Ryan Miller

Taking a closer look at the new masks for Miller and Enroth

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Phil, from Black Blue & Gold, tossed out a Tweet linking to Ray Bishop’s Facebook post of Ryan Miller’s brand new paint job.

Miller’s masks have long featured some sort of take on the head of his team’s mascot or logo. Perhaps the coolest thing about the evolution of his helmet was the way he and Bishop had worked together to transition the design of the goathead logo into the era of blue and gold.

However, Phil’s Tweet helped to unveil Bishop’s most recent design for Miller.

I can’t say I hate the look of Miller’s new helmet. It fully embraces the white buffalo used in the Sabres’ logo while incorporating many of the traits that have come to define the iconic mask he has been wearing for years. The elimination of the old styling consistent with the goathead in favor of an all white buffalo head. There are hints of blue in the fur and the horns have a gold tint to them, tying the two to Buffalo’s color scheme.

What I love about Miller’s new mask is the inclusion of the third jersey script, crossed sabres and the charging buffaloes. Bishop did a phenomenal job tying those three pieces into the mask. The new design elements blend better than the look of Miller’s old Sabres masks. Previously, the bottom portion of Miller’s mask was a stark contrast to the stylized design of the top.

The new design, while contrasting, has much better flow with the inclusion of both logos that appear on each Sabres uniform. I’m looking forward to seeing Miller roll out the new mask. However, I would assume he will hold off due to the impressive run he has been on recently. Continue reading →

Double Minors: Miller steals another for Buffalo

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Ryan Miller has been playing at a level reminiscent of his 2009-10 season. The last two nights of hockey have been nothing short of spectacular. After stopping 43 shots against Anaheim on Wednesday (20 in the 3rd), Miller turned away 39 more last night against San Jose.

Buffalo inched two points closer to a playoff spot on the back of Miller. Drew Stafford picked up the lone goal for Buffalo in the victory. The story again was Miller’s stellar play, but his collision with Pat Kaleta late in the third period may end up being the most important storyline.

After making a solid glove save on Brent Burns, Miller was struck by Kaleta as he slid into the goaltender on the tail end of the play. It looked as if Kaleta was helped by Ryane Clowe a little on the way, his momentum carried Miller’s right leg hard into the post. From what I could tell, Miller’s contact with the post was fairly significant. He struggled a bit and avoided pushing with his right leg for the remainder of the game.

Bottom line, if Miller is injured in any significant way, the chances of the Sabres sneaking into a playoff spot would seem to be unlikely. I’ll hold out to see more evidence, but I’m hoping that the pain he was dealing with didn’t go beyond the third period.

The Sabres do need to find a way to start putting pucks in the net on a regular basis. Miller’s play has been stellar, but Buffalo can’t count on Miller to steal every point for the rest of the season.The Sabres have found a way to play decent defensive hockey without Paul Gaustad on the roster, it doesn’t seem as if they miss him too much just yet. But they were chasing quite a bit in the third period and it would seem as if they could use a solid defensive center at times like that.

  • I’m glad to see Ryan Miller fully turn his game around. Obviously he is finally healthy and focused on his game. Good on him to have gotten back to the style of goaltending that made many consider him to be elite.
  • Ville Leino is a waste playing center. I like his game, he had turned things around playing wing with Buffalo’s better forwards. But his game is wasted, especially at center on a checking line. He’s stuck in a tough situation based on the center and wing depth, but I’d like to see some sort of solution for getting his offense going.
  • Drew Stafford has gotten things going a bit. He’s always been a streaky scorer and it looks like he has finally hit a streak. It has been two games, but putting him with Cody Hodgson looks like a great decision.
  • Hodgson is showing some of the skills that made him the tenth overall pick in 2008. He’s got slick hands and strong hockey sense. I’ve loved his game these last two nights. Hopefully the goals aren’t too far behind.
  • Despite Tyler Myers having a couple rough nights carrying the puck, the Sabres defense has remained strong as a unit. Hopefully Robyn Regehr doesn’t miss any time due to the injury he suffered in the second period.
  • Something needs to be done about Buffalo’s power play. The unit has been giving up chances and has been disjointed entering the zone and setting up their rotation. Both units need to find some consistency and soon (I am well aware of the numbers, too). The power play very well could make or break this playoff run.

