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Semyon Varlamov
Semyon Varlamov
Avalanche - Goaltender
NUMBER: 1
HEIGHT: 6' 2"
WEIGHT: 209
CATCHES: Left
BIRTHDATE: 04/27/1988
AGE: 25
BIRTHPLACE: Samara, RUS
DRAFTED: WSH: 2006-23 overall
Traded to Colorado by Washington for Colorado's 1st round choice (Filip Forsberg) in 2012 Entry Draft and Boston's 2nd round choice (previously acquired, later traded to Dallas Dallas selected Mike Winther) in 2012 Entry Draft, July 1, 2011.
2011-12 SEASON
Set career highs in games (53), starts (52), wins (26) and shutouts (4) in his first season with the Avalanche… All four of his shutouts came on the road, tying a franchise record for road shutouts in a single season (Patrick Roy 2001-02)…Varly’s four road shutouts tied Johan Hedberg and Tim Thomas for the league high…Fashioned a 26-24-3 record with a 2.59 goals against average and .913 save percentage…Finished a league-best 8-0 in shootouts, allowing just two goals on 24 attempts (.917 Sv%)…His .917 shootout save percentage also led all NHL goaltenders and was the second-highest in history (.938 by Mathieu Garon in 2007-08)…Was only the third goaltender in shootout history to finish 8-0 or better in a single season, joining Garon (10-0 in 2007-08) and Jonathan Quick (10-0 in 2010-11)…Varlamov ended the season by going 11-6-1 in his last 18 starts with a 1.88 goals-against average, .938 save percentage and two shutouts…Only Cory Schneider (.953%) and Mike Smith (.939%) had higher save percentages during that stretch and only Schneider (1.42) and Ilya Bryzgalov (1.76) had a lower GAA…Over his final 21 appearances, Varly fashioned a 12-8-1 record, 1.97 GAA and .934 Sv%…Stopped all 30 shots in a 1-0 victory at Boston on Oct. 10, becoming the first Avs goaltender to post a 1-0 shutout on the road since Roy on Feb. 6, 2003 at Detroit…Set a career high with 41 saves on Feb. 11 at St. Louis and matched that with another 41-save effort on March 17 at NY Rangers…Made his only relief appearance of the season on Feb. 15 at Vancouver…Had back-toback road shutouts, Feb. 24 at Columbus and March 4 at Minnesota, equaling a franchise record…Fashioned a personal-best shutout streak of 129:23 from March 1-6…It was Varlamov’s third different scoreless streak of over 100 minutes during the 2011-12  season…Appeared in his 100th NHL game on March 6 vs. Minnesota…Won five consecutive starts, March 10-20, equaling the longest single-season winning streak of his NHL career…Started a career-high eight consecutive games from March 17-April 5…Following the season, Varlamov backstopped Russia to the gold medal at the 2012 IIHF World Championship in Helsinki and Stockholm…Went 8-0 with a 1.77 GAA and .939 Sv% in eight appearances at the tournament…His eight victories and .939 save percentage led all goaltenders.

CAREER
2010-11: Finished fourth in the NHL in goals-against average (2.23) and ranked sixth in save percentage (.924) while appearing in 27 games with the Washington Capitals…Only the three Vezina Trophy finalists, Boston’s Tim Thomas (2.00), Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo (2.11) and Nashville’s Pekka Rinne (2.12) had a lower GAA…Varlamov’s .924 save percentage broke the Capitals’ single-season franchise record of .920 set by Olaf Kolzig in 1997-98…His 2.23 GAA was the third-lowest in Capitals history, behind only Jim Carey (2.13) in 1994-95 and Kolzig (2.20) in 1997-98…Fashioned a 1.92 GAA in 14 appearances at home…Missed 12 games due to injury…Appeared in three games for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League during a rehab stint in November…Switched jersey number to No. 1 prior to the season (had been No. 40)…Departed Washington as the franchise’s all-time leader in career save percentage at .917 (based on a minimum of 3,000 minutes played)…His 2.39 career GAA is second behind Carey’s 2.37.

2010-11 PLAYOFFS: Did not see any action during the 2011 postseason, dressing as the backup in all nine games.

2009-10: Spent the bulk of his rookie NHL season in Washington, ranking second on the team in games played (26) and wins (15)…Led the Capitals in goals-against average (2.55) and shutouts (2)…Finished third among NHL rookie goaltenders in GAA and save percentage (.909), and was fifth in appearances and victories…Started 14 of the first 30 games…Stopped 25 shots for his first career regularseason shutout, 2-0, on Nov. 25 vs. Buffalo…Got his second shutout four starts later on Dec. 7 at Tampa Bay (26 saves)…Missed 30 games due to injury, some of which was spent with Hershey (AHL)…Made three starts for the Bears, going 3-0.

