DCPSR DIALOGUE . . . If the first game was any glimpse of what this series is going to be like, prepare yourself for extremely tight games, nail biting endings, nerves running rampant, and some great hockey. The Caps walked away with a nail biting 3-2 win over the Pens on Saturday, giving the Caps a 1-0 series lead.
Tonight, at the Verizon Center, Game Two gets underway.
Notice that Game One was not all the media cracked it up to be. Yes, both Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin scored, but the game was not dominated by either player. Instead it was secondary scoring for the Caps, Tomas Fleischmann and Dabve Stecel, and superb play in the net by Simeon VarLAmov, that led to the Caps win.
Just what we believed it would be last week when we made a bit of fun at the media love and hype for an overblown Ovechkin/Crosby rilvary. Both of these teams are way too good and deserve the respect of the roster itself than to make this a two player rivalry. It’s that simple. This series will be decided by the teams, not two individual players.
DC Examiner has a similar tone to out little dialogue here.
Don’t expect the Pens to lay down, they may be dismayed, but they are ready to rumble.
Varlamov, remember, it’s VarLAmov . . . And it should be easy to remember, because Simeon (Sim-Yahn) Varlamov (Var LA mov) is now one of the most popular players on the Washington Capitals roster. And rightfully so. I think we here at DCPSR deserve a bit of high fives as well, we have been patiently awaiting and calling on Varly, the once future, and now present, to take hold in DC. He has. Thanks to Bruce Boudreau. And next season, we also call on Michal Neuvirth to back up Varlamov. What an amazing job Neuvirth is doing for Hershey in the Calder Cup playoffs (more on that later).
That being said, Varlamov’s popularity is high in DC.
“Thank you, Varly,” the fans said, over and over, as Varlamov continued
to sign jerseys and hats and hockey cards, only looking up as he slid
through the crowd, stopping when someone wanted a picture. Two months
ago, Varlamov could have walked through the metal gate that separates
the players from the public at Kettler Capitals Iceplex and marched to
his Lexus unscathed. Yesterday, though, he was less than 24 hours
removed from all of Verizon Center chanting a nickname he never had
growing up in the industrial city of Samara, Russia — “Var-ly! Var-ly!”.
The name is unmistakeable and clear. It’s VARLY in DC and even Varly himself is going to have to get used to it. And one thing we have come to learn about Varly, beyond his incredible net minding, is his incredible maturity and poise for a young goalie.
“It’s like a dream come true,” Varlamov said quietly through an
interpreter. “I was playing for the farm club before, and now I’m
really having fun. I’m thinking only about playing here in Washington
and in this league. I’m not thinking about any of the attention or
pressure. I don’t concentrate on that. I’m trying not to see it.”
Little does he know, he is like a dream come true for Caps fans, or at least, a distant dream that has come to fruition. I think many of us die hards envision at least a little bit of this when the kid from Russian was selected in the first round of the 2006 NHL draft. But, I don’t think many of us expected this — this soon.
And through all of the wondering and doubt whether the kid would be able to handle the pressure of the NHL and playoffs this young, Varly credits his Championship run in Russia as the key, a high intense, pressure filled, super league in Russia, where people live and breathe hockey.
“Without this experience, I think I wouldn’t be able to play at this
level here,” Varlamov said yesterday. “It was very important.”
Corey Masisak writes about the best move that was never made. During
the trade deadline, as the Capitals considered various offers to prop
up secondary scoring with a veteran and ads a veteran gritty
defensemen, the offers almost exclusively included demands for Varlamov
via trade. GM George McPhee resisted each and every one.
When the Ducks requested players like Simeon Varlamov, Karl Alzner and
John Carlson in return, it became clear to McPhee a deal wouldn’t
happen.
I remember vividly listening to the cries of Caps fans against McPhee’s
inaction. Even, stunningly, outrageous calls for his ouster. Heck,
there was even some of that when the Caps were down 3 games to 1 to the
Rangers. Yet, McPhee seems to be judged by a judgmental fan base on
the moves he makes, taking into no consideration, the moves he refuses
to make. Trading Varlamov for veteran help was one such move that
earned McPhee little credit. Until now.
When the Ducks requested players like Simeon Varlamov, Karl Alzner and
John Carlson in return, it became clear to McPhee a deal wouldn’t
happen.
