Has Ryan Miller met his tipping point?
Seriously. The guy continues to bust his ass and cover up the mistakes that his forwards and D perpetually make on an alarming basis. The Sabres entered their game against the Canadiens with an NHL-low 1.6 goals per game. Matt Moulson's first goal in the last 11 games was the only measure of help that the Sabres coud muster for their all-world goaltender. Ville Leino hit a post in the first period. Luke dam whiffed on a wide ass open net in the early going as well. If the Sabres cash one of these chances, we're talking about a 2-2 tie after regulation. Instead, Tyler Myers took questionable boarding penalty late in the third period. Tyler Ennis was called for holding at 2:58 of the third period to put the Hans on the powerplay. Brenden Gallagher scored on the powerplay to drop the Sabres to a 5-20-1 record. The Habs have scored at least one PPG in each of its road games this season. They are the #1 road PP team in the NHL. Stupid is as stupid does.
With 28 saves on 31 shots on goal on Friday night, Ryan Miller now has a
.931 save % and a 2.49 GAA in his last 6 games.
One wonders if Ryan Miller has had enough of the losing and the drama.
I asked Steve Ott about Ryan Miller's superior leadership and inspirational play.
"Ryan's been our best player all season long. He's kept us in so many games. He's been peppered all season long with a lot of shots and a lot of work. He's so professional. He gives us a chance to win every night. He's professional. He comes to work every day and he gives us a chance to win every night, and that all you ask of a goaltender, much less a world-class goalie.
Pelted. Bang on.
Miller is eating more rubber than the inbound and outbound " 33". Combined!
Miller has already faced a dizzying
708 shots against in his 19 starts. Thats an average of 37.2 shots against.
He's allowed just 58 saves. He's made 650 saves already this season.
Miller has played 1,118:49 minutes all told.
His season stats are impeccable:
3.11 GAA and .913 save percentage.
The guy shows up and does his job very single day. He's the team MVP during these dark days.
Personally, I'm amazed that he has flipped his lid yet this season what with all of the mistakes and broken plays that have occurred in front of him on a nightly basis.
Thanks, sabres.com
Miller had every right to be pissed off after the 3-1 home loss to Montreal. Its like a broke record to listen to the postgame interviews of Miller and his inconsistent teammates.
Something's got to give, right? The Sabres have fallen and they can't get up.
Miller deserves better than what he's getting in the Buffalo experience. He's held up his end of the bargain. He's been an inspirational leader of men and a role model for the newbies, the rookies and the young veterans. He's doing all that he can do to prepare and to put his team in a position to win every time he jumps into his cage.
I feel like the Sabres should trade Ryan Miller now. They sell him to the highest bidder. Be it LA, Nashville, Colorado, Anaheim, or the NY Islannders, With the way Miller is playing right now, Pat LaFontaine could easily get his mitts on a top six scoring forward and a first round draft choice in exchange for the soon-to--be starter of Team USA at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games.
We learned Friday night that Rick Dudley is no longer a candidate for the Buffalo GM job.
Its time for LaFontaine to fly to Boston, look Jim Benning in the eye, and tell him "Congratulations. You are the new GM of the Buffalo Sabres". Benning's first order of business as GM of the Buffalo Sabres will be an ironic, yet necessary one. Benning will have to trade away the very same all-world goalie that he was instrumental in drafting from Michigan State University to Buffalo with the 138th overall pick (5th round) in the 1999 NHL entry draft.
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Updated 6:20pm EDT:
Thanks, Montreal Canadiens
Call him “the one that got away”.
Rick Dudley will not be interviewing for the vacant Buffalo Sabres GM job. On Froday afternoon, the Canadiens signed Dudley to a contract extension. Dudley has one year remaining on his present contract. The new extension will kick in after the 2014-15 season. No terms of the deal were made available.
“Duds’ met with the Montreal and Buffalo media sixty minutes before puck drop on Wednesday night.
Have the Sabres spoken with Dudley since Darcy Regier was fired earlier this month?
