In the span of both of their careers, overall, who has been the better goalie? Ryan Miller or Tim Thomas? I know Thomas is older but bare with me. I've gotten into so many arguments about who is better, and I want opinions.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

Barney Miller vs Frank Thomas?

I gotta go with Barney on this one.

Lalime.

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Thibault

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We truly are not worthy of Miller!

ENROTH GOD DAMMIT!

Thomas.

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Hard to argue with Thomas in light of recent events. I think a lot of Thomas's success has to do with his D being perfectly suited to his style, and vice versa. They do such a good job of tying forwards up and clearing rebounds that Thomas can challenge the shooter and take away any net without worry. Miller has a similar style, but his D isn't good enough to allow him to do that. Sometimes I think Miller over-thinks a play and cheats a bit, trying to be both goaltender and seventh defenseman at the same time and it hurts him. This year should be telling.

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Miller, but similar to what CV said, Miller (many times this past season) gets out of position trying to anticipate or make up for defensive breakdowns. He let in some ugly ones because of it, but overall, if you could just drop in Miller with Boston and Thomas with Buffalo, Miller would get the nod. In the long run, positionally and technically sound beats out aggressive and daring (Hasek not-withstanding).

Of course, Jacques Cloutier would school them both.

I have to say Thomas, though I don't want to. This year Miller will have a better D so maybe we'll see him prove me wrong. That being said, when it comes to skill versus skill I think Thomas beats Ryan by just the slimmest of margins.

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rask

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Lets see if Thomas has a so-so season and Miller a great one this coming year.

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--Scott

Ryan miller and Tim Thomas are 1A and 1B, you could go with either one in net.

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conks.


really though, both are elite goaltenders, but statistically thomas had a much better season. it'd be ridiculous to say tim thomas wasn't the better of the two this past season.

and on the flipside, i'm really excited to see what miller can piece together this year-- especially with our new blue line in front of him. maybe i'm stretching too far, but i'm kind of expecting miller to look as good as he did in the olympic year with the extra help he'll be getting from guys like regehr. having a better defense on the ice should instantly make miller better.

I actually meant overall in their careers... Not just this passing season.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

Well.....I hate to be the ass who says that winning a cup means a lot but I'd have to say Thomas. He's had more success than Miller, even if it had something to do with a better defense in front of him. We'll have to wait and see if an improved blue line will help Miller pad the resume.

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I think Miller has been better overall. He has been the heart and soul of the Sabres for a while now, and Thomas has been on and off in his career.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

thomas does have the second highest career save percentage.. give it to thomas, at the moment. but the gap is minimal.

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It's pretty hard to chose just one out of those 2. So far IMHO Thomas has had the better career out of the 2. So I'd go with him if we are just choosing up-to-date career wise...

An honourable mention should be thrown in for Pekka Rinne.

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"If you want to know what I've been doing lately, I've been driving around from Tim Horton's to Tim Horton's, rolling up the rim. Haven't won anything yet. Thanks." - Lindy Ruff

This isn't really much of an argument. Who has had more success in their career? Who has been statistically better? It's Thomas.

While Miller is more important (to determining the team's success), I don't think that's what this discussion is about.

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Stats are a very strong reflection of the goalie's team defense in front of him. After Julien became coach and turned them into a typical Julien team, Thomas' stats shot up behind a solid d-corps and a team that plays some boring (but effective) hockey. Any goalie playing under a Julien or Lemaire system is going to have an advantage in stats. Of course they have to be good too, but the system boosts the stats. Put Miller in a system like that and watch his stats jump.

Miller has had to back-stop an average if not shaky d-corps over the years and play under an up-tempo system that relies on him to stand on his head from time to time. This has also caused him to break down at times trying to make up for the lapses in front of him, but overall he's a more technically sound goalie, and just as athletic as Thomas. If you could switch them around the difference would show. Of course that can't happen, but I also think there's been enough comments from around the league to guesstimate that more players think Miller is the better goalie.