That play is something I have been seeing lately and up until then he got back in time but man is he seeming slower lately.

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Incomplete I think, not weak. While stats my often not tell the whole story, they are the best way to measure a player's performance. I'd say that arguments based on perception (i.e. clutch, heart) are much, much weaker than arguments based on stats, even for a goaltender.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Yeah not once have I heard Miller blame someone else for a loss. Even if it's not his fault, he blames it on himself.

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

1 stat matters for goalies: save percentage. everything else is too dependent on the defense in front of you.

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His attitude just *looks* different on the ice this year. I really wonder if something is up, be it in his personal life or whatever what have you. He doesn't look like he's trying very hard or something. Flame suit on. I like the guy, I'm just sayin....

I'll never get behind this. I know we've gone around with this before.

No statistic, observed or derived, can possibly tell you everything there is to know about a player. Statistics are a tool to be used in conjunction with observation and experience.

I'm not saying that statistics are of sole importance, nor am I saying that personal observations are completely unimportant. I just said that fan perception is a weaker basis for measuring a player than hard stats.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

http://www.broadstreethockey.com/2011/2 ... effects-on

Article on Miller's performance this year along with things on Thomas, Boucher and Bobrovski. I'm just waiting for Bobrovski to choke come playoff time.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

But stats are weak!


In all seriousness, my lowered opinion of Miller this season has been based on how he's fared in situations against shooters and star players (like Hossa, Kovalchuk, and apparently Grabner) because those are the saves you expect a trophy winning netminder to make at least fairly often, and I think he's largely failed in those situations this season. It seems like a lot of the big goals against us this season have been instances in which Miller flat out gets beat on a shot, not in which the defense gets outworked.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Where did I say that? I've been agreeing with everyone else that he hasn't been playing at the level that he is capable of.

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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

Is Miller having a worse season? Certainly. Is he right around league-average? Yes, yes he is. But he's still above league average in ES SV%, and he's mostly being hurt by shorthanded goals scored against the Sabres. But his play at even-strength is only marginally worse than his established talent level. Does that make him run-of-the-mill? No. It makes him unlucky and the victim of small sample-sizes. But most people see the 0.909 overall save percentage and use it as justification for their hyperbolic "run-of-the-mill netminder" statement. And they're wrong.

That is basically the point I'm trying to make when people just want to look at his GAA and SV% and that's it.

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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

Well I think the clutch argument is just as bad. I've some, but not much from Miller to call him a clutch goaltender. In fact, you could make a case for the opposite by pointing out failures in the ECFs, Winter Classic, and Gold Medal Game. (For the record, I don't agree with this, but it is out there. Miller hasn't won many big games at the professional level.)

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

alot of TEAMS havnt won at the professional level.

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Miller still blows.

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Not saying that isn't true, but if you're going to call miller a "clutch goaltender" you have to point out that a lot of people have the perception that he chokes in big moments.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

I'm not a goaltending maven by any stretch, but it seems to me that Miller's ability to read a play (perhaps the best in the league) coupled with his footspeed and preparation make up for unspectacular glove, blocker, and puck handling skills.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

It's kind of sad to think, but I really don't have any way to argue against that.

I mean, it seems as though he quite often comes up big during shootouts and penalty shots, or breakaways during games in general.

I could argue that two of the events you mentioned, he was beaten by the best player in the NHL, one of the events you mentioned was his first trip to the NHL playoffs, and the other trip to the ECF was against an Ottawa team that the Sabres just couldn't play well against.

He's won a Vezina. He's shown that he is capable of playing at a higher level.

Yet here we are.

I don't know. It's a tough call.

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Wheelhouse

Yeah, Phil raised the question a few weeks ago and I disagreed with it, but the idea is out there.

I will agree that his performance in SOs and on breakaways has been stellar (aside from 07-08). Seems this season he's getting beat by more shooters than usual though.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

I'm simply using Miller's clutch performance as an example as to why you can't just rely on numbers alone. I'm not using it as a complete argument, saying, "It doesn't matter that his stats are bad. He is clutch and that's all that matters."

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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 don't like having to rely on one goalie for 30+ straight games, and that could be an issue if they even reach the playoffs, but I think this is just one bad game by Miller out of several this season, and one bad defensive team game out of many. I don't think any reliable conclusions can come from that game, other than the fact that Sekera continues to be a magic eight ball on the blueline.