Interview with Simeon Varlamov's dad.

Sport-Express, Sept. 9, 2008:

Early in the morning yesterday goalkeeper of Lokomotiv and Russian national team Simeon Varlamov flew from Moscow via Paris to the U.S. capital, where he will try to break into main roster of Washington Capitals. According to his agent Vyacheslav Mahrenski Varlamov has long dreamed of playing in the strongest league in the world and his decision on leaving to NHL was well thought. The fact that his salary in Washington will be markedly smaller than the one he would get in Yaroslavl didn't change his mind. But the option that he night come back to Russia this season has not been ruled out.

Yesterday afternoon SE correspondent Alexander Shapiro has managed to contact his father Alexander Varlamov.

"Last week Simeon was at home in Samara," started Varlamov Sr. "But most of the time we we didn't see him, he was constantly working out in the gym, he was actively preparing for the season."

As we know this summer Simeon was at the Washington Capitals rookie camp. What were his impressions?
In my opinion such short trips do no good. Out of the ten days that he had spent in America, seven went for acclimatization. It is impossible for the remaining three days to show everything of what you are really capable of.

In your opinion, can we expect Simeon to return back to Russia during this season?
First of all he must see how he would be treated there. If all goes well he certainly won't return. But if the situation in terms of the chances to break in will look hopeless, then we'll talk through his American agent about the possibility that the club could rent him. This is how, for example, Rangers has done it with Kasparaitis. After all, one thing is to play in the NHL, and completely different one is to play in the AHL, which is greatly inferior to our Russian league. But it's not in Simeon's plans to flee from the NHL, everything will be done officially through negotiations.

Before leaving for Washington did Varlamov Jr. consult with Alexander Ovechkin?
Yes, they have talked a lot. Sasha said that everything will be ok, although the team has strong and highly paid Canadian goalkeeper Theodore. But Simeon is ready to fight for a spot and will try to show his best qualities.

Will Simeon lose a lot money-wise?
I won't say the exact amount, I can only say that his salary with Capitals is several times less than what he could have with Yaroslavl.

Where does Simeon plan to live at first?
He will stay in a hotel for a month. It makes no sense to rent an apartment, because if he won't make it, he will go to a farm Club, Hershey Bears, which is 200 kilometers away from Washington. If Simeon will feel that he can make it, then he'll rent an apartment. I think everything will be decided within a month.

Do you plan to go to America?
I'll fly there in a month. We'll see how people live there.

Update:
There seems to be a lot of discussion at Japer's Rink about this interview.
Just wanted to remind about the interview with Simeon himself here where Simeon talks about it, "I know it will be hard to break into the Capitals roster. But I will try. I am even prepared to spend a year or two in the AHL." Here's the rest:

Can a 20 year old guy break into NHL?
There is an example, a 21 year old Carey Price of Montreal, he is my idol. Or Pittsburgh Penguins Marc-Andre Fleury. Both are unique goalies even by NHL standards.

I remember Bryzgalov's interview to SovSport that appeared under the heading "Want to become a good goalie? Leave Russia". Do you agree?
In many Russian teams goalkeepers don't have personal trainers who work with them, they have to train on their own. As for me, I got lucky with the mentors. But looking at the general trend, it is difficult to disagree with Bryzgalov. It is much easier to learn the art of goaltending across the pond.

The kid is right, Tretiak was an exception, in general Russian goalies are not comparable. I remember the interview with Nabokov's Dad (lol, Dad again) and he said that at one point he told his son to go back to Russia because he couldn't stand to see how hard it was for Nabokov to change his style.

If you are not a goalie, then you might learn something in the Russian league, especially if you are a forward, but for the goalies it is the end of development.