Development Camp Concludes

The only lineup change for today was a switch of goaltenders as Simeon Varlamov moved to the Blue Team and Michal Neuvirth moved to the White Team. Also, defenseman Patrick McNeill was noticeably absent today.

Today's scrimmage consisted of three twenty minute quarters along with penalties being called for the first time in the camp.

Goal of the Game
Nicklas Backstrom and Francois Bouchard combined on this, in what could be a nice look at a future top line duo in the coming years. From the boards Backstrom found Bouchard all alone in front of the net as he beat goaltender Justin Mrazek to give the Blue Team a 3-2 advantage 11:03 into the 2nd period.

Physical Presence of the Game
This was provided by defenseman Viktor Dovgan who had a number of big hits during the scrimmage. Maxime Lacroix, Luke Lynes, and Justine Taylor were just a few of his victims on the night. His hit on Taylor led to a little bit of a scrum after the whistle.

Goaltender of the Game
Simeon Varlamov, who overcame some shaky outings earlier in the camp to finish it up with a strong performance. He had an outstanding sprawling save on Andrew Joudrey toward the end of the 1st period that drew oohs and awes from the crowd.

Save of the Game
That would go to Daren Machesney who robbed Crowder in front as he had a wide open net. While diving Machesney threw out his stick and blocked the shot in mid air.

Recap of the Goals on the Evening
Blue Team -Yeo, Kronick (PP), Francois Bouchard, Jamie Hunt (2), Andrew Glass
White Team - Andrew Gordon, Josh Godfrey, Jay Beagle

Don't forget to tune into The Capital Fanatic.com Show Sunday at noon for an in depth analysis of the development camp. I'll be joined by John from On Frozen Blog and Eric from Off Wing Opinion.

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Capitals Also Sign Their Top Goaltending Prospect to an Entry-Level Contract

White Team

Forwards - Oskar Osala, Kyle Wilson, Maxime Lacroix, Andrew Joudrey, Andrew Gordon, Justin Taylor, Phil DeSimone(Pictured Left), Luke Lynes

Defensemen - Patrick McNeill, Karl Alzner, Oscar Hedman, Sean Collins, Josh Godfrey(Pictured Right)

Goalies - Michal Neuvirth, Simeon Varlamov, Justin Mrazek

Blue Team

Forwards - Nicklas Backstrom, Francois Bouchard, Steve Werner, Andrew Glass, Travis Morin, Pasi Salonen, Brett Bruneteau, Brett Leffler, Mathieu Perrault

Defensemen - Jaime Hunt, Theo Ruth, Sami Lepisto, Viktor Dovgan, Joe Finley

Goalies - Daren Machesney, Dan Dunn

Goals on the Night
White - Beagle (2), Lerg, Patrick McNeill, Justin Taylor
Blue - Radja, Mathieu Perrault (2),

The scrimmage consisted of two 30 minute periods with constantly running clock. A notable absence tonight was 2005 1st round pick, Sasha Pokulok. He missed a lot of time this past season with concussion problems so hopefully they are just holding him out as a precaution.

As you can tell by the goal scorers there are players taking part in the camp that are not on the official roster. I asked a Capitals spokesman if there was an updated roster, but unfortunately there isn't so I can't tell you much about them.

I can tell you that Nicklas Backstrom centered a line with Pasi Salonen on the left and Francois Bouchard on the right. Bouchard had some of the nicest moves of the night, continuously displaying his stickhandling skills that resulted in his leading the QMJHL in points last season with 125 (45 g, 80a).

Goal of the Night - Patrick McNeill pinching in, taking a nice pass from behind the net, and beating goaltender Daren Machesney. Hopefully we will see a lot more of that in the near future.

Hit of the Night - The 6'0" 180 pound Maxime Lacroix knocked the 6'7" 233 pound Joe Finlay (Pictured) directly on his backside on the forecheck. Honorable Mention goes to Oskar Osala who provided a physical presence throughout the scrimmage with big hits on Jamie Hunt and Viktor Dovgan.

Goaltender of the Night - Michal Neuvirth. He came up with some exceptional saves during the second half of the final period, helping to secure the win for the white team.

And lastly the big news of the day was the announcement that the Capitals have signed their second pick of the 2006 draft, goaltender Simeon Varlamov. He signed a three year entry-level contract after playing the past season with Yaroslavl of the Russian Super League where he posted a 15-7-6 record with a 2.12 goals against average. Varlamov's contract includes a clause during the first year where if he doesn't make the NHL team, he can be reassigned to his Russian Super League team. So unless he has an unbelievable training camp he will most likely spend one more season with Varlamov before coming to the NHL full time for the '08-'09 season.

Capitals' Prospects Update

A look at our European Prospects. Thanks to posters from the HFBoards for help with these updates:

• Nicklas Backstrom, the Caps' best prospect not currently playing for the team, has been out with the flu as of late but received some good news recently as he was named the rookie of the year by the Swedish Sport Academy. His latest statistics are 11 goals, 25 assists, and 36 points in 32 games for Brynas of the Swedish Elite League. That currently puts him 10th in the league in scoring. He also recorded 7 assists in 7 games during the Under-20 World Junior Championships.
  
• Simeon Varlamov led the Russian Under-20 team to a silver medal in the World Junior Championships. And by led I mean he was the main reason for the Russian's success as he posted a 1.51 gaa and a .934 save percentage. Varlamov was recently interviewed by www.russianprospects.com about being selected by the Caps in the first round of the 2006 NHL Draft.

At this summer’s NHL draft, you were chosen 23rd overall and were the first Russian player to be selected at the draft. Were you expecting this kind of success?
S. Varlamov: That’s the thing that I didn’t expect it at all! I didn’t even go to Vancouver for the draft and really regretted it later on. Who knew? I was very happy.

Playing in the NHL is my dream and I plan to go there in a year or two. You only get once chance to play in the best league in the world and I don’t want to lose it.

Are you afraid of the North American minor leagues?
S. Varlmaov: No. What is so scary about them? Bryzgalov spent five years in the AHL. Not everyone is capable of stepping into the NHL right away and you can’t get frustrated if you don’t make it right away. Work and more work is the only way to success. I read Bryzgalov’s interview in Soviet Sport where he says that he would advise Varlamov to spend some time in the minor leagues and I agree with him.


Hopefully this means we will be seeing Varlamov with the Hershey Bears sooner rather than later. Click here to read the rest of the interview.

• Sami Lepisto, a 2004 third-round selection, has only played in 6 games so far this season for Jokerit in Finland netting 1 goal and 3 assists for a total of 4 points.
• Peter Guggisberg, a 2004 sixth-round selection, has 3 goals, 4 assists, and 7 points in 32 games for Davos in Switzerland.
• Oscar Hedman, a 2004 fifth-round selection, has 2 goals, 2 assists, and 4 points in 38 games for MODO of the Swedish Elite League.
• Pasi Salonen, another 2004 fifth-round selection, has 4 goals, 4 assists, and 8 points for HIFK in Finland

Note: As I write this I am enjoying watching the Washington Redskins Super Bowl XXII victory over the Denver Broncos 42-10 as it is being replayed on the NFL network, a must have station for all you NFL fanatics out there. On a side note, when will the NHL network be coming to America?