Colorado Avalanche: Varlamov v Grubauer. How is that Goalie Battle Going?

For our beloved Colorado Avalanche, preseason is over and it is time to get serious.

Not that I think the Colorado Avalanche weren’t already serious but now all these blocks, saves, points, and hits start to count. And hopefully Thursday night reminded us of that. I know it reminded netminder, Semyon Varlamov.

A couple of weeks ago Nadia posted about the goalie duel between Varlamov and Philipp Grubauer, two starting goalies that will be vying for the spot of starter this season. And personally, like Nadia, I feel this can only be a good thing.

Daily Face-off points out “He will be pushed harder for starts this year with Philipp Grubauer in town, but that could help push the Russian netminder.” If you watch the seasons where he doesn’t have to fight for his job, you’ll see him appear to be slightly more relaxed, offbalanced even, and that isn’t a goaltender that I want. He needs to be hungry.

But it is a hard balance to strike as at the same time we need to not overuse him, as Bednar and other coaches have done in the past because what we’ve all noticed is that bionic groin is made of glass.

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He’s said he does better facing more shots, and I see that, since it means that he doesn’t have time to get flatfooted or let his mind wander in the crease. However after last night’s opening season bout against the Wild, Avs forward Nathan MacKinnon thinks that is no longer the case. “His strength is usually when he gets 40-plus shots. Sometimes when he gets 25 he plays worse. I think he’s grown so much as a goalie. His mindset is he can play a low-shot game and stay sharp, and he was great.”

Jarad Bednar even described him as our best penalty killer in his post game press conference.

Some of us really do better under pressure. The problem is when you have time to let the muscle strain and aches kick in. When you have that occasional day off or flight that works against you since you’ve been pushing yourself so hard. Or even if you just get tired. There is only so much that ice baths and massages can do for a person. Especially goalies that are expected to play a full 60 minutes every game, taking shot after shot, and be out on the ice for a good bit of the practices too.

Enter Philipp Grubauer. This is when you need someone that is more than just a relief. Someone who is going to do more than hand you a maintenance day. Grubi is here to play, don’t believe me? Look at how he did in his preseason bouts and look at what he’s done in seasons past.

Last year he played 35 games for Washington and had a .923 SV% with a 2.35 GAA. And while you may not consider 35 games a lot for someone who now is in the fight to be the Avalanche starter, this is a player who played more than one game in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The guy they felt confidant in having in the crease when it mattered.

Grubi will definitely be trying to get on the ice too. As he once told the Associated Press and reported by ESPN, “It helps playing more and more. The more you get on the ice, the more experience you get. You see different situations and different teams. If you sit on the bench, you can get good from watching, but you’ve got to get the experience.”

It’s sometimes hard to judge a goalie by the preseason games, especially in this case where he had only partial versions of the team in front of him but I know I liked what I saw. And it seemed the coaches did as well. It will be interesting to see how Grubauer does on Tuesday since we were told he’d be in goal for one of the first three.

Nadia put it best when asked how she thought Varly was doing and where they guys were standing in this mini Battle Royale, “It’s Varly’s job to lose this season. I think once Grubi gets more accustomed to facing 30+ shots a game, he might be a more consistent goalie and be a good starter. But he’s not there yet.”