Game Summary/Event Summary

 

Sabres Stat Pack: Examining Ryan Miller’s recent play

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Ryan Miller hasn’t been the goaltender that put the US Olympic team on his back and was one shot from a gold medal in 2010. He isn’t the Vezina winner, nor the goaltender who stole a pair of win for the Sabres in last year’s playoffs.

As is the case with most Buffalo sports fans, Miller has fallen into a bad light with many because of his substandard play this season. However, he is enjoying a noticeable turnaround as of late. While his improved play may not be enough to vault the Sabres into the playoffs, many need to realize that he isn’t playing like the sieve he is being made out to be.

The first thing every Sabres fan needs to realize is that Ryan Miller is not Dominik Hasek. It is doubtful that Buffalo will have another goaltender of that caliber, so get over it. Stop thinking Miller is going to roll up 15 shutouts and keep his goals against below 1.90 every year. It is unrealistic and, frankly, an unfair standard to hold any player to.

Miller’s career numbers have hovered right around 2.50 goals against with a save percentage right around .910 to .920. His elevated play in 2009-10 produced significantly better numbers (2.22 GAA and .929 SV%) which obviously raised expectations.

Last year and this year have brought more scrutiny to his game, even though it hasn’t been much different than it had been in years past. Goaltending is often more objective that just looking at the numbers. Say what you will about career statistics, but an eye test will tell you that Miller is the guy you want on a nightly basis compared to Marty Biron, for example.

Without any tangible proof, I’ll stay away from calling Miller a big-game goalie. He has stepped up and performed for his team when they have needed him (see the wins in last year’s playoffs). Add to that his success in the shootout over the course of his career. Many argue that Miller isn’t worth the money they’re paying him. I’d say those people are dead wrong. They also say the money would be better spent elsewhere, that is a valid argument that would be worth exploring. But don’t try and say Miller is the reason the Sabres are floating around the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

The hot start to Miller’s season cooled after a tough outing against Philadelphia and his subsequent concussion against Boston. Those two games combined with his horrific performance against Pittsburgh dragged his numbers to the bottom of the league’s goaltenders. However, as he has gotten further from the pair of concussions he suffered in less than a year, his play has improved. Continue reading →

Double Minors: At long last, a win

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It came in about as ugly a wrapper as you could find. But the Sabres finally got a win on the road.

Ryan Miller stood on his head, making 27 saves, and Nathan Gerbe sealed the victory in the shootout. The Sabres only mustered 14 shots, but they played responsible game and finally got a victory.

The good news was that Robyn Regehr and Christian Ehrhoff made their return to the lineup. Regehr only saw 18:10 of ice as he may not be back to 100% just yet. Ehrhoff picked up where he left off prior to December 30. He played a team-high 24:27 on the night. The bad news is that Jochen Hecht is out with another concussion and it seems extremely serious. Hopefully he recovers soon, it has been a nightmare season for the veteran center.

Ryan Miller’s first star effort shouldn’t go unnoticed. Everyone and their three brothers had been waiting for Miller to put toegther a sound outing, he did just that last night. Not only did he face twice the amount of shots that Brodeur faced, he made a handful of dazzling saves needed to keep the game tied. Miller has been making some timely saves over the last couple weeks, but he hasn’t received the defensive or offensive support for them to matter. The goals weren’t there tonight, but the defensive game was much better and it finally showed on the scoreboard. Continue reading →

Tootoo suspended two games for hit on Miller

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The NHL didn’t give Lindy Ruff another chance to hammer on the justice process. They suspended Jordin Tootoo for two games based on his actions on Saturday against the Sabres.

Surely there are Sabres fans up in arms over this ruling, but it is an appropriate sentence for the play.

