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In a somewhat surprising move, Team USA head coach tabbed LA Kings goalie Jonathon Quick as his starter for game one of the preliminary round versus Slovakia on Thursday. Puck drop will be at 7:30 am EDT.
Jonathan Quick to start in goal for U.S. tomorrow against Slovakia. #teamusa #usah
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) February 12, 2014The Buffalo Sabres starter back-stopped Team USA in to the gold medal game in Vancouver in 2010. Miller never sat out one game at the 2010 Vancouver games. Sidney Crosby ended Miller’s dream of winning the gold medal when he scored the OT GWG. Miller’s performances at Vancouver earned him the Most Valuable Player.
A disappointed Miller accepted Bylsma’s decision and lent his support to Quick after Wednesday’s practice.
"It was the coach's decision," Miller said. "Obviously, I want to play and compete and do my part. Right now, I will just back up Jon. He's a great goalie and he is going to do great for us. We'll see where it goes from here and I'll just be ready to play."
Bylsma told NBC Sports that he has two great goalies in Quick and Miller.
“We’re dealing with a position of strength when it comes to the goaltender, and the goaltender decision,… said Bylsma.
“Jonathan’s won a championship with his team, won a Stanley Cup. Certainly Ryan this year has played very well for his team as well, so it’s been dealing from where we have two very good guys to be in net. Jonathan will be getting the nod.…
Asked about which goalie will start game two versus Russia, Bylsma said:
“We have plans for game one.…
Bylsma said that Miller told him that he will ready when called upon.
Is Bylsma tempting fate with the hockey gods by flipping the script with his staring goalies? Slovakia will not be an open skate for Quick and Team USA. Jaro Halak, Zdeno Chara, Reggie Sekera, Marian Hossa and a host of other notable NHLers comprise Slovakia’s impressive roster.
This game will be a grinding, low shot, low score affair.
Bylsma stressed Wednesday that his decision is only for the Slovakia game only. Does this mean that Miller will start vs. Ovechkin and the Russians on Saturday? Is Bylsma leaning toward a Quick-Miller-Quick preliminary round rotation? Or, is he looking to ride Quick for all three games (Slovaks, Russia, Slovenia) of the preliminary round?
"He's a great goalie and he's going to do great for us," Miller said. "We'll see where it goes from here and I'll be ready to play."
Here’s my take on the Quick appointment:
Bylsma and his coaching staff have been carefully scouting both goaltenders for the past month and a half ever since Quick returned from his Grade 2 groin strain that he suffered during an epic battle with Ryan Miller in Buffalo on November 12.
Quick hasn't been at his best this season.
His save percentage ranks 29th among NHL goalies and he was out for nearly two months with his groin injury before returning to play in early January.
Quick would miss seven weeks of once action as he rested and recovered from his serious injury. In those seven weeks, Miller was masterful in his net for the Sabres. He made save after impossible save to keep his team in close games. Who cares if Miller lost 7-1 to Colorado and 5-1 to the Penguins in his final two starts before the Olympic roster freeze? His Sabres team pulled the chute on him in each of those games and left him hanging high and dry in his net.
Barring a Quick injury, I seriously don’t see how Miller will get a start in the preliminary round until the Slovenia game. Lets say Quick loses to Slovakia in game one. How then does Bylsma tap Miller as the starter for game two on Saturday February 15th vs. Ovechkin, Malkin and the Russians when he hadn’t handled a puck in game action since losing to Pittsburgh in Buffalo on February 5th?
Bylsma’s starting goaltending hunch better pay dividends for Team USA or else he’ll be second guessed for his decision making process.
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Canada will rotate Carey Price and Roberto Luongo for games one and two vs. Norway and Austria, respectively.
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Last month, Dustin Brown and Ryan Kesler stood at center ice and pounded the snot out of one another. The LA King had to pay the piper for taking liberties with Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo in December. Brown knew he'd be called out and be asked to fight. He didn't know that his Team USA teammate Ryan Kesler would be the assailant.
On Tuesday, they lined up as line mates in Sochi.
“We’re fine now,… Brown said after Monday’s late-night practice. “It’s one of those things, which is a part of the NHL game. We’re probably going to try to kill each other on the ice even though we know each other off the ice.…
Ironic and symbolic thatr the Brown-Kesler brawl took place on the very same sheet of ice where Sidney Crosby scored the "Golden Goal" in OT four years ago at the Vancouver Olympics.
That was then. This is now.
Team USA head coach Dan Bylsma wants his players to put the blinders on and focus on the task at hand which is beating Chara, Hossa, and the talented Slovaks in their foirst preliminary games on Thursday.
“It’s a challenge for every team. This is a unique situation and a unique tournament,… said Bylsma, who is coaching in his first international tournament.
“You’re trying to come together as a team and build that chemistry quickly. That’s an uncommon thing for us as hockey players. But the team that comes together as a group and figures that out in the next seven days is going to be the most successful.…
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I'll be shocked if Ryan Miller isn't named starting goalie by Dan Bylsma. Miller has been there, done that, and accrued the necessary sweat equity at the Vancouver games when he fell one save shy of being the gold medal goaltender. Jonathon Quick is a superb goaltender, however, Bylsma will have to go with the known quanity right now and that is Miller. Team USA can ill afford to fall down to the Slovaks in game one of the preliminary round on Thursday morning. USA, Russia, Slovakia, and Slovenia comprise "Group A" and it won't be easy for USA to advance if they lose the first game.
Miller admitted on Tuesday that he was feeling some jet lag after his plane landed in Sochi late on Monday., Bylsma called his group together for a late night practice after the excruciating travel day.
“I like to count this as the first practice. Last night was a little bit tiring. We had just come off the plane and honestly I didn’t feel good,… goaltender Ryan Miller said after Tuesday’s up-tempo practice.
“But today felt good. The energy was there and I was seeing the puck a little better. I felt like a goaltender again.…
Miller will treat these Olympic games as his personal Stanley Cup Finals. He's been the best player on the 30th place NHL team all season long. Not once has he copped an attitude nor faltered during the season of suffering in Buffalo. Miller knows how Olympic pressure tastes like and feels like having played to the MVP standard in 2010.
“I don’t know that I’m over it. It’s something every time you look back on it you say that took a lot of effort and focus. That work and time it’s frustrating to think we were that close and missed out. That’s what we really feel, like we missed out,… said Miller.
“We’re going to have to, not dwell on it, but we want another opportunity. It’s going to take more work, more focus and it’s going to take a complete job by every guy. Hopefully it was just a lesson learned.…
The 33 year old pending UFA has found solace and tranquility from all of the trade rumors revolving around him back in North America.
Right now, he's steadfast, focused, determined, analytical-expressive world class athlete with one goal in his mind:
To right the wrongs that sabotaged Team USA's gold medal dreams at Vancouver in 2010.
Knowing Miller the way that I've come to know him over the past nine seasons of covering him in Buffalo, I'm looking forward to watching him carry his team to the medal round and perhaps the gold medal podium in Sochi.