Holtby or Varlamov?
By Rodger M. Wood
Whether they realize it or not, the Capitals are blessed with an unusual goalie dilemma.They have three good young goalies but still need to decide which, Braden Holtby or Semyon Varlamov, they will keep up with the big club to share goaltending with Michal Neuvirth in the playoffs?Called up to the Bell Centre in emergency last Sunday, rookie goalie Braden Holtby, looking like a pit bull guarding his turf, stopped 18 shots to shutout Montreal 2-0.At the Verizon Center Tuesday, with veteran superstars Alex Ovechkin and Jason Arnott back in the lineup, Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 of 26 shots in regulation and overtime, but missing Hurricanes Jeff Skinner and Tuomu Ruutu’s shots lost 3-2 to Carolina in the overtime shootout.He looked bad on Jeff Skinner’s goal which tied the game 2-2 at the 1:46 mark of the third period.A free agent at the end at the end this season, Varlamov has indicated he is open to both Kontinental League and Caps offers this Summer.In his first 14 NHL games this season, Holtby has a goal against average of 1.79, 10 wins, 2 losses, 2 shutouts, and 934 save %.He was named the NHL First Star of the Week ending March 13th for his 4-0-0 W-L record, 1.05 GAA, 965 SV %, and shutout against Edmonton.In 26 GPI, Varlamov has a GAA of 2.24, 10 wins, 9 losses, 2 shutouts, and a 923 Save %.Injury prone, Varlie missed 15 games between October 21st and November 24th, and 14 games, between February 20 to March 25th.Holtby is durable, playing in 23 games at Hershey and 14 for the Caps, a total of 37 this season.So far the Caps are sticking with Varlamov, having sent Holtby back to Hershey March 27th, but if Varlamov falters, the jury’s still out. Hershey is only about two hours from Washington. DC, and the rookie goaltender can always be called back.
Capitalpowerplay.com images by PhotoByThom.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Hershey Bears: Jared DeMichiel Sports A New Mask
The Hershey Bears acquired Jared DeMichiel earlier this year. See more about him at The Hockey Chronicles.More from Blog.PennLive.com
Hot Canadien Goalie Stops Caps 4-1 in Game 6
By Rodger M. WoodI thought I was dreaming tonight. I saw Montreal greats, Patrick Roy, Ken Dryden, and Jacque Plante, all in goal tonight for the Canadiens stopping the 52 shots the Caps put on net.The Caps went down 2-0 early in the first period at the Bell Center. The Canadiens then weathered three periods of Caps’ horrific offensive pressure, at one point in second period, killing a 1 minute 15 second 5 on 3 penalty.The Canadiens scored midway through the third period to go ahead 3-0, just moments before Eric Fehr scored the lone Caps goal making the score 3-1.Montreal scored an empty net goal in the last seconds of the game to make the final score 4-1 and bring the do or die seventh game back to the Verizon Center Wednesday.On a positive note, the Caps played their hearts out, they were snake bit by a hot goaltender, but scored late, maybe giving them some momentum and a better feeling about their chances in game 7 at home.Only time will tell. I’ve seen all of the great NHL goaltenders play, and tonight, Montreal goalie, Jaroslav Halak looked just as good, but then maybe Alex O. can find out how the Montreal goaltender settled his nerves after Game 3 and change the formula.
Do The Caps Have A Goalie Controversy?
By ThomJust eight minutes into game, the Capitals found themselves dominating the Canadians, but strangely with a two goal deficit on two Habs shots. Both shots went glove side with nary a reaction from Caps goalie Jose Theodore. Fraught with the risk of losing the teams motivation and confidence, coach Boudreau made the change and in went Semyon Varlamov in a delayed repeat of last season's first round against the New York Rangers. The move last year sparked the Caps and allowed a hard fought series win, but will Boudreau mirror last year's change and keep Varly in the crease for the duration of the playoffs or was yesterday's move only temporary? Are this years circumstances different?
Clearly, something was afoul for Jose Theodore in last nights first eight minutes. In game one, he appeared to be right on with fluid saves and a resilience or groove that had thrilled the Capitals fans throughout the regular season. That is up until the overtime game winner by Tomas Plekanec. Last nights game made it three goals in the last three shots against Theo and arguably three that could have been stoppers. Was it nerves? Who knows, but Theo's season may give him a pass for last night and see him in the nets again tomorrow night. Varley was good last night, but still hasn't blossomed into last seasons playoff form. What do you think? A goalie controversy or a temporary setback for Theo?Capitalpowerplay.com images by PhotoByThom.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Don’t Take The Montreal Canadiens Lightly! (or Better Yet, Don’t Count Your Chickens Until They Hatch)
By Rodger Wood
I don’t want to jinx our Capitals but they’re heavy favorites going into their first preliminary Stanley Cup playoff series against the eight seeded Montreal Canadiens tomorrow at the Verizon Center.Why not? They won the President’s Trophy with the best overall record in the NHL this season, finishing 33 points ahead of the Canadiens in the final standings.They scored 103 more goals than the Canadiens and lost only 15 games in regulation during the regular season.The Caps had an awesome offense and balanced scoring getting 20-goals from 8 different forwards and a good share more from their defense too.During the regular season series, the Caps beat the Canadiens twice, lost a game in regulation and won one in overtime.
But anything can happen in the Stanley Cups Playoffs. There is always an upset in the first series. Montreal is a hellacious place to try to win a hockey game and the home team has the 2nd best power play (next to Washington) in the league.The Caps cannot take any stupid penalties, need strong goaltending from Jose Theodore and/or Semyon Varlamov, and need to come out of the gate the first period on the run. They must finish their checks and Alex O. must continue to play the game with abandon.While the Washington Post, and USA Today and other hockey soothsayers predict a Capitals series win in 5 or 6 games, I think you have to take one game at a time and think about the next series, only after you have won four games.As an old hockey philosopher once said, “You don’t pack the equipment bag before the game is over and you don’t start celebrating until the buzzer rings and your team is ahead. And as his contemporary, the old farmer said, “You don’t count your chickens until they hatch!
Flashback Friday: Ollie The Goalie in 2006
Flashing back to March 4th in 2006, fan favorite Ollie Kolzig takes a break at the bench during an away game at the Atlanta Thrashers Phillips Arena.I personally loved his masks, but surprisingly some didn't.Check out more about Ollie here and about "Athletes Against Autism" which he founded with Scott Mellanby and Byron DeFoe.Capitalpowerplay.com images by PhotoByThom.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.