Your guide to the Miller/Enroth “controversy”

Sports are funny, right?

A week ago at this time, Heather B. and I were doing our podcast when we both declared that the “Goalie Controversy” was only Defcon 4.

Then the Philly game…

Followed by the CGY game…

And concluding with the Ottawa game..

Where, oh where, are we now?!

Alright, I’m not sure if we are in a controversy yet, but we are definitely at Defcon 2.5.

Being a Buffalo sports fan for 20 years, I know a thing or two about controversy. I lived through Flutie/Johnson, Holcomb/Losman, Kelly/Collins, Bledsoe/Losman, Boulton/Ray, Reich/Kelly, and Fuhr/Hasek. Alright, the last four or so, I was joking. However, the city loves a good argument when it comes to sports. Anyway, let’s go over this “Controversy” and every single angle of it.

• Lindy Ruff lit the fuse: Before Enroth was named starter against Ottawa, I pretty much thought there wasn’t really a major controversy. It was a combination of media/fans/Miller’s attitude all wrapped up into one. Pretty much, I just thought it was a lot of talk. However, when Lindy went with Enroth, I went “Ohhhhhhhhhhh.” I know a number of people want to say that Lindy was right in playing the hot hand, but if Miller starts against the Sens and wins in OT, I think the controversy dies. Instead, Ruff picked Enroth over Miller because Miller wasn’t playing well. If Miller was the lukewarm hand, he would be playing. This is more about him stinking than Enroth playing well.

• Very unlike Ruff: John Vogl tweeted that it was the first time Miller sat for back-to-back games when healthy since the 06/07 season. It doesn’t happen often. I know some will say that it’s the first time Ruff has had the option of playing two decent goalies, however, I go back to December of 2005, when Biron played for an injured Ryan Miller and won 12 straight games. Did Ruff continue to play the hot hand? No. Instead, he went back to the rookie after he came back from injury.

• Ruff’s been here before: Before the lockout and after Dom left Buffalo, Ruff alternated between Marty Biron and Mika Noronen. During the 03/04 season, Biron started 52 games (26-18-5 and GAA 2.52) while Noronen started 35 games (11-17-2 and GAA 2.57). If you’re wondering where Miller was, he started the season, but got shelled in his first couple of starts and the organization sent him back to Rochester. The Sabres would go on to miss the playoffs that year.

• Media will always be in play: I don’t care what anyone says, but the Flutie/Johnson debate started because of WGR. Now, the radio cast is completely different than it was 11 years ago, but I remember vividly hearing Chuck Dickerson go insane about Flutie. It didn’t matter what the Bills did on Sunday. Win by 30, lose by 10, 300 yards passing or 3 interceptions, it all went back to Flutie. They went out of there way to kill the guy. Maybe he deserved it. However, for three straight years, it was a Flutie bash fest and a Rob Johnson blow fest. I think his voice (Dickerson) started a lot of the debate. Hey, there aren’t many sports options/opinions in WNY, so if you hear one point-of-view drilled into your ear daily, you start thinking that way. Frankly, the controversy started a little like Enroth/Miller. Just some chatter. Some talk show rhetoric. Then, when Johnson was named the starter against the Colts in the season finale and played well, the sh#$ hit the fan. That was all it took. Right now, WGR is kind of being coy about it. They are pretty much playing that the fans are insane and are the ones who want all of this. TBN has kind of been the same. However, I think with Ruff’s move, that could change.

• Having two great goalies sounds great, but… What happens in April? Yes, we are like 10 years away from that, but you have to understand, when you alternate your goalies, you are playing Russian Roulette when it counts. A goalie will constantly be looking over his shoulder in thinking that if he lets in a bad goal or two, he can kiss his playoff starts goodbye. The constant questions about who should start will get old. There could also be a possible disconnect in the locker room. It’s exactly what happened with Flutie/Johnson. Some may want this guy while others want that guy. Maybe the Euros will back Enroth while the Americans back Miller. Well, thank goodness the Canadians beat Miller in the Olympics! OK, that was a joke. However, you then start overthinking who should start and then you get second guessed. Think playoffs. Do you want to be alternating goalies on a nightly basis? I don’t. It just becomes a giant 2nd guess game. You can probably get away with it now, but down the road? Eh.