“No, they (Buffalo) just asked permission (to interview him). I’m in a situation…. I went to Montreal because of Marc Bergevin. I enjoy working with Marc and Larry (Carriere) and Scott (Mellanby). Its fun. it’s a great gig. If you enjoy something a great deal, why change if you don’t have to. I mean, I appreciate the pundits bringing my name up in Toronto and some of them were people that I’ve worked with in the league like Bill Watters and Doug Maclean and people like that, and I really appreciate them suggesting that I would be a good choice (for Buffalo GM), but again, when you get back to it, and Patty LaFontaine… he’s going to make the right choice. It doesn’t necessarily have to be Rick Dudley. Anybody he picks will be the “right guy”. He’s a bright guy, and he’s a hockey guy and both of those (factors) are important . For me, the Montreal situation is just… I love the city. I love the passion of the people, and I love the people that I work with. From Marc, to Larry, to Scott, to John Sedgwick, and then you go to the coaching staff, I get along extremely well with Michel (Therrien)--- he’s been just a lot of fun and he shares everything with his staff. So it (Montreal) is a situation where we’re having fun and don’t want to change”.
***
Does Dudley see himself ever being an NHL GM again?
"Not really. I don't know. Again, I'm at a time in my career when there's not a lot of gigs left. I still have a passion to do it. The one thing I thought about if I was lucky enough to get the (Buffalo) job is it would break a record. That I hold with Burkie (Brian Burke) and Bryan (Murray) in Ottawa. That kind of intrigued me. (laughing). Truthfully, I'm having a ball in Montreal and I'll stay there. its been fun since day one and it continues to be. We've got a wonderful group of players, coaches and the entire staff. It was a situation that I didn't think I could walk away".
***
Dudley prides himself on his keen eye for talent. He knows the Buffalo roster of platers and prospects well. he watches most Sabres games live. He knows what future stars that they have in Rochester, juniors and in the NCAA.
"They've got some good pieces. I'll go ahead and mention Kevin Devine. I think he's done a good job here. There's some really good young peieces in the cupboard. The problem with the NHL now is with the cap is you can't make mistakes. So from here on they (Buffalo) have to avoid mistakes. They are a team with a number of assets and the peieces they put in place here have to be the right pieces. Same as anybody".
***
Is being a GM in today's NHL different (restricting) on some ways than when he first started in the NHL front office?
" I tend to laugh when I hear that because you've got a hockey person. The job of a cap person is to look at the product and assess the value of it. Now, who better to assess that value then Ken Holland (Wings GM)? He's a hockey guy, he was a scout, he's an evaluator. Thise are the types of people, to me, that have to make those decisions. So for me, I'm a fan of GMs who have a hockey background. and the mpore things in your background that are hockey related--from scouting to player development-- all of those things, the more value you have. For me, I look at the people that I really like. I look at Donny Maloney in Phoenix, he's a brilliant evaluator and he's done a wonderful job with that franchise. Some of the things on the sheet (of paper) can tell him things tell him what the cost of doing business is. But, he can look at a face and he knows exactly what the value is, compared to other people making similar money. He knows exactly what the value of that is. I think its a complicated world because of the cap. If I take my car to the garage, I want the mechanic to work on it, not a CBA or a CPA".
****
Dudley on LaFontaine:
"He's a hockey guy. He's spent his life playing hockey, working in hockey. Now, obviously, to make the transition its going to take some people around him that have been there. he's a great, great kid. Always has been. Obviously he's a charismatic guy so people are going to love him, but I think he's a smart enough guy to figure it out . If he doesn't know now, he will learn in a hurry".
***
Dudley on his respect and admiration for Bergevin:
"You want to know why I'm happy? Marc (Bergevin) expressed that he didn't want to lose me. He and I are very close" .One thing I know about Marc Bergevin is that he's not going to bullsh*t you. Pardon my language. he said that and actually I was thrilled by the fact that after I told "Bergie" yes, geoff (Molson) called me and said that he really appreciated me staying with the (Montreal) organization. Thats what we have. We have a group of special people. I think one thing I am, because of all of the stops I've made, I'm able to assess people. This (Canadiens) is a non-political group that have a lot of fun together. We'll continue to.
