Semen Varlamov

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size= 144px
team=Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
league = RSL
position = Goaltender
catches = Left
height_ft = 6
height_in = 2
weight_lb = 183
nationality = Russia
birth_date = Birth date and age|1988|4|27|mf=y
birth_place = Saratov, U.S.S.R.
draft = 23rd overall
draft_year = 2006
draft_team = Washington Capitals

Semen Varlamov ( _ru. Семён Александрович Варламов, "Semyon Aleksandrovich Varlamov", b. April 27, 1988, Saratov, Russia) is a Russian professional ice hockey goaltender who currently plays for the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the RSL. He is a top prospect of the Washington Capitals. He was drafted in 2006.

Biography

Semen Varlamov grew up and initially learned hockey in Samara, Russia hockey school. The young netminder moved to Yaroslavl in his early teens and quickly established himself as the club’s dominant 1988-born goalie. During the 2004–05 season, Varlamov made his debut on Lokomotiv’s junior farm club, Lokomotiv-2, skating for the first time in the 1st League (Russia 3). Throughout that season he was second, backing up 1987-born Ivan Kasutin. During the summer of 2005, Kasutin was loaned to Penza, opening the starting job for Varlamov.

The young goaltender has not looked back, starting most of the games for Lokomotiv 2 during the 2005–06 season. Internationally, Varlamov is a long time member of the Russian 1988-born national team. He also was a back up for the 1987-born Russian squad at the unsuccessful 2005 IIHF World U18 Championships. Continuing to play with an older age group, Varlamov beat out his former teammate Ivan Kasutin for back up duties at the 2006 U20 World Junior Championships for a Russian squad that mostly consisted of 1986-born players. Varlamov did not see much ice time, skating only in the game against Latvia, where he did not particularly stand out despite allowing just a single goal. Varlamov is the netminder of Russian junior national team’s future and was the starting netminder for Russia’s U18 squad at the 2006 IIHF World U18 Championships and the U20 squad for the 2007 WJC and the Super Series between Canada and Russian. His poor play did not have him invited to the 2008 WJC tournament.

NHL career

Varlamov was signed by the Capitals to a three year, entry-level contract on July 11, 2007 and has yet to play a game in the NHL.

Links

* [http://www.russianprospects.com/public/profile.php?player_id=514 RussianProspects.com Semen Varlamov's Profile]
*Hockeydb|89271|Semen Varlamov
* [http://capitals.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=336358 Interview]
* [http://hockeysfuture.com/prospect/semen_varlamov Hockey's Future Player's Profile]