This story originally ran in The Hockey News magazine vol. 63, issue 01, on July 6, 2009
BY PHIL JANACK
Watching Semyon Varlamov carry the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup playoffs gave Michal Neuvirth incentive to do the same for the Caps’ farm team.
Only Neuvirth – who at 21 is just a month older than Varlamov – took it a step further.
In his first full season in North America, Neuvirth led the Hershey Bears to their 10th Calder Cup championship and earned the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP.
“We knew he had the talent,” said Bears coach Bob Woods of Neuvirth. “Talking to (Caps goalie coach) Dave Prior, they had high hopes for him. He said, ‘He’s a guy who could win a Cup for us,’ and he was right. With Varlamov doing what he did in Washington, that was pretty good motivation for Neuvy to try and do something special.”
Washington’s goaltending depth forced Neuvirth, a Czech drafted 34th overall in 2006, to start the 2008-09 season in the ECHL.
He was up and down between South Carolina and Hershey, but turned a corner during a five-game stint with Washington in February and March.
“He could have played on any team in this league the whole year, but he kept his head high,” said Bears alternate captain Keith Aucoin. “He didn’t pout; he just went down and played well and finally got a chance here. Going to Washington was a big boost for him. He played well there and carried it back here.”
When Varlamov was recalled by the Caps and Daren Machesney went off to the Spengler Cup, Neuvirth was in Hershey to stay. He went 9-5-2 in the regular season to help lift the Bears to the East Division title and became only the fourth goalie in AHL history with 16 wins in a single post-season. His 16-6 playoff record was accompanied by a miniscule 1.92 goals-against average and stellar .932 save percentage.
“He’s the reason we won,” said Hershey captain Bryan Helmer. “It’s scary. He’s only 21 and when he’s back there he never gets nervous. If he lets in a bad goal, he doesn’t let it bug him.”
Added Woods: “At the start of the year, goaltending was probably our only concern. We had three young goaltenders and we knew the talent was there, the worry was could they handle the pressure. Give the kid a lot of credit. He handled it with flying colors.”