NHL names Michal Neuvirth rookie of the month
The National Hockey League has named Michal Neuvirth the rookie of the month for October after the Washington Capitals net-minder recorded a 7-3 record to start the season.
Neuvirth has been another pleasant surprise for the Washington Capitals, who were entering the 2010-11 season without a legitimate starting goaltender.
The Capitals elected to let former starting net-minder Jose Theodore walk during free agency, deciding to go with the young tandem of Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth.
Heading into the campaign it was assumed that Varlamov had earned the starting job because he had more experience at the NHL level, after playing 26 games in 2009-10.
But the 22-year-old was forced out at the beginning of the season due to injury, and then, after playing back-to-back games, sustained a back injury and was ruled day-to-day. Unfortunately, the injury has kept Varlamov out of the Capitals line-up for four
straight games.
The injury to Varlamov opened the door for Neuvirth, who in the previous two years had only earned 22 games of NHL experience. Washington believed that Neuvirth would be able to make the jump to the big league, but never expected that he would be able to
handle the full work load so quickly. Neuvirth has now played in all 11 of the Capitals games this season.
The Capitals have had a great deal of success with Neuvirth in the line-up and the club currently sits second in the Southeast Division, one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Neuvirth beat out fellow Capital John Carlson, Edmonton Oilers Forward Jordan Eberle, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Mark Letestu, Carolina Hurricanes centre Jeff Skinner and Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban for the rookie of the month honours.
So far this season, Neuvirth has managed a 7-3 record with an impressive .925 save-percentage and a 2.15 goals-against-average along with one shutout.
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