Realistically, Tootoo’s sentence is right in line with the play from Saturday. You might even say Tootoo probably shouldn’t have had to answer beyond his five minute major and game misconduct on Saturday had the NHL gotten it right the first time. The NHL’s reasoning behind giving Lucic a pass was he didn’t show intent to hit Miller, despite what looked like obvious evidence to the contrary. In comparing the two incidents one could conclude there was plenty more intent from Lucic than Tootoo.  Regardless, Lucic’s actions deserved a few games in the press box, the NHL didn’t see it that way and it left the door open for further incidents.

To Tootoo’s credit, he looked to be giving some effort to avoid Miller while also throwing his body at the superstar. Yes, a major contradiction. But it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say Tootoo was hoping to hit Miller while avoiding him, one of those accidentally on purpose things. So, the Shanahammer made his “statement” and gave Tootoo a couple of nights off in order to appease the masses.

Will this end all of the huffing and puffing? Not by a long shot. This was nothing more than a slap on the wrist and won’t send the message that players will miss significant time if this is to continue. This play wasn’t as violent as the Lucic hit, so the league was in a tough spot. It was a lose-lose situation but they seem to have lost big time with the choice they made. For what it’s worth, the days of gongshow hockey and freight train attacks on goalies are few and far between. Still, for this to happen to Miller in each of his last two outings looked to be more than a coincidence and something needed to be done.

The league didn’t do itself any favors with an elementary school punishment. The play certainly didn’t warrant 15 games, but a two-game sentence harkens back to the days of Colin Campbell. It certainly doesn’t signal a serious change in the way the league hopes to operate.

Double Minors: Sabres grind one out in Nashville

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The story from last night is focused on the Jordin Tootoo hit on Ryan Miller. What may be lost is the fact that Buffalo managed to get back into the win column on the legs of a great goaltending performance and a three goal night, despite being badly outshot.

The Tootoo incident is tough to diagnose. The original camera angle looks like a hockey play, it is the reverse angle that shows there may have been a little more intent on Tootoo’s part to collide with Miller. Obviously the argument over his reputation will be a big topic regarding the play, but there seems to be two key ingredients that will likely result in a suspension. It is tough to say if Tootoo could have found his way behind the net, but that will certainly be an issue. Tootoo jumped into the hit and made some effort to avoid Miller but his effort also helped carry him further into the goaltender. Based on the precedent set from the Lucic hit, Tootoo will get a pair of games. If this was a solitary incident, he may escape justice.

Regardless of that play, the Sabres played a neat game that was worthy of two points. Miller was certainly the difference for the Sabres – they were outshot 34-14 – but the line of Luke Adam, Ville Leino and Zack Kassian came to play too.

Based on the recent track record of this team, two points is a step in the right direction. The next step will be to carry the play on their way to a sound victory.

  • Zack Kassian will need to go back to the AHL at some point. He clearly has the chops to play at the NHL level, he just needs to refine a few portions of his game (defensive zone, skating). Kassian’s goal is one that Sabres fans will see a lot more of. At one time Kassian was a pretty prime piece for a major trade, now he might be an “untouchable prospect.”
  • Joe Finley was only so-so in his NHL debut. Considering he is finally turning a corner in his development, he may still have a few more steps to take. He wasn’t horrible in these two games, which was certainly a possibility.
  • Ville Leino notched his first multi-point game in Buffalo. That is a good step for a guy who looks to be struggling to adopt “the system”. He is working well with Kassian and Adam – he has worked well with a few lines this season, but they haven’t been kept together. Depending on the length of Boyes’ injury, this line could stay together for quite a while. That is promising for all three players, not just Leino.
  • Miller had a good game. His highway robbery in the third period was great to see. That is one of those saves that make people put him in the top ten among the NHL’s goaltenders each season. His big test will come Wednesday against Philly. He had a rough outing last time and will certainly need to right the ship on home ice.
  • Christian Ehrhoff is in straight up beast mode. He is playing major minutes in major situations and is playing well. He also just about ripped off Patric Horqvist’s head after he hit  Miller twice in the third. Major props.
  • Only other thought regarding Miller and Tootoo is that the cards fell in an awfully coincidental manner. Tootoo, Miller in his first game back, first game since gettin bowled over by Lucic. Tootoo may have tried to avoid Miller, but given the circumstances it seems fishy.

