Ryan Miller should be team USA's starter

[joshjull]

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.

My point was DW used him being injured as an excuse not to chose him. He obviously was healed and had played two AHL games and his thumb was fine. Do you realy think I meant he should be chosen because of those games? I think his performance prior to injury was better than the other three. Also, Esche was out injured when the selections were made. I think you understand that USA hockey politics played a role in the selections. That said, I hope Ricky boy is the golden boy that everyone thinks he is because I want the US to win.

 

[Randall Graves*]

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.

How is it easy to defend DiPietro? it's the same story with him, he's either really good or really bad, no consistancy.

How many people thought Buffalo would have one of the best defenses before the season started?

Right now Miller is the best American goalie playing, so they need to find a spot for him.

 

[joshjull]

How is it easy to defend DiPietro? it's the same story with him, he's either really good or really bad, no consistancy.

How many people thought Buffalo would have one of the best defenses before the season started?
Right now Miller is the best American goalie playing, so they need to find a spot for him.

Lets not get carried away, they are 17th in the league giving up 29.7 shots per game, the isles are 26th giving up 32.8 per game. Miller 582 shots in 20 games or 29.1 per game and Ricky D. 997 shots in 35 games 28.5 per game. Miller has had some very busy nights the way the Sabres play an attacking style. They rely on him to bail them out. These stats prove two things 1. Ricky D. isn't as overworked as his defenders like to claim and 2. I have too much time on my hands.

 

[ManuelCalavera]

Well, Don Waddell stated at the time that all three goalies were starting the NHL. At this time, Graham is duking it out with Burke for starting duties; Burke has been better in the past few games... Esche is out with an injury and even when he comes back from the injury, I highly doubt he will see much time as a starter unless Niittymaki spontaneously combusts. So much for that argument .

Dipietro clearly deserves to be top 2 on the team, as he can be spectacular whereas the other two top out at slightly above average. With that said, DiPietro has been wildly inconsistent. My initial beliefs were that Steve Stirling "Stirling mad" expression (where somehow he only shows his lower teeth) was distracting him, so Ill give him the benefit of the doubt.

I am a Sabres fan, and I have been able to watch Miller the past few seasons, both in Rochester and with the Sabres. The biggest factor for his success is remarkable positioning. He can (and often does) make spectacular saves, but pucks will just hit him due to his sound technique. He is not afraid to cover up the puck, which slows the game down and really helps the team in front of him. Overall, he has been perfectly sound. Even when Biron was going crazy and went on his streak, most fans in Buffalo still awaited Miller's return, and I think that says something.

Overall, I look forward to Waddell's choice coming back to haunt him.

 

[BMOK33]

As an Islanders fan I'm very interested to see how DiPietro performs on a good team where the shots he does face will be quality ones. This will go a long way towards showing how good or bad he truly is and could absolutely sore his value on the market this summer as he is an RFA. I have a feeling though he will end up not even playing 1 minute

 

[OilerOlli*]

lol Thats funny. Since long time USA has a good Goalie again and then they don't name him into the squad.
Its hard to understand why a guy like Grahame was named instead of Miller...even if he was injured at this time.

 

[KH1]

How is it easy to defend DiPietro? it's the same story with him, he's either really good or really bad, no consistancy.

How many people thought Buffalo would have one of the best defenses before the season started?

Right now Miller is the best American goalie playing, so they need to find a spot for him.

What difference does it make whether or not people thought that Buffalo would have a good defense over the summer? The fact of the matter is that they protect Miller and the Isles defense doesn't protect DiPietro. There's really no other way to put it, I don't see why some people find this so hard to understand.

By the way in my previous post I meant to say that the Sabres have "one of" the best defenses, not "the best."

 

[Metallian*]

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.

+1

 

[joshjull]

What difference does it make whether or not people thought that Buffalo would have a good defense over the summer? The fact of the matter is that they protect Miller and the Isles defense doesn't protect DiPietro. There's really no other way to put it, I don't see why some people find this so hard to understand.

By the way in my previous post I meant to say that the Sabres have "one of" the best defenses, not "the best."

If you read my earlier post, you would see that they face the same amount of shots per game. Miller's save% .923 Dipietro .890. Yet that same Isles D "protects" Snow to a .905 save%. Snow is an average goalie yet he has a better save % than the golden boy.
As a Sabres fan I can tell you that our dmen are good for the system we play. In the context of the league they are nothing amazing. The system relies on the goalie to bail them out of alot of odd man rushes and occasionally break aways. The D are always pinching and joining the rush. In that system I don't think Ricky D would do any better in Buffalo if he needs to be "protected"

 

[MLH]

Since when does Buffalo have one of the best defenses in the NHL? Middle of the pack at best. It's kind of ironic since many were saying the Sabres lost their "best" defenseman to the Isles during the offseason.

Buffalo's style leads to many of Miller's saves being high quality scoring chances. Miller's stats are significantly better than any of our other goaltenders; DiPi's aren't better than Snow's. That's even worse when you consider that Buffalo's backup(s) is a lot better than the Islanders.

Saying that Miller is playing better because of the defense he plays behind is completely asinine.

Miller's the best American goalie, period.

 

[joshjull]

Dipietro isn't even the best US goalie on his team.

 

[KH1]

Dipietro isn't even the best US goalie on his team.

If you honestly think that Garth Snow is better than Rick DiPietro than you clearly haven't seen either of them play in a long, long time.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

Esche was excellent in his first game back from injury. Was the best player on the ice in a 2-1 Flyers victory.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

It shouldn't be an arguement of DiPietro or Esche vs. Miller, it should be what the hell Team USA was thinking when they picked John Grahame over Miller. Atleast take the guy as the #3, it's not like Grahame is going to play.

 

[FoppaArGud]

Agreed

Miller is on fire! DiPietro is weak! He and Conklin put up OK numbers (good sv %) in Austria but no clutch wins! Esche is more dependable in big games but he is still nursing an injury and hasnt gotten into a rhythm. At any rate Miller has been playing so well of late that it wouldnt matter if he was healthy. Get it done and maybe we can at least upset a couple of teams. Goals will be tough to come by, we have to win with defense and goaltending.

 

[TVanek26*]

It shouldn't be an arguement of DiPietro or Esche vs. Miller

Yes it should be, because neither of them come close to Miller.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Yes it should be, because neither of them come close to Miller.

I'm just saying that Miller should be on the team over Grahame. Esche and DiPietro atleast have reasoning to be there.

 

[gobolt7]

I'm just saying that Miller should be on the team over Grahame. Esche and DiPietro atleast have reasoning to be there.

At the time the team was picked, IIRC, Miller was injured, and Grahame was in the middle of a 9 game unbeaten streak. Thus the reason, IMO, that decision was made.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Miller is 5-0 vs. Grahame and DiPietro this year.I would rather have Miller with a BROKEN THUMB over Grahame OR DiPietro any day of the week. Esche is not an outstanding goalie by any means, he was in the same situation Khabibulin was in last year. An above-average goalie that got hot right before the playoffs. Miller is the best US goalie since Richter.

 

[joshjull]

If you honestly think that Garth Snow is better than Rick DiPietro than you clearly haven't seen either of them play in a long, long time.

You do know what that symbol means.

 

[Choice]

Miller should absolutely start for team USA. Diepetro is very inconistent, while Miller has shown himself to be solid. Theres no reason Miller shouldn't be on the roster either.

This team USA is the worst since NHLers have been in the olympics. Im going to have a hard time rooting for them, especially when there are so many guys i root for in the nhl playing for other teams

 

[joshjull]

At the time the team was picked, IIRC, Miller was injured, and Grahame was in the middle of a 9 game unbeaten streak. Thus the reason, IMO, that decision was made.

See my earlier post he was back. Although Esche was out injured groin or hammy don't remember.

 

[DaMick]

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.

Same here i agree Grahame should have been left off this roster


Now For all these Sabre fans now bashing DiPietro

remember you havent watched the Isles like we isles fans have...

Our D is absolutely the worst in the NHL

At least the Sabres are ready to play in the "new NHL"

we Isles are have a roster that is woefully slow in this new fast game.


If i ran the Team USA selection i would have let DiPietro & Miller battle it out & let Esche be the #3

 

[KH1]

Miller is 5-0 vs. Grahame and DiPietro this year.I would rather have Miller with a BROKEN THUMB over Grahame OR DiPietro any day of the week. Esche is not an outstanding goalie by any means, he was in the same situation Khabibulin was in last year. An above-average goalie that got hot right before the playoffs. Miller is the best US goalie since Richter.

Miller is 5-0 against Grahame and DiPietro because he has a much better team than either of those two. If you watched the Sabres slam the Isles repeatedly you'd realize that it was about the Isles being totally outclassed, not about Miller being better than DiPietro.

I've made every point that I can. Basically let me just say that to understand DiPietro's season you have to actually watch him play and see him hung out to dry time and time again. If you just read his stats (like almost everybody in this conversation has done) you won't be able to appreciate the amount of great games he's had and the number of games (Toronto and the last game vs. the Rangers stand out) where he gave up 3-4 goals on breakaways and 2 on 1's.

 

[Briere03]

I'm Canadian, and frankly, if Miller starts, the US is a much bigger threat to us.