Prepare the chant; Varly is back

ST. LOUIS – He speaks so softly, it catches you off guard. You have to take another step toward him, coming ever so close to invading the personal space bubble just to hear him.

There Semyon Varlamov stands, minutes after stopping 44-of-45 shots against the St. Louis Blues, and he’s as casual as can be following backstopping his Colorado Avalanche to a 4-1 win in a building that’s haunted them over the years.

And yes, make no mistake, this is still Semyon Varlamov’s team. He’s their goaltender. Jonathan Bernier stepped in and performed admirably when Varlamov missed January with yet another groin issue, the injury that has plagued him throughout his career.

I’m always struck by how normal goalies are without all that gear on. In a locker room that was filled with hooting and hollering just minutes earlier, Varlamov’s soft-spoken interview is a reminder that goalies are just a different breed.

He begins by talking about a grueling schedule that has seen him appear in every game since February 14, a stretch of 15 consecutive games.

“The schedule is really rough right now, playing every other day,” Varlamov explains. “I try to play my best every night because I know every point matters, every point counts this time of year. So right now it’s like a playoff for us. Every game is a huge game and I’m proud of the way we played today and proud of the way we battled for 60 minutes. It’s a tough building to play in. I don’t know when the last time we won in this building was so that was good for us.”

It’s been a strange journey for Varlamov to get to this point. Last season, he put up a career-worst effort as his goals-against-average skyrocketed and his save percentage plummeted. He was the starting goaltender for the worst team in hockey, years removed from his second-place finish in the Vezina Trophy, given annually to the NHL’s top goaltender. He was struggling with his oft-balky groin before deciding to have surgery to correct the issue.

The Avalanche took a leap of faith, protected him in the expansion draft and losing young backup Calvin Pickard in the process. The message was clear: Varlamov was their guy.

Then the Avalanche hit free agency and filled their vacancy with Bernier, who had previously been a top prospect (he and Varlamov were both drafted in the first round in 2006) and had starting experience from his time in Toronto. They nabbed an upper-echelon backup in case of Varlamov’s injury woes continuing but the message continued to be clear as the season kicked off: Varlamov was Colorado’s guy.

Games began and neither Varlamov nor Bernier impressed early but by default, Varlamov continued to hang on to his job. He recorded an October save percentage of just .904, but there were encouraging moments along the way. He followed it up with a small improvement in November, producing a .907 SP he went 4-1-1. Things seemed to be trending in the right direction.

As the Avalanche schedule picked up in games, Varlamov’s workload went with it and he seemed to find his rhythm. He put up a respectable .914, which is right in the neighborhood of league average. After last season’s disaster in which the Avalanche gave up a league-high 276 goals, league average was a beacon of hope. Then, of course, came his injury and the Avalanche enjoyed a 10-game winning streak without him.

Varlamov eventually got healthy but for the first time, the message was murky: Colorado might be Bernier’s team now.

The 29-year-old Russian netminder responded to the challenge with his strongest play of the season as Bernier suffered a concussion. With the Avalanche hanging around in the play conversation despite losing Nathan MacKinnon and then Erik Johnson to injury, Varlamov produced a .916 in February.

Colorado surged into the playoff discussion, the spotlight bouncing around from MacKinnon, now a superstar and candidate for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP, to Mikko Rantanen, the super sophomore who was overlooked no more, to Tyson Barrie and Nikita Zadorov for their work as the top pairing in Johnson’s absence.

And then there was Varlamov, whose steady play continued into March. In his six starts since March began, Varlamov has stopped 203-of-217 shots, good for a .935 save percentage. On this night, in this building, against a team that has had their number for so long, Varlamov didn’t flinch as his team leaned on him more and more. He stopped all 22 third-period shots the Blues threw his way.

“It definitely feels great right now after the game,” Varlamov said in his historically understated way. “We got two points and looking forward to playing the big time tomorrow night. We’ve been struggling in this building. Every time we played here, we got blasted. They play very well at home and we knew that. We scored the first two goals, that was huge.”

Dealing with the fatigue from appearing in 15 straight and facing a potential 16th straight game against the Nashville Predators tomorrow night at home, Varlamov shrugged it off, as he always does.

“At this time of year, you’re kind of tired. So you just need to simplify the game and play simple. That’s it,” he said.

Well okay then. What does the admittedly tired goaltender have to say about potentially taking the net for yet another crucial game as the Avalanche seek to solidify their playoff position?

Not much. Of course.

“The coach will make the decision tonight and tell me later,” Varlamov said nonchalantly. “I have to try to recover as fast as I can. Tomorrow is a new day and I will have to forget about this game and just move forward.”

This is a team that continues to play for one another and has talked about how much it loves coming to the rink as a group. And now, with 70 games of work in the books and 12 left to get into the playoffs, the message has once again become clear.

Semyon Varlamov is once again Colorado’s guy.