2009-10 PLAYOFFS: Played Games 2-7 of the first round series against Montreal, winning each of his first three starts…Finished with a 3-3 record, 2.41 GAA and .908 Sv% in six games (five starts) during the postseason…Stopped 36 shots in a 6-3 win at Montreal in Game 4 on April 21.

2008-09: Split the season between Washington and Hershey…Was recalled four times by the Capitals…Became the first Caps goalie to win his first three NHL starts since Jim Carey, who won his first four in 1994-95…Made his NHL debut and earned his first career win on Dec. 13 at Montreal, stopping 31-of-32 shots…Became the youngest Russian-born goalie to start in the NHL and the first goalie to win his NHL debut at Montreal in more than 30 years (since Hardy Astrom of the NY Rangers on Feb. 25, 1978)…Finished the regular season without a regulation loss in five starts for the Capitals (4-0- 1)…Went 19-7-1 with Hershey, posting a 2.40 GAA, .916 Sv% and two shutouts.

2008-09 PLAYOFFS: Started 13 of Washington’s 14 playoff games…Compiled a 7-6 record with a 2.53 GAA, .918 Sv% and two shutouts…Finished tied for first in the league in playoff shutouts, was fifth in both save percentage and wins (tied), and ranked sixth in goals-against average…Made his NHL playoff debut as the starter for Game 2 of the ECQF vs. NY Rangers, stopping 24-of-25 shots in a 1-0 loss…Turned aside all 33 shots he faced for his first career playoff win and shutout in Game 3 at New York on April 20…Became just the fourth goaltender in NHL history to record a playoff shutout before his 21st birthday, joining Harry Lumley, Patrick Roy and Carey Price…Also blanked the Rangers in Game 5 at home on April 24 (20 saves), becoming the second Caps goalie in franchise history to post two shutouts in one series (Olaf Kolzig 1998)…Allowed only seven goals in six games against the Rangers, as Washington erased a 3-1 series deficit to win in seven games…Beat Pittsburgh in Games 1 and 2 of the conference semifinals, becoming the first Caps goalie to win five straight playoff games…Made 33 or more saves in five of the seven games against the Penguins.

2007-08: Played 44 games a the top goaltender for Yaroslavl in the Russian Super League…Led Yaroslavl to the championship round of the playoffs…Posted five shutouts in 16 playoff games and finished with a 1.62 GAA during the postseason.

2006-07: Appeared in 31 games for Yaroslavl during his first season in the Russian Super League, posting a 15-7-6 record with a 2.12 GAA and three shutouts.

2005-06: Posted eight shutouts in 33 games during his second season with Yaroslavl’s junior team…Allowed only 60 goals in 1,782 minutes for a 2.02 GAA.

2004-05: Made his debut with Yaroslav’s junior team…Appeared in eight games, posting 1.90 GAA.

INTERNATIONAL
Backstopped Russia to the gold medal at the 2012 IIHF World Championship in Helsinki and Stockholm…Went 8-0 with a 1.77 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in eight appearances at the tournament…His eight victories and .939 save percentage led all goaltenders…Helped Russia to a silver medal at the 2010 IIHF World Championship in Germany…Started five of Russia’s nine games at the tournament, including the gold medal match in which he stopped 23-of-25 shots in a 2-1 loss to the Czech Republic…Finished second among all goaltenders in both goals-against average (1.41) and save percentage (.951) while posting a 4-1 record at the event…Was named to the 2010 Russian Olympic team as the third goaltender but did not see action in the tournament…Represented his country at two IIHF World Junior Championships, helping Russia to the silver medal in both 2006 and 2007…Posted a 5-1-0 record at the 2007 World Juniors in Sweden, falling to Canada 4-2 in the gold medal game for his only loss…Finished second among goaltenders in GAA (1.51), was third in save percentage (.934) and shared the tournament lead in shutouts with two…Appeared in one game during the 2006 WJC…Also played for Russia at two World Under-18 Championships, 2005 and 2006…Was selected to Russia’s 2008 IIHF World Championship team but suffered an injury just prior to the tournament…Was one of the last goaltenders cut from Russia’s entry at the 2007 IIHF World Championship…Participated in the Canada-Russia Super Series in 2007…Posted 4-0-0 record while allowing just one goal at the 2006 Five Nations Tournament, leading Russia to the title…Named best goaltender and to the all-tournament team.

PERSONAL
Name is pronounced sehm-YAWN vahr-LA-mawv… Changed the English spelling of his name in 2009 to more accurately reflect its correct pronunciation…Was born in what was then known as Kuybyshev, USSR (now called Samara, Russia)…Nickname is “Varly”…Favorite NHL team growing up was the Avalanche and his favorite goaltender Patrick Roy…Spends a good portion of the summer working out in Hershey, Pa.…Is actively involved in the Avalanche’s “Break The Ice” clinics, which gives kids with little or no skating experience the opportunity to receive free skating instruction.