Three Stars

1. Luke Adam

2. Ryan Miller

3. David Legwand

NHL Links

Game Summary

Event Summary

The Morning Skate: Sabres searching for answers in Smashville

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Everyone is starting to run out of answers regarding the Sabres’ play as of late. The line combos aren’t working, play in goal has been average and injuries are mounting. Buffalo is 1-4-1 in their last six and have shown little in recent games.

A trip to Nashville probably isn’t the best medicine for a struggling club. The Preds are sitting in 11th out West, but play a stifling style that isn’t going to be conducive for solving the Sabres’ scoring woes. On the bright side, the Sabres play much better hockey on the road. So they’re got that going for them. Which is nice.

Ryan Miller is expected to make his return to the crease tonight. It will be his first action since being concussed/whiplashed in a collision with Milan Lucic on November 12. It should be noted that Miller’s play appeared to be taking an uptick based on his final two periods against Winnipeg and his first period play in Boston. Hopefully whatever he was battling has been expelled from his game and he will return to the form we saw over the first three weeks of the season.

Of note, the Predators Tweeted that Buffalo native Chris Mueller will make his season debut tonight. Cue the Bucky column on the Buffalo boy now. I’ll toss in and extra five bucks if he manages to hit on Tim Kennedy’s whereabouts in tomorrow’s piece too.

The Sabres have been bad from top to bottom as of late, so there isn’t one thing one could point to as a key for tonight. Obviously controlling the play and hitting the net would be a wonderful place to start given Buffalo’s recent scoring woes. Getting Thomas Vanek back on track would be helpful too, perhaps removing the king of bad angle shots from his line would be a good starting block there.

Highlighted Matchup

Ryan Miller. While it is inconclusive if Miller is getting the nod tonight, his play could end up being crucial for the Sabres’ success. Jhonas Enroth has been admirable in relief for Miller, while he has had some shaky outings over the last week, quite often Enroth has not gotten the necessary goal support to win. If Miller keeps the Preds to two or less he will have done all he needs to allow his team to get a victory.

Projected Goaltenders

BUF: Ryan Miller 11GP 5-6-1, 2.86 GAA, .909 SV%

NSH: Pekka Rinne 23GP 10-8-4, 2.57 GAA, .921 SV%

Last Game

3/20/2011, HSBC Arena, Sabres 3 – Predators 4 OT

*stats to come later*

The likelihood that Ryan Miller could be traded

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The 2011-12 season has come with a fair share of ups and downs for Ryan Miller. He came out of the gates with numerous brilliant showings and looked poised to have a strong year. However, a few rough outings at home – capped by an early hook against the Flyers – turned things sour for the Sabres’ franchise goalie.

Just when he was working his way back to form he was sidelined with a concussion and neck issues following his collision with Milan Lucic. That was followed by a new trade rumor that has been pumped by Jim Matheson at the Edmonton Journal. Eric at 3rd Man In covered this when the story broke and he did a bang up job with it, no reason to re-hash any of his work.

The story here seems to be centered around two things; did Miller ask for a trade or is he simply open to a new situation? Because I haven’t specifically asked Carrie Underwood to divorce Mike Fisher to get together with me, I just wouldn’t mind if that happened. See what I did there? That is obviously apples and oranges, but the foundation is the same. There is a big difference between demanding a trade and being open to exploring elsewhere. Continue reading →

Miller injury a wake up call for Sabres

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The story on Ryan Miller and Milan Lucic has had a few days to simmer, both in the national media and here in Buffalo.

The big news came down yesterday when it was confirmed that Miller had indeed been concussed on the collision with Lucic. After having a hearing with the Shanahmmer, Lucic was cleared of any supplemental discipline, the right call in my book. Perhaps the hit was worthy of one or two games off, but really it was no more than a dirty play – it wasn’t even close to the things Matt Cooke has done.

The dirty hit wasn’t even the most despicable part of the play. The worst part is that he did not have to answer for his actions; the Sabres failure to respond was downright embarrassing.

