Comments / New

Semyon Varlamov:”When You See a Raging Sea of Red, Your Adrenaline Goes Off the Charts”

While most of the team is resting and recuperating, Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Semyon Varlamov have all flown to Cologne, Germany to play for the Glory of the Motherland (aka Team Russia) in the 2010 IIHF World Championship. Semyon Varlamov’s participation got off to an inauspicious start when his gear bag with all of his equipment was lost by the airline and he wasn’t able to start training immediately. He was soon kitted out in some new gear, however, and Sovetsky Sport’s Pavel Lysenkov was able to talk with him yesterday following a morning practice. At the beginning of the article, Pavel noted that head coach Vyacheslav Bykov had told him that Varly would be starting in the Russia-Belarus game.

***

...Semyon was the last to come in from practice. Team Russia trainer Andrei Nazarov zealously shot at his net and Varlamov worked on his technique.

Were you surprised when you weren’t even included in the lineup in the game against Slovakia? After all you came here nominally as the number one goaltender.

“I’m cool with this” said Varlamov. “The coach put in Koshechkin and he won. That means it was the right decision.”

“I wouldn’t say that the start of the tournament went awry for me because of the loss of my gear bag and my equipment. I just needed more time to prepare. When you suddenly end your season and you don’t practice for a week it’s hard to get back in your groove. But now I feel fantastic.”

Lanxess Arena is just about the largest in Europe. At the Russia- Slovakia game there were almost 18,000 spectators. Do you have the same type of attendance at your home games in Washington? Does this stadium compare to NHL ones?

“There is a difference. I don’t see the same type of fanfare which they have around hockey in America. The players can’t help but notice when the arena is filled with a huge crowd and every fan is in a red shirt, yelling “Let’s Go Caps!” When you see this raging sea of red, your adrenaline goes off the charts.”

“In Germany they yell “Rossiya, Rossiya”. It’s neat when go abroad and see the stands full of fans from your own country. Tell them thanks for their support!”

Washington General Manager George McPhee said that he doesn’t understand why Ovechkin and Semin went to the World Championships after such a difficult season.

“And what did he say about me?”

That for you, on the other hand, it wouldn’t interfere with your practice, and you might gain valuable experience.

“I agree that Ovechkin and Semin are tired. They played a lot of games this season. But it is their decision to go to Germany and play for their country. You have to respect that. It’s great that two stars like that fly off to join the team at the first phone call, despite the obvious overload.”

But in Washington the World Championship is treated with disdain. If you come back to the team with a medal, nobody will have any reaction to it.

“Well, yeah, they don’t really get excited about it in America. But the Canadians have a lot of hype around the World Championship. Their national team is playing there, so therefore the tournament is worthy of their respect. That’s the correct attitude towards it.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
%d bloggers like this: