As Ruff stated, he wants Ryan Miller to string together the best 40 games he's ever played. Ruff is going to lean on Miller, Enroth be damned.
Hey Lindy, guess what? If Miller strung together his best 40 games ever, his save percentage and goals against average would probably look a lot like Jhonas Enroth's current numbers!
.923 sv% and a 2.46 GAA for the season.
Miller's career save percentage and GAA anyone?
.914 sv% and a 2.60 GAA.
You want to lean on your goaltending, Lindy? You want Miller to put up his best numbers ever? You already have a goaltender that is putting up the kind of numbers you seek, yet it hasn't even occurred to you to lean on him. Why? Is it because his name isn't Ryan Miller?
As Ruff stated, he wants Ryan Miller to string together the best 40 games he's ever played. Ruff is going to lean on Miller, Enroth be damned.
Hey Lindy, guess what? If Miller strung together his best 40 games ever, his save percentage and goals against average would probably look a lot like Jhonas Enroth's current numbers!
.923 sv% and a 2.46 GAA for the season.
Miller's career save percentage and GAA anyone?
.914 sv% and a 2.60 GAA.
You want to lean on your goaltending, Lindy? You want Miller to put up his best numbers ever? You already have a goaltender that is putting up the kind of numbers you seek, yet it hasn't even occurred to you to lean on him. Why? Is it because his name isn't Ryan Miller?
You're comparing apples and oranges. Lindy didn't say he wanted to see Miller's career average. He wants his career best, or close to it.
Miller's best 40-game stretch is much, much better than .914/2.60. I'm too lazy to look it up, but a couple years ago, he was putting up Hasek-like numbers for a good stretch - maybe a couple months or so at the start of the season. I can almost guarantee the 40 games that included that timespan were top-tier, elite numbers - much better and over a longer time span than anything Enroth has done so far.
So that's what Lindy is looking/hoping for - dominant, top-5 goalie in the league numbers, not career averages.
As Ruff stated, he wants Ryan Miller to string together the best 40 games he's ever played. Ruff is going to lean on Miller, Enroth be damned.
Hey Lindy, guess what? If Miller strung together his best 40 games ever, his save percentage and goals against average would probably look a lot like Jhonas Enroth's current numbers!
.923 sv% and a 2.46 GAA for the season.
Miller's career save percentage and GAA anyone?
.914 sv% and a 2.60 GAA.
You want to lean on your goaltending, Lindy? You want Miller to put up his best numbers ever? You already have a goaltender that is putting up the kind of numbers you seek, yet it hasn't even occurred to you to lean on him. Why? Is it because his name isn't Ryan Miller?
You'll say anything to avoid the fact that enroth is a good backup with a giant target on his five hole
Taking two steps back, the point of playing Miller a lot is to get him back into the swing of things to improve his play. Let's not lose sight of that.
You're comparing apples and oranges. Lindy didn't say he wanted to see Miller's career average. He wants his career best, or close to it.
That's just about what Enroth is doing right now, at least save percentage wise. Enroth's current save percentage is very close to Miller's career best season, which was 2009-10 where he put up a .929 save percentage. Enroth is at .923 today.
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Miller's best 40-game stretch is much, much better than .914/2.60. I'm too lazy to look it up, but a couple years ago, he was putting up Hasek-like numbers for a good stretch - maybe a couple months or so at the start of the season. I can almost guarantee the 40 games that included that timespan were top-tier, elite numbers - much better and over a longer time span than anything Enroth has done so far.
Not so fast. That year was an anomaly for Miller. Ruff is asking for better than that from Miller? That's not even fair to Miller. Has Ruff just gone crazy?
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So that's what Lindy is looking/hoping for - dominant, top-5 goalie in the league numbers, not career averages.
That's right. Lindy has proven that's the only way he can win games. With elite goaltending. Some coaching genius, huh?
Taking two steps back, the point of playing Miller a lot is to get him back into the swing of things to improve his play. Let's not lose sight of that.
Playing Miller a lot is not going to accomplish that. If it did, Miller would have been Vezina caliber last season when he played 69 games, and played around 30 games in a row because Lalime was his back up.
If Ruff wants to win more games than they lose from here on out, he would do himself and the team right by starting the goaltender that is saving just over 92% of the shots he's facing for the season. Not coddle the other guy because of his name and history.
But Lindy Ruff doesn't care about winning, in and of itself, as much as he cares about winning or losing by giving his favorites the big minutes. That much is obvious after 14 years.
Taking two steps back, the point of playing Miller a lot is to get him back into the swing of things to improve his play. Let's not lose sight of that.
And Ruff tried that. It didn't work.
Open up the starting job to competition. Enroth has earned another start tomorrow night. Let's see who wants it the most.
Open up the starting job to competition. Enroth has earned another start tomorrow night. Let's see who wants it the most.
I like this idea, and it makes the most sense. Miller is not playing like a #1, he shouldn't get preferential treatment. Part 4 of 24/7 this past week had Laviolette saying something very interesting about goaltending. I'm paraphrasing here, but he basically said he rewards the goalie that is playing better and doesn't do something that hurts the team. No wonder this guy has a cup, and a team that plays with passion and sticks together.
Playing Miller a lot is not going to accomplish that. If it did, Miller would have been Vezina caliber last season when he played 69 games, and played around 30 games in a row because Lalime was his back up.
No, but it might just accomplish what Ruff is very obviously trying to do, which is to simply let Miller play himself out of what is very obviously a rut for a player of his caliber.
No, but it might just accomplish what Ruff is very obviously trying to do, which is to simply let Miller play himself out of what is very obviously a rut for a player of his caliber.
Hasn't he already been doing that? Where are the results? It's not even logical to me.
I'm not defending that the strategy has worked in any way, folks, just saying that it wasn't a nonsensical one as some of you are implying. Is there any doubt that a healthy and "on" Miller could be of great assistance to this struggling team?
It's been tried, and I agree - it's not working. Open the slot up for competition and see what happens.
I'm not defending that the strategy has worked in any way, folks, just saying that it wasn't a nonsensical one as some of you are implying. Is there any doubt that a healthy and "on" Miller could be of great assistance to this struggling team?
It's been tried, and I agree - it's not working. Open the slot up for competition and see what happens.
No doubt it would be the best assistance at this point. They need him. Problem is, I think he's gone. This doesn't seem to be a slump that he can work out of at this point. Right now he should be awarding the better players. This is a problem, Ruff has no answers anymore. It's just routine for him. In a game that seems always evolving, now ideas and personalities are a necessity.
Before i say this i want to note that i still don't think enroth is a starter yet. That being said id like.to see what happens if lindy does what bostan did a few years back with Thomas and Rask. If enroth is hot let him start until miller wins it back. I think that the results of that are still showing in Thomas.
Not so fast. That year was an anomaly for Miller. Ruff is asking for better than that from Miller? That's not even fair to Miller. Has Ruff just gone crazy?
I'm not saying it's realistic, or that I agree with Ruff's goalie management strategy. My point is simply that asking for Miller's best 40 games stretch is a very high bar - he's played at an elite level for extended periods of time.
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Originally Posted by ShaPow
That's right. Lindy has proven that's the only way he can win games. With elite goaltending. Some coaching genius, huh?
Again - I'm not here to defend Ruff. His goalie management speaks for itself. I'm just saying that when he says he wants the best 40 games of Miller's career, that's a much higher bar than anything Enroth has or is likely to accomplish. Hell, it's pretty unrealistic to expect Miller to do that again this year - but I think he's speaking more figuratively than literally, and just looking to get the best out of Miller that he can.
No, Hasek used to win games 2-1 all the time. That 1998-99 team sucked wind. He carried it.
Don't let Rob Ray hear you say that. He rightfully bristles at suggestions like that. The Sabres gave Dom plenty of goal support in the playoffs -- until the finals.
