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.Nice praise from a guy who should know.
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]
H/t to Kukla's Korner on the tip.
6 comments:
That is fuckin awesome.
Now JP, please don't tell me you have similar praise about Oulette hidden away somewhere. That would just kill me.
Suh-weet!
Oh man, just realized his name is Semen.
With him and Semin on the Caps, fans and outsiders will be relentless!
Huh? So? I mean, presumably the NHL has some fans who aren't 12. And presumably we're all older than that too.
Except he's going by Simeon (because that's much, much closer to how it's pronounced) so far in all of his dealings with the Caps. I'd expect it to look that way on all of the official rosters.
So the question now is if Varlamov is this good does it affect how long you sign someone like Huet? By all acounts, Huet is going to want at least a four year deal. If Varlamov is ready to become a starter in three years, do you then have to sit him for two years as a backup? And what will that do his developmnt? I know young goalies are a crap shoot, but if this kid is as good as advertised, it's got to be a consideration for McPhee. Look at what Fleury did in just his third year.
How many early 20s-year olds are ready to start in the NHL? Very, very few. And the preferred way to break in a kid is gradually. Re-signing Huet to a three-year deal does that.
Re: Huet and four years... All accounts have him wanting four? I haven't read anything from him/his camp about what he wants, but I'd love to read it. So if you have a link...
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