• This happens: This happened two years ago to Montreal and Boston. Carey Price and Tim Thomas didn’t play well during the season and Rask and Halak became NHL stories for that year. Hell, go back to 1994 with the Sabres. Grant Fuhr was a Stanley Cup winning goaltender and he was only a year removed from getting traded here from Toronto for a king’s ransom. Fuhr got hurt, Hasek took over, and the rest was history. Fuhr never saw the light of day again in Buffalo. Go to Carolina’s Stanley Cup run. Ward and Gerber alternated for the majority of the first two rounds.

• This could die quickly: We could all be laughing about this in a few weeks. “Ha! Remember that stupid Enroth/Miller controversy? What fools we were.” To me, the Sabres want Miller to be the guy. He’s their franchise player, the guy who everyone talks about. A marketable player. Captain America. All that crap. If he starts against the Jets and plays well, then things will simmer down. However, if he plays like garbage, the sh#t will hit the fan. Hell, if Enroth plays on Tuesday, all hell would break loose, too. I mean, Ruff said he went with Enroth against the Sens because he’s the hot hand. So shouldn’t he go against the Jets?

• Message sent: I alluded last week to Ruff never calling out Miller to the press like he does with other players. Well, he didn’t exactly crap all over Miller this time, but he let his coaching do the talking by having Enroth play back-to-back. This could be nothing more than Ruff doing his tough love sort of coaching. He’s done it in the past when he’s benched guys or had them sit in the press box. This could be all about Ruff letting Miller know that he has to get better.

• Fans: This is where it could get ugly or annoying. I can already envision the unfollows lining up on my twitter page. The same folks who stuck up for Miller last year about the defense being terrible, will no doubt blame it on the defense again this year. They will also give all the credit in the world to Miller if the Sabres only allow two goals without mentioning the defense. Of course, the Enroth clan will do the same. In a nutshell, I think both parties are a little crazy. Both will go out of their way to stick up for the other guy.

• Playing harder?: I’m sure we read this gem from John Vogl about players playing harder for Miller. Now, it could have been meant as in “Hey, Enroth is the back up goalie. Obviously, we have to play harder because the best goalie in the world isn’t there.” Of course, the interpretation could also be, “We are sick of Ryan not taking the blame for a bad performance. We resent him for telling us that we were little fragile kids.”

• Losing Miller: If Miller loses his job, I’m pretty sure he’d keep his mouth shut when it comes to talking to the media about it. I mean, he does hate the press corp. However, I could see Miller going to the front office and asking to be traded down the road, especially if this change happens long-term. He could be like “F-this, I’m out.” I alluded to how I think Miller is getting tired of WNY and maybe he would want a fresh start if he loses the job.

• Is Ruff desperate?: Is there something off with Ruff? At this point, Ville Leino has been moved to so many lines, that he may be heading to the Bills offensive line. Then there is the goaltending issue. I don’t know, but Ruff seems like he’s doing a lot of unconventional things. Has rising expectations made Ruff go crazy? I don’t know, we are what 13 games in and it feels like Ruff has coached three seasons worth of issues so far.

Last word: I still think Ruff will eventually go back to Miller. I’m of the mindset that Ruff is trying to send a message to him. Hey, the Sabres wanted to lighten Miller’s schedule and this is a great way to do it. However, nothing would shock me at this point. Miller is not untouchable. If he plays like he has over the last five games, he doesn’t deserve to start.  Ruff loves to constantly tweak/change his team. He juggles lines like he’s in the circus. Guys fall in and out of his favor. When you are a coach, it’s about X’s and O’s, but it is also about psychology.

Ruff has never tried this with Miller. Look, Miller hasn’t been right in a year. The stats say so. Ruff probably knows this and is looking for a new way to get Miller back on-track. Maybe this will motivate him. People were jumping for joy on Twitter because Miller dropped an F-bomb about wanting to win and this is a “Pro controversy” (Whatever the hell that means). I wasn’t exactly moved by it, as I don’t care what Miller has to really say. Let his play do the talking is all I’m saying.

On a sidenote, I love it how some fans/media, who refuse to ever call out Ruff, did a complete 180 on Friday. “Oh, of course Miller should start against Ottawa. There’s no doubt.” Then, when Enroth gets the start. “Oh, what do you expect? He’s going with the hot hand. It makes sense. Yeah, Ruff!” Psssh.