Varlamov Man Crush Thread | HFBoards - NHL Message Board and Forum for National Hockey League

Varlamov Man Crush Thread

AvsRobin

Size doesn't matter!
Aug 10, 2010
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This guy is a beast!

Honestly now, how highly do you rate him in the league? Amongst the 30 starting goalies?
 
Loved him since the 09 playoffs, was estatic when we got him, even tho most weren't. Now if we only could snag that other favorite of mine in DC Carlson.:D

As for how high I'd rate him, it really hard to say because of the crappy team he's on. We all know he's great but how great remains to be seen until you get a team good enough to play infront of him. I think there about 5-7 guys cleary ahead of him but hes in the 7-12ish range but is gets muddy.

Hey, Foppa Frossa did you get demoted? :P
 
Loved him since the 09 playoffs, was estatic when we got him, even tho most weren't. Now if we only could snag that other favorite of mine in DC Carlson.:D

Before we got him and EJ they were ALWAYS two players I traded to my Avs on the NHL games. Insane that it happend in real life later on. It wasn't even weird for me seeing them in the Avs when they came here "for real".

I aint telling you who I'm always trading for now, since it will come true and we all want the element of suprise ;)
 
Varly is top 10, barely but has room to climb.

Lundqvist
Rinne
Price
Quick (He hasn't been good lately but... Stanley says hi)
Brodeur
Kiprusoff
Anderson
Smith
Ward
Varlamov #10 (And I do think he has the talent to be higher on this list. I would take Varly over 4 of the guys above him as well.)
Luongo (His inconsistency with the defense hes had in-front of him is what keeps him out of the top 10 for me.)
Lehtonen
Rask
Schneider
Pavelec
Backstrom
Miller (Hasn't really been amazing for a couple years but is still a good goalie)
Hiller (Again hes struggling or he would be way higher on this list.)
MAF
Halak
Howard
Niemi
Vokun
Crawford
Dubnyk
Jiggy
Lindback
Fasth (Extremely unproven and could move up this list quickly.)

Who is WSH, FLA, CLB, and NYI goalies again? Oh and Toronto (although Scrivens has been good lately)

Now keep in mind I'm doing this based on pure talent, and some of these guys have better numbers than those above them but way better teams in-front of them. Also looking at last season and this season, you can't judge goalies on ten game (Fasth & Crawford playing well.)

Guys like Price, Rinne, Quick, Varly, Smith, Anderson, and Lehtonen basically have to carry their teams night in and night out so they may not always have the best over all statistical ratings. There is guys like Kiprusoff & Backstrom who are older and have been consistently good (But not great) while their teams have been consistently bad as well.
 
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I would put him top 10.

Going into tonights game he had a GAA of 3.00 but a SV% of .909.

That's not a combination you see very often.
 
Love Varly. I just hope he doesn't get too frustrated with our terrible defense.

Haven't been this excited about a goalie since Roy. He has such insane potential. Hope we give him a nice fat raise when his contract expires
 
Varly is top 10, barely but has room to climb.

Lundqvist
Rinne
Price
Quick (He hasn't been good lately but... Stanley says hi)
Brodeur
Kiprusoff
Anderson
Smith
Ward
Varlamov #10 (And I do think he has the talent to be higher on this list. I would take Varly over 4 of the guys above him as well.)
Luongo (His inconsistency with the defense hes had in-front of him is what keeps him out of the top 10 for me.)
Lehtonen
Rask
Schneider
Pavelec
Backstrom
Miller (Hasn't really been amazing for a couple years but is still a good goalie)
Hiller (Again hes struggling or he would be way higher on this list.)
MAF
Halak
Howard
Niemi
Vokun
Crawford
Dubnyk
Jiggy
Lindback
Fasth (Extremely unproven and could move up this list quickly.)

I like your list for the most part. I'd say maybe kipper and smith are a bit too high. Kipper just from what I have seen this season, seems to be trending downward sadly, and Smith i think has a bryzgolov effect in pheonix. I think any goalie you put behind that system and defense is going to look a lot better. Not saying hes bad just saying inflated. Id also put Rask and Luongo higher.
 
Anders Hedberg, the swedish scout who works in New York Rangers said he thinks he will become the best goaltender in the world, for many years during a Viasat Broadcast of the Avs-Sharks game when they destroyed us and Landy.
 
Varly is awesome. Even though his saving percentage looks low, I think hes done great job overall. I'd say he has potential to become one of the best in NHL. Hes already around top 10-15 goalies in NHL.
 
Based on the combination of his age and already incredible experience, he has the potential to be the top 3 goalie in the NHL.

If we talk now, he's top 15 easily. But you gotta remember, with the goalies, the teams play system and the level of defense mean a lot. Put King Henrik behind the Avs defense and I think he will lose his # 1 status quick
 
He's the only reason the Avs are not dead last in the standings with all our injuries.

I think, as other posters have said, he can be top 10 with room to grow (top 5?). It all depends on how our team, namely our defense, grows.
 
I'm sure there are quite a few of contending teams who would have gladly payed the 1st+2nd pick in retrospect.

When you factor in his contract, age, and how damn good he is, I can't see why a team like Philly wouldn't prefer him over Bryz, or Chicago/Blues as part of their young core.
 
Based on the combination of his age and already incredible experience, he has the potential to be the top 3 goalie in the NHL.

