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Ryan Miller, Steve Ott, David Backes, Ken Hitchcock speak, courtesy Blues TV:
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St. Louis Blues fans are scratching their heads right and eating Advil like Skittles right now.
Slurpee headaches. Deep depression. They are in a sensitive state of mind right now after their Blues blew a 2-0 series lead and lost four games In a row to be eliminated from the first round of the playoffs for the second season in a row.
Miller has always been a stand up guy. He speaks after wins and losses. I covered him for nine seasons in Buffalo and I've always had respect for his ability to speak his mind and to share his insights on goings on inside games. He's thoughtful, introspective guy and he has no problem articulating his innermost thoughts. For the most part, Miller was always smart, sincere, gregarious, funny,and at-times intense in his post game pressers. In the time that I was around Miller, he never had a problem criticizing his own play.
Never a sugar-coated message. Mo beating around the bush. Just brutal honesty.
I was scrolling through my Twitter feed Sunday night after the Blues were eliminated, looking for quotes from the Blues room from the scribes and broadcasters who cover the team. I was shocked and surprised when I read this quote from the crestfallen Miller.
According to a report, Miller was asked what he will do next. I haven't heard the whole actuality from Miller yet, but I'm thinking that the reporter was asking about whether Miller will be re-signing a long term deal to stay with the Blues. Miller will become UFA on July 1.
(2/2) Ryan Miller on what's ahead for him: ""I don't know. I guess I'm free to go to my sister-in-law's wedding. That's about it." #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) April 27, 2014
Hey now.
I'm going to give Miller the benefit of the doubt until I hear the rest of the story.
He was understandably angry and upset after the 5-1 loss to the Hawks in Game 6. I'm wondering why he wouldn't ask the Blues PR guy to tell the media to give him a break and to buy him some time so that he could cool off and gather his thoughts.
He hasn't bristled at the prospect of re-signing with the Blues. In fact, the week after he was traded to St. Louis, he told reporters that he'd be willing to stay in St. Louis.
Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News spoke with Miller after Game 6:
"We're through with the hockey part now," Miller said. "We'll have to see where we're at. See how they feel about me. I definitely like St. Louis. I like the guys. I like the team. We'll see what they feel about the playoffs."
Like. Not love?
In his brief stay in St. Louis, Miller compiled a .500 record ( 12-12-1).
His .897 save percentage against Chicago is a cause of great concern.
Might Miller be in the frame of mind to be moving on to another team, like say, the Anaheim Ducks, who will be bidding adieu to their UFA goalie Jonas Hiller.
Imagine a Ryan Miller-John Gibson tandem in SoCal.
More to come...
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