The other move McPhee didn’t make was to acquire a depth defenseman.
There were several players on the market who wouldn’t have cost as much
as Pronger or Bouwmeester, but McPhee could not find anyone he liked
more than the players he already had: Alzner and Brian Pothier.Instead of adding someone like Derek Morris or Niclas Havelid,
McPhee made a call to Pothier, who was still recovering from
post-concussion symptoms, about 15 minutes before the 4 p.m. deadline.“[McPhee] said, ‘Would I go to Hershey?’ I just got cleared [to
play], and I said yeah,” Pothier said. “He said we weren’t going to do
anything, and we’d like to get you going and try to get you back in the
lineup. I knew at that point I was hopeful to get close to 10 games in
the regular season and sort of have my own little training camp and
hopefully get into a playoff situation.”
Can
anyone really argue with the level of play Brian Pothier has brought to
the Caps defense. he is certainly better than Jeff Schultz. And
didn’t these Caps just oust Derek Morris and the Rangers? Thought so.
Slam Sports calls it, Varly-Mania. We agree. It is rampant, and it is down right impressive.
The logic of switching to
Varlamov: If the rookie imploded in Game 2, there still was time to
come back from a 2-0 series deficit.“We ultimately felt the kid had played so well, he deserved a look,” McPhee said yesterday.
He would get one, although not everyone was on board.
“I was in favour of us going back
to Theo (in Game 2),” Caps goaltending coach Dave Prior said. “It
wasn’t because of a fear of Varly. It was just that one guy was very
experienced and the other guy, well, you don’t know how he’ll handle
the situation.”Fast forward to the 2009 post-season. Theodore is now on the Caps bench. Huet finds himself in the same position in Chicago.
All the while, the Capitals find themselves leading the high-powered
Penguins 1-0 heading into Game 2 tonight, thanks largely to Varlamov.Varly-mania really is alive and well. For now.
This
can obviously go on for a long time in this article, so instead of
signaling out every article, here are more article on the rise of
VarLAmov.
Globe and Mail, USA Today, Bleacher Report, Canadian Press, Canada.com, PennLive.com
Theodore’s role reversal . . . Good read from the Times. Jose Theodore is taking the benching well, and also looking back to similarities for his break some 20 years ago.
“For sure, it’s frustrating to be watching and recognizing that you
have a good team here, a team that hopes to go deeper in the playoffs,”
Prior said. “But I have to say, he’s had a great attitude and he’s been
very supportive. He’s been in Varly’s shoes. He’s come from the other
side of it. … But it’s important now, whether it’s through injury or
a lack of success on the team’s part, that he’s ready to step in. So
he’s been very focused.”
You can tell Tom Boswell
enjoys writing about a DC team that wins. Come on, you can’t blame
him, he simply doesn’t have the opportunity much. And a point of how
far hockey has come in DC. Articles from Mike Wise, Tom Boswell, and
Michael Wilbon in a span of a week. On hockey. On the Caps.
Unbelievable. Just two years ago, I could not tell you if either of
these guys knew how to spell hockey. Good Bos read though, go check it
out.
Oh and as for the media, just one pointer that I made and wanted to reiterate, NBC sucks. Ok, done.
Evgeni Malkin vows more aggression
tonight. I must admit, I thought Malkin was pretty much take out of
the game by the Caps defense. We’ll see tonight what his response, and
then the Caps response will be.
“Maybe I’ll play a little bit
harder, maybe I’ll have more hits,” he said. “(But) I’m not going to
change my game (significantly).“It’s OK. I just need more shots and must play aggressive.”
Mike Green is concentrating right now on his level of defense rather than his offensive prowess.
Hershey up 2 games to 0 . . . Hershey has taken
a 2 games to 0 lead over the WB/Scranton Pens with a 3-1 win yesterday
in their back to back Friday, Saturday, second round series. The Bears got goals from Oscar Osala, 2008 first round pick John Carlson, and Graham Mink.
BUT, as we all think about how great Varlamov has been, remember,
their is a kid down in Hershey who is going to have a bright future as
well, Michal Neuvirth. Neuvirth stopped 24 of 25 shots to give the
Bears the win. Neuvirth has now stopped 59 of 63 shots in the second
round. Neuvirth is now 6-0 in the AHL playoffs.
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