Saturday, November 5, 2011

Lindy Ruff Needs To Take This Goalie "Controversy" Upon His Shoulders

The numbers:

Ryan Miller--4 wins, 5 losses, 2.48 gaa, .922 sv%
Jhonas Enroth--3 wins, zero losses, 1.29 gaa, .958 sv%

The rumblings have been going on for nearly a year, and an impatient, unsympathetic fan base is fast approaching a mob mentality with pitchforks in hand and a match to the torches.

Not that this all really matters to the Buffalo Sabres brain-trust. Can they really afford to have their #1 goalie face a hostile environment on home ice, though? This is something that happens in Montreal, but at the foot of Washington Street?

Whoda thunk it?

For years the fan-base, not to mention everyone within the Sabres organization, has been clamoring for a dependable back-up goalie. We know the names of Enroth's predecessors post Martin Biron and what they did not do for the team, and how the Sabres missed the playoffs two out of three seasons.

The Sabres finally have a capable--outstanding--back up and within 20 game span, Enroth is being anointed starter and Miller is being shipped out by fans.

Not that the fans pointing out various flaws are baseless. What's baseless is anointing Enroth the starter, shipping out Miller and bringing in the Rochester Americans David Leggio or Drew MacIntyre as a back-up.

Regardless, fact of the matter is, this is getting way out of hand and Lindy Ruff needs to place this one squarely upon his shoulders and work it out.

And he needs to do this through his skaters.

As evidenced by the Philly game where the team tightened up after Miller was pulled, the players must take care of their own end while cutting back on the "high-risk" part of the equation.

When Miller has been in net, dating back to the days of Drury and Briere--save for the 2009/10 season and the second half of last season--the team has had a "high-risk, high-reward" approach to the game. Too many mistakes and too much cheating have ended up in odd-man rushes the other way and pucks ending up in their own net.

That approach stretched into the early part of last season, especially at home, and reared it's ugly head this season, at home

There's no reason for this team to play that loose, especially when they still have trouble finishing.

The whole team plays different on the road, in fact it plays different when Enroth is in net. They keep it simple, play good team defense, get the puck up ice in transition and generally work hard at both ends of the ice.

Lindy Ruff needs pull back on his d-men joining the rush and have his players be more conscious of playing a complete game. And he needs them to do it consistently for a prolonged period. They will eventually return to that high-risk, high-reward style, but they'll do it smarter.

That should help Miller get out of his home funk and it should keep Enroth and his numbers where they presently are.

Secondly, Ruff said that he gave each goalie their games at the beginning of the week and that he would not alter it. As far as we know, he did not. But it would make sense that he'd have Enroth vs. the western Conference and Miller vs. a division foe.

He should do the same thing for this upcoming stretch of games which, starting with Winnipeg on Nov. 8, will end up being seven games in 12 nights.

He doesn't need to reveal the starter before the actual game, no matter how much the media and/or fans want to know. If things get unravelled on a particular night, then he should shoulder the blame and stick to his guns.

My guess is that there won't be a lot to worry about if the skaters play a smart game, play sound defense and continue to work their butts off for a goal.

Should this occur, the entire team should be able to get into a rhythm, including one particular goalie.





Just for fun, I'd like to play the "Guess What Lindy Will Do" game.

Goalies for the seven games after tonight:
  • Nov. 8 vs. Winnipeg--Miller
  • Nov. 11 vs. Ottawa--Enroth
  • Nov. 12 @ Boston--Miller
  • Nov. 14 @ Montreal--Miller
  • Nov. 16 vs. Devils--Miller
  • Nov. 18 @ Carolina--Enroth
  • Nov. 19 vs. Phoenix--Miller

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