Game Discussion Thread

[PASabreFan]

23rd in SV%, 26th in GAA for the whole league. There are 75 goalies in the league.

 

With those 29 games or more he's 14th GAA and 12th in SV%.

 

You can make the numbers say whatever u want, we all know he's not as good as last year.

 

True dat about numbers. I apologize for writing "sitting around 30th." I wasn't trying to make it look worse than it is, I swear. I looked it up yesterday -- must new spectacles, or last night's games changed the standings a lot.

 

Now, if you're trying to make Ryan's season look a little better, you should probably point out there are only 15 goalies who have played 29 games or more. I'm not sure that you were though.

 

That's pretty incredible though. Of goalies getting the most games in the league this season, the reigning Vezina winner is having practically the worst season of them all.

[spndnchz]

True dat about numbers. I apologize for writing "sitting around 30th." I wasn't trying to make it look worse than it is, I swear. I looked it up yesterday -- must new spectacles, or last night's games changed the standings a lot.

 

Now, if you're trying to make Ryan's season look a little better, you should probably point out there are only 15 goalies who have played 29 games or more. I'm not sure that you were though.

 

That's pretty incredible though. Of goalies getting the most games in the league this season, the reigning Vezina winner is having practically the worst season of them all.

 

I wasn't disagreeing with you. Just that some people here might think when you say "30th in the league" the might think that, well, there's 30 teams, he's the worst in the league.

 

Should I have said 15th among goalie that have played 25 or more games? or 18th among goalie 20 or more?

 

I would say, whether it's our fault or the other teams merit, he's not seeing pucks and there are more skate deflections this season IMO. But, yup, he's not as good as 09-10.

[PASabreFan]

I wasn't disagreeing with you. Just that some people here might think when you say "30th in the league" the might think that, well, there's 30 teams, he's the worst in the league.

 

Should I have said 15th among goalie that have played 25 or more games? or 18th among goalie 20 or more?

 

I would say, whether it's our fault or the other teams merit, he's not seeing pucks and there are more skate deflections this season IMO. But, yup, he's not as good as 09-10.

 

I'll buy that. Holy moly, what is the deal with Lalime? Ryan would really benefit from a game off, oh, every six to eight weeks.

[Calvin]

Miller could very well be suffering from a post Olympic hangover. He put a great deal of emotion in effort into Team USA and lost. For a guy as cerebral as Miller that could lead to his decline in performance.

This could very well be true - I read somewhere that this was one of the theories behind Ovechkin's drop in performance this season as well, that he never really got over the spanking from Canada and it's in his head now. He was very involved in the Russian team as well, especially with the 2014 Sochi Olympic bid and all.

[deluca67]

Now, this is an intelligent post that is worth having a reasonable discussion over.

 

I don't think anyone would deny that Miller isn't playing as well as he did last year. However, I think overall team defense was pretty awful in the first month of the season as 3 of the top 6 were new and struggling to adjust, and Myers was also pretty mediocre. I also think that management essentially sitting on its hands in the offseason -- and Lindy and Darcy not getting extensions -- was a stomach punch to a still-mentally-weak group of forwards that resulted in poor all-around forward play. Add those factors together and you get a 3-11 start.

 

I think Myers has played much better over the past month, and team defense overall is much improved, although not yet at last year's level. Miller has been streaky, although certainly not great in the past couple of weeks. Still, if the team had started the season playing at the level they're currently at (i.e. without the 3-11 start), they'd be about #4 or #5 in the EC. That's not good enough, but I guess my overall point is that the team's poor showing this year hasn't been the result only of the dropoff in Miller's play.

I don't know if a lack of extending Ruff & Regier is the stomach punch you mentioned. I would tend to think the Bruins series and a overall negative reaction to last season as a whole would be more devastating stomach punch. Here they are thinking they accomplished something by winning the division and getting 100 points and it was rendered mute by six games against the Bruins.

 

I'm not going to blame this season on Miller. But, you know how I feel about these forwards. I have been banging that drum since before last season. I think the forwards/defense are exactly the same as last year. The only difference is Miller. I don't blame Miller. To rely on him to reach that level again was asking too much. Last off-season should have been about bringing in players to relieve the burden off of Miller's shoulders. Status Quo thought that since Hasek could carry a franchise year after year that Miller would be able to as well. They were wrong and the franchise, players and fans are paying the price for their mistake.

[deluca67]

I'll buy that. Holy moly, what is the deal with Lalime? Ryan would really benefit from a game off, oh, every six to eight weeks.

We know the deal with Lalime.

 

PA I think you going in the right direction I'm just not sure you are 100% on course in your journey.

 

Miller was being interviewed earlier this season. It may have been on VS or somewhere. The topic of his brother Drew came up. In the off-seasons Miller stated he would always get together with Drew and work on their games. Miller went on to say that this off-season was a little different. He didn't spend as much time with Drew as in past years because his priorities have changed and he spent more time in California with his significant other.

 

It may not be a Team USA/Sabres issue as it may be a personal life/hockey issue. He is a young guy in love coming off of a major disappointment. That may be a combination that resulted in shift in priorities. Miller is a cerebral guy that has in the past seen a sports shrink. This is the same guy that sits on the bench in a empty arena and visualizes the game ahead. I think we may be in the middle of period of maturity with Miller. He may be working through the tremendous disappointment of the Olympics and the playoffs and readjusting the priorities in his life.