If we talk now, he's top 15 easily. But you gotta remember, with the goalies, the teams play system and the level of defense mean a lot. Put King Henrik behind the Avs defense and I think he will lose his # 1 status quick

I totally agree with this. Varlamov will be the next big thing, If our defense just improves a bit.
 
Lundqvist
Rinne
Price
Quick (He hasn't been good lately but... Stanley says hi)
Brodeur
Kiprusoff
Anderson
Smith
Ward
Varlamov #10 (And I do think he has the talent to be higher on this list. I would take Varly over 4 of the guys above him as well.)
Luongo (His inconsistency with the defense hes had in-front of him is what keeps him out of the top 10 for me.)
Lehtonen
Rask
Schneider
Pavelec
Backstrom
Miller (Hasn't really been amazing for a couple years but is still a good goalie)
Hiller (Again hes struggling or he would be way higher on this list.)
MAF
Halak
Howard
Niemi
Vokun
Crawford
Dubnyk
Jiggy
Lindback
Fasth (Extremely unproven and could move up this list quickly.)

Quite the list here, not sure I agree with a whole lot of it to be honest. Lehtonen gets pretty underrated, Anderson, Brodeur and Smith overrated. I've decided upon 31 goaltenders being worthy of being ranked, sorry Columbus, neither of yours count.

I'm not too fond on definitive rankings myself, generally prefer to cluster players, so I'll do it a bit like that.

1. Lundqvist, indisputable #1.
2-4. Quick, forget his numbers this season... LAK as a whole have been playing hungover. He was incredibly underrated heading into last year.
2-4. Rinne, I often feel he is overrated and on another team he wouldn't do so well. But there isn't a comparable combination of size, athleticism and positioning in the NHL.
2-4. Price, has found a good level of consistency and can take over a game when he's playing at his best.
5. Lehtonen, narrowly outside the top 4, Lehtonen has shown why he was such a sought after prospect. His athleticism is outstanding and he is calm in the net, any game he starts in Dallas has a chance to win regardless of their offensive success.
6. Luongo, whether you love or hate the guy, you can't knock performance. Season in and season out he has put up solid to great numbers on poor and good teams. His playoff success will always hold him back from being considered a great one in the future.
7-8. Ward, he redefines consistency by always having inconsistent months thrown into his play. If the guy could have a whole season at 95% he'd be a Vezina finalist.
7-8. Miller, a smaller goalie that may never repeat his Vezina and Silver Medal performances, he's still excellent at his position and capable of winning (or losing) you games.
9-11. Varlamov, homer perhaps, but he has all the tools of the best goaltenders in the league (thanks Giggy) and is still developing. Once he finds his next gear consistency-wise, he'll be in Vezina contention for at least a few years. We've seen him play great this season, so perhaps this is his turning point.
9-11. Anderson, for a few years now he has put in some top level outstanding performances on poor teams. This season is no exception to that, but he's still relatively unproven in the playoffs (even compared to a young guy like Varly) and has that blemish on his career giving up in Colorado.
9-11. Halak, when he's healthy he's one of the best in the league. His health and question-marks related to just who is pulling the weight in St. Louis drops him down a bit. Wouldn't be surprised to see him climb if he's healthy for a STL playoff run.
12. Rask, still young and looks great frequently, but I'm not ready to anoint him the king yet until he puts up some wins in the postseason behind a strong Boston team.
13-18. Howard, workhorse in net for Detroit and he can put up great performances. But with Detroit's lost defensive poise and the uncertainty behind their future on defense, I expect his numbers to decrease to middle of the league.
13-18. Smith, putting up good numbers on a team that elevates goalies dramatically. I don't think he's as good as he appears and everytime I watch him I am reminded of that by the poor angle goals he lets in. A big body with good positioning and puck handling, not even top 10 in the league.
13-18. Hiller, before getting Vertigo he was higher on this list. I still see him as a great goalie, perhaps not Anaheim's in the future.
13-18. Kipper, past his prime but still competitive... was a long time workhorse that could still carry a team for another year or two. But as we've seen from this season, he's slowing down finally.
13-18. Backstrom, while seemingly unbeatable against the Avs, Backstrom hasn't played like he did when he entered the league thanks to the loss of Martin. Behind a great defense he can carry a team, but he's weak to strong passing team.
19-24. Fleury, inconsistent as all hell. Stanley Cup or no cup, he's unable to stay in his crease long enough to beat out Vokoun for a starting spot.
19-24. Brodeur, washed up but not forgotten... a great playoff run keeps him in the top 25. But his seasonal play is slipping despite his great career.
19-24. Schneider, he's probably at the top of this range. But he needs to beat out Lou before he goes any higher despite his impressive potential. Looks like a future top 20 goalie regularly if he could become a starter.
19-24. Niemi, often he will play great, but often he will play poorly. Sharks fans almost ran him out of town after his extension. Good enough to take a great team far, but bad enough to make a good team sink.
19-24. Pavelec, I'm harder on the guy than I might need to be, but his potential is still a top 15 goalie in the league behind a better team.
19-24. Vokoun, still good but not the guy he used to be. He's hardly athletic anymore and it exposes him unfortunately.
25-31. Theodore, Lindback, Holtby, Bryz, Nabokov, Reimer, Crawford, Dubnyk in some order... ran out of lunch time.
 

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