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Alright, so maybe I should be working on my final paper for English and putting together a portfolio. Don't judge me. But I had to bring this up.
Lindy Ruff called out Ryan Miller for last night's 2-1 loss against the Florida Panthers. Look, I'm no "Lindy hater" and demanding he be fired, and I always respect what he has to say and I usually agree with him. But I think calling out Ryan Miller last night was ridiculous. Saying that he let in soft goals? Maybe. But the fact is that Ryan made some pretty big saves on odd-man rushes and he only allowed 2 goals. If your goalie is only allowing two goals per game, then he's doing his job by giving his team a chance to win. So why did Lindy only call out Ryan?
Miller was surprised and angry at Lindy's comments. Usually when Ryan is criticized by Ruff, he's pretty level-headed about it and he will usually agree with Lindy. But this time is obviously different, since I'm sure he doesn't agree with Lindy's comments at all. Messing with a goalie's confidence is not smart, and I believe a goalie's confidence is more fragile than any other player's considering their high pressure job.
Has Lindy lost his mind? I don't know. I sure hope not. I like Lindy, and I think he's a great coach. But he knows better than that. You can't blame a goalie when he's only allowed 2 goals and his team only scored 1. That shouldn't be on Miller. Maybe if he was allowing 2, 3 soft goals per night then Lindy's comments would have been more valid.
Am I being overly sensitive because I have a soft spot for goalies? Is this me being biased because I've taken a special liking to Ryan Miller because of my like for goaltenders? I don't think so.
I hope Ryan takes these comments and uses them as inspiration to play better. I hope the rest of the team realizes that their goalie is being called out and that they should shape up and score a few goals for him. I just hope that it doesn't create tension in the dressing room.
Oh and I'm aware I've missed out on all the fun with Sean Avery and his sloppy seconds. All I can say is I think Sean Avery is terrible and I have no sympathy for the little prick, whether he's being treated fairly or unfairly in this situation.
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4 comments:
I like my theory, personally. It fits Ruff to a T. Hahaha.
...Plus, it's more fun than being really ridiculously pissed off at him. =/
It's a good theory, since we all know how Ryan plays when he's angry. But at the same time Ruff's comments really upset him and not in a "good way", you know? Like usually when Ruff criticizes him he's right there to agree. Even though he's not happy with the criticism, he knows that it's warrented and it inspires him to play better.
But this time, I think he flat out disagrees with Ruff and it pissed him off. I just think confidence is huge, especially with a goaltender, and I hope Ruff's comments won't totally screw up Miller's confidence.
I guess we'll have to wait and see how he performs...
Lindy is not one to call out a player without reason. Miller does make some very exciting saves, but his achilles has always been letting in soft goals. There has been several misques by Miller this year that have cost goals. It almost costed us a game in Minnesota. It costed us many games last season. As a goaltender with a big contract he is going to be under a microscope. Last season and earlier this year, how much did Lindy call out Vanek? The results have been working out pretty good thus far. I think its safe to say that Miller has been playing a bit better since Lindy called him out.
Rick, when I made this post I was a little pissed off mostly because of the Sabres loss and I thought that Lindy's criticism was ill-timed. Looking back the whole thing was blown out of proportion and it wasn't that big of a deal.
The fact that Ryan can let in soft goals is debatable, sometimes goalies misread a play and make a mistake, or sometimes they are simply beat by a good shot and the credit belongs to the shooter. Of course he'll let in a weak goal here and there, but which goalies in this league don't on occasion? The fluke goal in Minnesota should not reflect Miller's play at all, as it was just a fluke accident and even the best goalies will make an embarrassing play like so. He's not a perfect goaltender but I just thought the fact that he was called out after the Florida game was bad timing considering his team only scored one goal and he made a lot of big saves. I don't think the blame should be on a goalie after a 2-1 loss. But that's neither here nor there since I'm not a coach...
I do agree with you that Lindy should call out players as most of the times it seems to result in something positive. Is Miller's play as of late a direct result in Lindy's criticism or is it a coincidence? Who knows. I don't feel as if he should never be called out or anything like that, especially since he's signed a big extension like you mentioned, we all know the media will be focused on that. I just thought it was ill-timing, that's all.
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