Hi Kevin.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

i like kevin

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If Lalime makes a start and gets another loss I will oficially never watch another game he starts.

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just call me Brad

Twitter @BUrbanowicz13

Hello loser.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

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Miller has played in all but 3 games this season. the team has played in 26 games. That is an average of every 8 games Miller rests.

Even though he will play 70 games at that rate right now, it's not too bad, especially with how our schedule has been thus far. I can see Miller getting more rest in December than he previously has.

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There are 12 goalies that have played as many or more games as Miller so far.

He's also going to play 2 of the 3 preliminary round games, likely the secondary round playoff game against Norway, Belarus, Latvia, or Germany, and all the playoff round games in the Olympics. So he's really playing 74 games at this rate. He definitely wasn't at the top of his game when he played 76 in 07-08. He's going to need probably an extra 5-7 games off. Hopefully they can lock up a spot early or at least be in the top 8 going into the final month instead of 10th or 11th.

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Miller has also repeatedly said that he learned what to expect from his 76 game run, and has adjusted his training and strength regiment accordingly. He's also learned to stop expending game type energy in practices when it's not really needed.

I honestly don't think that 'tired Miller' will be a problem this year, even with the schedule how it is, and Olympics.

Very true.

You just have to be careful not to work him too hard as to avoid injury. That's what I'm worried about more than anything.

The past 2 years, we've missed the playoffs by one measly win.

When your backup loses 9 out of 10 starts...

It just seems like a very simple issue to address in order to improve the team.

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Wheelhouse

The numbers don't exactly agree with that, though..... The issue I saw with last years team was on Miller's night off, everyone else took the night off too. I tend to agree with the people that push the point that the rest of the team needs to have the faith in the backup that our GM has.

If you look at Patty's stats from last year, he started 21 games and had a 5-13-3 record. His SV% was .900. The "9 out of 10" was his saves per shots against. 9 saves for every 10 shots is not someone I'd get rid of right away, considering the "Miller is God" attitude around here and his SV% last year was a .918. Christ, the league leading goalie in wins last year, Kiprusoff, had a .903. To me, a measure of a goalie is saves, not wins. Can the guy make a save. An opposing team getting a shot against has very little to do with the goalie, and wins have too much to do with the whole team.

Um, well...that's interesting. But I'd rather see Lalime get more wins on his record, even if that means his SV% will suffer.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

Sorry, but I strongly disagree.

Your backup has to be better. Period.

Lalime's weak goals made them cave in. They always had to play more cautious with him in net.

While many of the games he played were not tied to strong team efforts, there were also some that were.

The guy couldn't even win a game in the AHL this weekend.

I don't care how poor the team is playing. He has to be better than a win percentage of less than 10%. It's pathetic.

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Wheelhouse

Thanks for your 2 cents, Pat's mom!!

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

with miller in net, I have the feeling Buffalo can beat all the other teams, even with an average game.

but with Lalime.......

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HOCKEY IS BACK!

Can't think of anything witty to rebut that with....

Still with the comments against what I wrote, I can't jump on the "dump him" bandwagon. No matter who you bring in, they're still going to pale in comparison to Ryan Miller, who is the league leader in just about all the stats right now. Plus, I think it's going to be hard to bring someone in knowing that they're only going to realistically play so few games a season with a starter than can go 65-70 games/year.

It makes sense when you're evaluating a goalie, not a team.

Then again, players don't win Cups, teams do.

Lalime's stats are mediocre at best, but if you want to instead say that he is the victim of a team that for some reason always plays like garbage every time he starts than I still don't want him. Let's get a backup the team will play hard for. If Pat's just the victim of bad luck, than we have way too much of that already in Buffalo. We don't want a jinxed goalie losing every time out. If he's just lost confidence because somehow he always ends up getting beat than I say replace him with a goaltender that has the confidence.

Last year Telqvuist somehow won for us and got better stats than Lalime. It's not just Miller being Mr. Superstar, it's Lalime not getting it done for whatever above reason works for you.

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

Well, although I would say that 2 games is hardly a test, i can't help but agree with your point. But, then again, I liked your point last week a little better:





A point also well taken.