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According to the Montreal Canadiens AGM,
Rick Dudley, has agreed to a new contract extension with the Habs.
The Sabres will have to look elsewhere for their next GM.
Dudley has reportedly been on Sabres president of hockey operations Pat LaFontaine's short list of GM candidates.
The Sabres reportedly asked for permission to interview Dudley, however, were not given approval by the Habs.
Ever since Terry Pegula fired Darcy Regier earlier this month, there have been reports that Dudley would be the favorite to become the next GM of the Buffalo Sabres. Dudley played for the Blue & Gold, and he was their head coach as well. He's a long time resident of Lewiston, NY.
LaFontaine has been given permission to interview Bruins AGM Jim Benning and Penguins AGM Jason Boterill.
Earlier this week in Rochester, LaFontaine told Kevin Oklobzija if the Rochester D and C that he has expanded his short list of candidates by one or two GM candidates. Perhaps LaFontaine knew that Dudley was staying put in Montreal and decided to cast his net out wider for his new GM.
Its a shrewd play for the Habs who know a great hockey man when they see one. "Duds" builds teams that win Stanley Cups. He's highly regarded as one of, if not the top talent evaluators in the NHL.
Does the Dudley news now open up the door for LaFontaine to interview Nashville Preds AGM
Paul Fenton?
Joe Nieuwendyk has NHL GM experience (Dallas) and has won multiple Stanley Cups as a player. His name is gaining more traction in the Buffalo GM rumors this week, too.
I heard earlier this week that former Edmonton Oilers GM
Steve Tambellini may now be on LaFontaine's short list. Earlier today, the Sabres hired former Oilers AGM
Kevin Prendergast, who has spent 20 years in the Oilers' front office.
Mark Messier's name has also been connected to the Buffalo GM job in recent days too.
***
Here's my revised list of Sabres GM candidates, ranked by my preference:
1). Benning
2). Boterill
****
Dudley is a rink rat. He loves to drive from rink to rink, all over the world, and watch young talent perform. He's not your average hockey suit who likes to sit behind a desk and do media interviews. Perhaps the AGM job in Montreal is the ideal situation for Dudley as he gets to continue to watch hockey players, evaluate, develop, draft and be the architect of a program he has helped restore pride and integrity to in Montreal. It was just two short seasons ago that the Canadiens found themselves in a similar situation (bottom of the NHL)as the Sabres find themselves in now. Dudley was hired away from the Toronto Maple Leafs by Habs GM Marc Bergevin in 2012. Dudley was Bergevin's boss in Chicago.
Perhaps, Dudley wanted the autonomy to hire his own head coach. Dudley and Sabres Hall Of Famer Craig Ramsay remain very close to this day. Ramsay was fired as an assistant coach Kevin Dineen in Florida earlier this month. Ramsay will make a great head coach in the NHL again in the near future.
The Sabres host the Habs tonight.
More to come.....
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From earlier Wednesday afternoon:
Another interesting move by Pat LaFontaine today. He has hired former Edmonton Oilers AGM Kevin Prendergast as a pro scout. Prendergast spent 20 years in the Edmonton Oilers front office. Most recently, he has been the head scout for Hockey Canada.
“Kevin is a very respected and well-connected talent evaluator in many different hockey circles,” Sabres president of hockey operations Pat LaFontaine.
“His keen eye for hockey talent, combined with his experience in the game at a multitude of levels, will be a tremendous addition to our hockey operations staff and we are proud to welcome him to the Buffalo Sabres organization.”
Prendergast was also the former VP of Hockey Ops and former head scout for the Edmonton Oilers.
He replaced Barry Fraser in the year 2000. He was replaced as head scout by Stu MacGregor in 2007 and made Assistant GM until he was fired from that job in 2010.
Perhaps a Buffalo-Edmonton trade is in order.
Drew Stafford?
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