Ryan Miller

The title for this article is simple.

The goaltender for the Buffalo Sabres, Ryan Miller. Yes, the Sabres lost their forth straight game with 1.5 seconds left in overtime. But it was the postgame of Ryan Miller that caught my eye. On the game winning goal he gave up, Miller said he didn't take anything away from Matt Frattin, the scorer. He gave him too much room.

But to me, this is a different Ryan Miller.

He said he "Didn't show up" last night. He also said "I have to make more saves" and mentioned he "didn't have it tonight." But what caught my eye was when he said "he let them down." Meaning his teammates.

That's what you call leadership right there. Even though his teammates didn’t really give him support. His facial expressions showed how much of a competitor he is. It seems like Miller has grown up. Just from that 1 minute and 35 seconds he spoke, he said a lot. He took the blame and blamed the loss on himself.

On some of the goals, he wasn’t sharp. But he did make some saves throughout the third period that were big.  Miller shouldn't have to apologize at this point, he's 11th in goals against among goalies and 8th in save percentage. Is this the Vezina trophy goaltender from 2010? I don’t think so. But like I said, he’s more grown up than in years past.

In my opinion he was always the leader of this hockey club. But I think now, he's taking it to the next step.