Colorado Avalanche Goalie Controversy, Part 2

The Colorado Avalanche are in the midst of a goalie controversy.

“It doesn’t happen in every game, but I’ll take those five shots once in awhile.” – Semyon Varlamov

Well, it’s not so much a goalie controversy as a bit of an odd duck in the Arizona Coyotes game. Head coach

placed back up goalie

in net at the start of the third period in place of starting goalie Semyon Varlamov. Varlamov had allowed exactly one goal. He was not injured.

A little more information clarifies the matter. The Avalanche were up 5-1 after dominating the Coyotes for two periods. Varlamov had faced only five shots until then, and none at all in the second period. Berra hadn’t played in an NHL game since December 5. He hadn’t played in any kind of game since the All Star break, three weeks ago.

Berra needed some practice, and Varlamov needed some rest.

Coach Roy was typically cagey when asked about the goalie switch during the post-game presser, joking, “I read the [Denver Post] this morning, and Terry [Frei] said I should play Berra, give him a shot, and that’s exactly what I did.”

After laughing, coach Roy explained further:

“It’s good to give a bit of a rest to Varly. He’s playing a lot of games.”

Varlamov, while he probably appreciates the sentiment, doesn’t think it’s necessary. During post-game interviews, he remarked:

“It is nice [to get some rest], but I can tell you I like to play. I like to play every game. But the schedule is not easy, and I think the coaching staff sees that, and that’s why they gave me the chance to get some rest.”

When asked if he’d ever been in such a situation, being pulled despite good play, he stated that he had a couple other times. He added:

“That was Patrick’s decision today, pulling me after the second period and give the chance to play Reto.”

However, Varlamov did acknowledge the hardship of facing so few shots — especially an entire period with no shots:

“It’s pretty tough to stay focused in the game when you don’t have any shots.”

It’s tough to stay game-ready when you haven’t played in several weeks, too.

Roy’s rational for not playing Berra is that the Avalanche need to win games. That’s a lot easier with Varlamov in net.

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Berra’s struggles with the Avalanche are well-documented. He was disastrous in his two starts last season. After starting out strong, recording some great save percentages in the first few games and even getting the Avalanche’s first points, he reverted to last season’s struggles.

After playing parts of six games and an additional five, he has a 2-2-1 record. His save percentage is .884%, and his goals-against is 3.54.

To be fair, while Berra did allow a goal in the game against Arizona, he faced as many shots in three minutes as Varlamov had all game. He went on to face 12 shots total — 2 1/2 times what Varlamov faced. At the end of the night, he had a respectable .917 save percentage.

For his part, I think Roy was showing some major stones when he played Berra, especially when the Swiss goalie let in a goal pretty early on. All of Avs Nation was howling to put Varlamov back in. However, Roy stayed steady, showing his skaters that he expected them to support their tenuous goal tending situation.

The fact that the Coyotes got 12 shots that period says little about the Avalanche skaters’ fortitude — Arizona didn’t want to be completely humiliated after going shot-less for a whole period. They are an NHL team, after all.

Next: Goalie Controversy, Part 1