Saving Face: Buffalo Sabres

We all have players on our favourite team that we value, ones that we wouldn't give up for anything. But they didn't all start out that way, in fact many "Franchise" players weren't even drafted by the team that now finds them so valuable. Some are on their second team, some are on their fourth, but all of them have become extremely valuable hockey players. This series is intended to allow us to look closely at these so called "Faces of the Franchise" because sometimes stars are easy to see, sometimes it takes years to find diamonds in the rough, and sometimes you don't know what you got till it's gone.
Ryan Miller - Buffalo Sabres

ALL HAIL the BuffaSlug!


Buffalo, despite being a great town, sometimes gets a bad rap, sometimes by professional athletes. And to be fair, the Sabres haven't exactly done a good job of convincing people of their greatness. What with the bat killing, the ridiculous amount of jersey changes and the fact that their mascot isn't a Buffalo or a Sabre, it's some sort of loitering tiger goofball. Also did I mention how incredibly annoying Rick Jeanneret is? But Ryan Miller is a great goalie, a fantastic competitor and an american champion.  and I promise I will stop making fun of Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres, eventually.

So deep, I wonder what he's thinking....
Ryan Miller was drafted 138th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1999 Entry Draft after a standout college career at Michigan State University, where he won the Hobey Baker Award for baking pies for hobos. After dominating the college circuit he joined the Sabres for a few brews during the 2002-03 season. I am going to be making a lot of beer jokes.

2002-03: Barely legal, Miller pops up to NHL for a quick 15 games, posting a ridiculous GAA of 2.63 and a SV% of 0.902 despite losing 8 games.


2003-04: Miller is told to spend some time fermenting in the AHL with the Rochester Americans and is called up for only 3 games, which was probably good because his GAA jumped up to 5.08, which is either a terrible gymnastics score or a a crazy earthquake , oh no! not the binders!


2004-05: Miller spends the lockout learning the trade in the AHL, he handles the pressure and seals off the season with 8 shutouts.

It's not even a competiton, only one of them is wearing a helmet.


2005-06: Miller spends the season inexplicably fighting Marty Biron for the starting spot. I mean come on, he was a 28 year old man who called himself "Marty" and he did things like this. Miller played 48 games, won 30 and helped the Sabres to the conference finals, where things didn't work out for the ole Buffaslugs.


2006-07: Miller starts the season as Numero Uno, a real King of Beers! and the Sabres win the first 10 games of the season. The Sabres advance to the Conference Finals again, relying mainly on the strength of Miller's goaltending. However, the lose the series in five games on a goal where everyone forgets Daniel Alfredsson exists.


2007-08: Out of the 82 games the Sabres play, Ryan Miller is in net for 76 of them, which is downright ridiculous. One of those games is played outside where Ryan Miller choose to look like this. Other than that his season is flat and tasteless, kind of like a certain beer...

Looks like a concussion to me.


2008-09: This is a good year for Miller, his contract is extended (Just a terrible pun there, shoddy journalism), he recored 5 shutouts and he scores a sweet goal.  However, the Sabres fail to make the playoffs, possibly because Miller's backup was Patrick Lalime.


2009-10: Miller makes the jump from good goalie to amazing goalie. He backstops the US Olympic team to a Silver Medal, he fills in for Bill Murray quite well and he beats a Russian and some other guy named Marty to win the Vezina for best goaltender.

Yes Ryan, we get it, you came in second.


2010-11: Miller puts in a slightly below average year and suffers a concussion from a guy who has a habit of being mean to goalies. He still managed to do this and then, somehow, this.




Ryan Miller embodies everything a Sabre is, consistence without being flashiness, and the ability to be deceptively effective at what they do. He is the face of the franchise, the sallow, photography nerd meets pretty boy face of the consistently competitve team from the city named after a quadraped. With new owner Terry Pegula, pictured here willing to bring in the expensively hired guns the Sabres will be looking to Ryan Miller to lead them to the Stanley Cup promised land, where the keg never runs dry! I am truly sorry for the beer puns. Just wait till we get to Edmonton and I can talk about the "Gritty Finn" Teemu Heineken.....
Or just tune in tomorrow when we discuss Calgary and the Face of their Franchise Jarome "I don't need a First Line Centre" Iginla!