Eurohockey.net has an interview with Finnish goalie coach Jukka Ropponen, who has tutored the likes of Kari Lehtonen, Niklas Backstrom and others. It's a great read, and of particular interest to Caps fans will be this passage:
Q: Have you followed the recent paths of Semen Varlamov? He seemed to really gain from the experience of being trained by a Finn trainer.
A: I was invited to work with Varlamov and other 2 goalies at Loko’s camp last summer, so I am very familiar with Varlamov’s path. We actually had discussions about additional consulting during the season, but that dried out once the club did let coach Gardner go. In my opinion Semen Varlamov is the most talented young goalie I have seen in many years. He has potential to be a real NHL star in the future. He is also technically amazingly sound and some of the difficult moves are just natural for him. I am sure that it was very beneficial for Semen to have Jussi Parkkila coaching him during the last season. Parkkila is a good coach and he has done wonders with several young Finnish prospects. [Emphasis added]
Nice praise from a guy who should know.
H/t to Kukla's Korner on the tip.