Yes, Lucic runs around the ice and plays a game that toes the line between clean and dirty. Zdeno Chara and Brad Marchand do the same thing; their style is to intimidate and grind out their opponents. More often than not, Lucic and Marchand are well into dirty territory regarding their play. Sometimes they get a call, sometimes not. It is just how they play the game, you need to accept it in some regard but it certainly makes hating them an easy task.

In regards to Saturday, Lucic took a cheap shot at Miller and was trying to do nothing other than put the Sabres goalie onto the main concourse of TD Garden. In no way was he thinking of avoiding the goalie and slowing down, he saw Miller in his path and made sure to clear him from the tracks.  For some reason, the Sabres chose not to respond in kind. Suspension or not, something needed to be done.

Thomas Vanek shouldn’t be required to step up in that situation, at least he attempted to return the favor, although his hit barely affected Lucic. Then the purse tossing started from the boys in blue and gold. Andrej Sekera slid in and softly pushed Lucic against the boards, meanwhile Tyler Myers came in with a similarly weak effort. Paul Gaustad was late to the party, but really didn’t do much to stand up for Miller either. After that? Nothing from the Sabres. Cody McCormick was quiet, as was Pat Kaleta. There were no big hits or fights, they didn’t run at Tim Thomas (the wrong response) nor did they attempt to reassert themselves from a general physical standpoint.

Maybe trying to fight Lucic in that moment would have been foolish. The only two players on the roster truly capable of handling Lucic in a fight – Robyn Regehr and McCormick – weren’t on the ice. Of course they didn’t challenge him later in the game. So, maybe you don’t have someone who can immediately drop the gloves and make Lucic pay. However, you have the option of taking an eye for an eye.

This is going to come across as extremely dirty, but if I wasn’t capable of holding my own in a fight with Lucic I would have taken the next step. Whether it was trying to put the butt end of my stick through his nose or giving him a lumberjack hack elsewhere, I would have made him remember the time he ran Ryan Miller. Is that overkill? Certainly. Would it be a better response that what the Sabres put forth? Yes, by default. Still, it would have been a response.

Now, those are the most extreme measures of retribution for the actions Lucic took. Maybe the best course will be to have Kaleta or someone else catch him with a big body check. McCormick or Regehr could even engage him in a fight. It doesn’t matter, so long as he pays for his actions and pays hard.

That brings this argument back to square one. Where was the rest of the team for that very play or for the remaining 40 minutes of hockey? How is it possible for a professional hockey team with their eyes set on the Stanley Cup unable to respond when their starting goaltender and top star gets scummed by the other team?

Not only did the Sabres fail to step up and answer the bell on Saturday, they put up a billboard for the rest of the NHL saying, “you can push us but we won’t push back.”

Miller says the F word, shows where he stands moving forward

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Last Wednesday’s debacle against Philadelphia was a multilevel failure that started with the goaltender and went right down to the last forward. It also served as a catalyst for many unhappy, goaltending illiterate – likely hockey illiterate too – to voice their displeasure with the play of Ryan Miller.

I’m here to win. If I’m discouraged, if I’m pissed off, that’s just how it is. I want to win. I don’t want to be out there getting scored on. I don’t want to be pulled out of a game. I want to, you know, I want to [expletive] win the game.”

It is true, Miller had gone on a tough run since his season opening blitz. After racing to the top of the NHL goaltending statistics through his first five outings, Miller has come back to the pack with an 0-4 run that has seen him post a goal against above three and a save percentage below .900 on the run. His season numbers are still quite respectable (2.48 and .922) and he showcased elite talent in each of his four wins to open the season.

It might be due to Buffalo’s lack of familiarity with a true super star, it also has a lot to do with familiarity by contempt. Sabres fans see Miller anywhere from 65-75 nights a season and are treated to some truly remarkable goaltending. They also see him at his worst, so there is a wide body of work to reference. I have said it before, if the same fans were to watch Carey Price, Roberto Luongo, Jonathon Quick or any other top netminder, they would get the same headaches. Continue reading →