He was born exactly 24 hours after i was!

Absolutely right, but the wonderful thing I have noticed about Holts is the way that he rebounds. He’s yet to lose consecutively in the playoffs, and with the way that every Rangers win has been this series, I wouldn’t have blamed him at all if he did.

And by sometimes, I mean always.

something to remember about groin injuries and knee injuries in particular is that once you have them, you’re going to be prone to them for the rest of your life. Trust me, I have had both in my time playing. He may go two more seasons and never miss a game, but that threat will ALWAYS be there.

The Caps made ABSOLUTELY the right move in shipping Varly ff this off season. They got incredible value for a guy who is one groin pull away from being a serious liability on a roster, as well as a serious cap hit. In Neuvirth and Holtby they had two incredibly stable and talented goaltenders, and by bringing in Vokoun, they added a veteran presence who took all of the pressure away that would have existed were the tandem called upon to back stop a cup-minded team from the word go.

We had an embarrassment of riches going into this season, with three goaltenders who all could play every night in the NHL (As we’ve proven). I think that in that difficult situation, Varlamov was the correct piece to eliminate, as he fetched the highest value, had the most question marks to him, and would have required the highest up front cap hit. He’s an awesome kid, and a great goaltender, and I hope he never gets injured again, but dem’s the breaks.

Varly has gone through some of the struggles Justin outlined in the article. I’ve followed him in Colorado and hopefully he is figuring out the whole starting goalie thing, he did well the past few months of the season. He said in Russian interviews after the season that he had a tough time mentally playing so many games, the ASG break was good for him, and he played much better after that. I imagine that we’ll see Holtby have his ups and downs adjusting to becoming a starting goalie in the NHL next season.

I do find it interesting that Caps fans are so quick to declare that Varly wasn’t good and Holtby is better. It’s really hard to compare them until they get a few years farther along in the development process.