of all liked to see Varly that healthy, and it was hopeful to hear that he came early to work out before the season, but that seems like a large jump in the number of games played.
The 55+ games was the expectation based on how the Caps have historically used their starting and backup goalies. In ‘05-’06, Olie Kolzig started in 57 games. In ‘06-’07, he started 53 games. In ‘07-’08 he started in 52 games, although Huet came on and started almost every game down the stretch that year. In ‘08-’09, Theodore started 55 games. Granted, I just guessed at the number 55 when I said it, but looking back at the games started stats for the past few seasons 55 starts is a very reasonable expectation of the number of starts for the Caps #1 netminder to make during a season.
If I were Varly I would be mad as hell I didn’t at least get a shot against Tampa. We rolled multiple goalies all season and then suddenly changed to a single netminder in the playoffs. I didn’t understand when B.B. did it to Theo and I didn’t understand it this season.
It wouldn’t of changed a thing in relation to skill between the pipes, but it might of sparked the team in front and given Tampa something new to think about.
7
He actually played a lot better than I thought he would….when he was healthy and that was the biggest gripe I had with him this season.
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He could have played against...
Tampa, yes? He was healthy. So why didn’t Boudreau play him? What, he didn’t want to
mess with our mojo when we were down 0-3? I think the coach botched the goalie situation in playoffs both last year and this. Played Varly too much last year (Caps went on a HUGE second-half run in regular season with Theodore, who was 30-7, and he hardly got on the ice in the playoffs)—and then not enough this year.
I am actually in favor of a goalie rotations in the playoffs in the Caps situation but that doesn’t seem popular. Neuvy and Varly were a tandem all year and it worked, why change that in the playoffs? Although I know Irbe was strongly for selecting one goalie to be the man in the playoffs. I wasn’t impressed with Game 3 in either series for Neuvy, and thought we would see Varly for Game 4 against Tampa. I wanted Varly to start in the first place because he was healthy, and while healthy, he’s better. I am not sure what the magic number is though for Varly as far as how many playoffs games in a row he can play without wearing down like he did against Pittsburgh a couple years back.
by vtcapsfan99 on Jun 14, 2011 4:21 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
When was the last time there was a goalie rotation in the playoffs? The last I can think of is the Rangers in 91-92. They lost in the second round.
I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but it would be looked at as revolutionary, and most NHL coaches don’t do revolutionary things.
It’s also a new era. The goaltending depth is greater than it’s ever been. ANA and CAR both used two goalies going to the Cup (though only ANA had two goalies play well).
A kitten on fire, a baby in a blender, both sound as sweet as a playoff surrender.
With Carolina, once Ward was in, he was in for the long haul. And Anaheim’s goalie rotation was due to injury.
But Bryz was awesome, and they let Giggy heal for longer than he needed (IIRC) because of how Bryz was playing.
EDM also had the injury rotation in the finals.
A kitten on fire, a baby in a blender, both sound as sweet as a playoff surrender.
I guess what I’m saying is a true rotation would be something that the coach planned before the playoffs started. “A is going to start games 1 and 2, B is going to start 3, A is going to start 4 and 5…” etc. Or “A is going to start until he loses.”
I don’t think any coach would do that, because who wants to sit a goalie who just had a great game — even if it was a loss? I actually agree with you in theory (and I probably would have put Varly into game 2 or 3 against Tampa), but I can never see it happening except if there’s an injury.
Lacking specific evidence to the contrary, I shall blame this on Chemmy and Two Line Pass.
by CapitalCentre on Jun 14, 2011 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions
VAN is playing a goalie rotation of sorts in the SCF. ’-)
by CarlosLA on Jun 14, 2011 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
And I think the “revolutionary” aspect of it is important. NFL coaches should go for it on 4th down much more often. They don’t because they are risk averse. I think NHL coaches are largely superstitious, especially with their goalies.
A kitten on fire, a baby in a blender, both sound as sweet as a playoff surrender.
Right. There are a lot of things that coaches in all sports should do, but they don’t. You can almost excuse NFL coaches because of the short season and one game means so much. But with other sports, you don’t have that as much.
Who was the first coach to have 5 forwards out there on the power play?
This is the most I have seen the vote spread out.
In Soviet Russia you don't score goal, goal score you.
I voted 4. I figured he’d be banged up, just thought he’d be a bit healthier. I thought coming into the season he’d put up near-elite numbers at ES, but not on the PK, so he gets +1 for a solid PKsv% (and hence solid overall sv%). It would’ve been +2, but then I saw the “weak goals” tally. I gave 1 for not starting in the playoffs-something about him must’ve not been good enough for the coaches to trust him down the stretch and into the postseason, even if he may be the better of the two goalies.
Red Line Station and @RedArmyLine, featuring coverage of the most frustrating team in the NHL
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If I reference a lot of stats, just assume I haven't seen anything to contradict or invalidate them.
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