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therealdeal
Registered User
- Apr 22, 2005
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ALF AmericanLionsFan
Registered User
I have a feeling Dipietro will have a phantom groin injury come Febuary, if the US wants any chance at grabbing a medal, DiPietro absolutely cannot play. What will happen is he will have one outstanding game against a decent team, and get shelled the next game.arrbez said:
I've seen enough of Ryan Miller to say he is without a doubt the United States best goalie.
gamera
Registered User
I definitely think Ryan Miller ranks as one of the best goalies out there. He should get the start! I was in awe of him as he completely shut down the Thrashers a couple of weeks ago (I'm a Thrashers fan!). We could not BUY a goal from that guy! (well, 1)
ALF AmericanLionsFan
Registered User
I wouldn't throw Dipietro under the bus yet. I would be willing to be more on Esche having an injury than anyone. What is Esche's status? Is he still hurt. Need to get Miller time going 
ALF AmericanLionsFan
Registered User
PoutinePourMoi
Registered User
- Oct 2, 2005
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It was just a combination of unfortunate timing and lack of vision from DW. Miller didn't come back from his injury until AFTER the team was named. Waddel should have named him b/c of his potential to be #1. Esche and Graham are good #2's for the olympics. Only Rick and Ryan could steal the show. He should have picked Rick/Ryan and THEN chose a #2. And there was no risk b/c if Ryan didn't fully come back to form after his injury he could have exchanged him for a the loser b/w esche/graham.
Too bad. Right now Miller has top 5 stats. He's the clear cut #1 usa goalie.
Too bad. Right now Miller has top 5 stats. He's the clear cut #1 usa goalie.
joshjull
Registered User
Wrong, He was back 10 days before the team was named. He played 2 conditioning games in Rochester. Then practiced for a week with Buffalo, before starting against Philly the night the team was named. Also teams didn't have to be officially named for another 3 days. I sort of understand naming Esche and Ricky boy, because what they had done in the past for USA hockey but Graehme?matthew94 said:
As an Islander fan, I will admit, Rick has been very disappointing this season. But, he has a horrid defense in front of him. That said, I still believe that Miller should have been on the starting roster rather than the taxi squad. I would have left Grahame off of the roster.
matthew94 said:
Although Save % is a better indicator of a goalie's performance than GAA, it is not to be taken as an absolute comparison tool. Rick's save % compared to Esche and Grahame is statistically insignificant when you take into consideration the defense that they have to play behind. I couldn't tell you how many times this year Rick has not had a chance on goals because of the disgusting coverage by Isles D-Men.
I'm sick of people saying this. We all know he should be on the team, but the fact of the matter is; he isn't. Nothing will change this, so please get over it and move on with your life!
dipietro is playing behind a crap defense for sure, but he's obviously not playing as well as he could be either. he's having a rough year and honestly i look at goaltending as a big weakness for the US this year.
save % and stats aren't the end all, but christ...all three of the named guys have sub .900 %'s. that just sucks. no excuses, that just sucks.
save % and stats aren't the end all, but christ...all three of the named guys have sub .900 %'s. that just sucks. no excuses, that just sucks.
KH1
Registered User
DiPietro played brilliant, all-star calibre hockey for the first month of the season and has dramatically fallen off since. I chalk this up to 3 factors:
1) He plays behind in my opinion the second worst defense in hockey behind Pittsburgh's. The puck is always in his zone, almost all of the goals he allows are on quality scoring chances and he never gets help in front of the net. Watching the Isles blueliners protecting DiPietro is downright depressing.
2) Fatigue. This has a lot to do with the amount of shots that he faces every night but also because he just plays too much. He's not a Martin Brodeur type player--he can't start every game and the coaching staff should've realized that months ago.
3) Confidence. I know it seems crazy to say that DiPietro lacks confidence, but the signs are there. He gets rattled after giving up a goal. He keeps changing pads because he can't get comfortable recently. His safety net (Garth Snow) is gone.
It's very hard to judge DiPietro vs. Miller. One plays for one of the worst defenses in the league, the other plays for the best. One plays every night, the other plays in a comfortable platoon. It's not hard to justify Miller over Ricky but it's also very easy to defend DiPietro.
The worst part is that unfortunately I don't see Team USA being any better for him. Team USA's defense is going to be incredibly overmatched by teams like Canada or the Czechs and I get the feeling that he may get the label of "bust" unfairly after the Olympics.
1) He plays behind in my opinion the second worst defense in hockey behind Pittsburgh's. The puck is always in his zone, almost all of the goals he allows are on quality scoring chances and he never gets help in front of the net. Watching the Isles blueliners protecting DiPietro is downright depressing.
2) Fatigue. This has a lot to do with the amount of shots that he faces every night but also because he just plays too much. He's not a Martin Brodeur type player--he can't start every game and the coaching staff should've realized that months ago.
3) Confidence. I know it seems crazy to say that DiPietro lacks confidence, but the signs are there. He gets rattled after giving up a goal. He keeps changing pads because he can't get comfortable recently. His safety net (Garth Snow) is gone.
It's very hard to judge DiPietro vs. Miller. One plays for one of the worst defenses in the league, the other plays for the best. One plays every night, the other plays in a comfortable platoon. It's not hard to justify Miller over Ricky but it's also very easy to defend DiPietro.
The worst part is that unfortunately I don't see Team USA being any better for him. Team USA's defense is going to be incredibly overmatched by teams like Canada or the Czechs and I get the feeling that he may get the label of "bust" unfairly after the Olympics.
King Henry I said:
Stop making excuses,Miller plays behind a defense that many considered to be the worst in the league this summer.
And Miller doesn't play in a platoon,Miller starts the majority of the games,Biron has only played so much because of Miller injury+his 13 game winning streak.
joshjull said:
I doubt his performance against AHL competition and practice routine had much impact on DW's decision. If the team would have been picked 3 weeks later, Miller would have been the unquestioned STARTER.
Team USA announced their announcement date long before they knew which week RM would be back. They weren't going to change the date just to watch 1 more game.
I agree. But the difference in this case is so great it's hard to argue with in this case. The other 3 goalies are within .004 whereas Miller is more than .2 better than all of them.
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