I am happy to see people finally realize just how good Simeon Varlamov is. As a frequent poster on Tarik El-Bashir's excellent Capitals Insider blog, I've touted him consistently since before the season even started and was often ridiculed. I feel vindicated now. 

The reason I was so confident in his ability is simply because I saw him play much more than most Capitals fans. He's performed brilliantly in top level international tournaments for Russia, as well in last year's Russian Super Liga, which was an excellent league (and a predecessor to this year's KHL).

It is extremely rare that a 19-year old becomes a number one goalie in the Russian league, and Varly was not just a No. 1, but a starter on a very good Lokomotiv Yaroslavl club that finished second overall in the regular season.

The team went all the way to the finals of the RSL playoffs before falling to what is, in terms of depth of talent, the Russian version of the Detroit Red Wings, Salavat Yulayev of Ufa.

I got annoyed when people disregarded this experience without having ever seen even one game from the Russian league and dismissing it as some beer league. As a logical person, it is very strange for me how many people can judge something they know absolutely nothing about. But I digress.

I've been saying all along that Varlamov is a special kid, very mature for his age, and I've been waiting for the Capitals' excellent coach, Bruce Boudreau, to give him a real chance, especially in light of Theodore impersonating an antique night stand in the Capitals net all year (if the puck doesn't accidentally hit him, it's going in).

I have always known that Varlamov is a much better goalie, regardless of his age and lack of NHL experience. I believe that if things like who gets to play were always based on merit only he would have become our No. 1 goalie long ago.

Boudreau, whom I greatly admire, felt obligated to keep giving Jose Theodore chance after chance to "bounce back" simply because he was our expensive free agent designated No. 1 (similar to the reason Jean-Sebastian Giguere got 1,001 chances to prove that he's not the goalie he used to be before the Ducks finally gave the reigns to Jonas Hiller). 

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