Turin the East: 9 in a Row on the Road

Link: James Mirtle: Team USA names Olympic hockey roster - A hockey journalist's blog.

Thanks to James Mirtle for posting up a good set of comparisons between the actual Olympic Roster for the US and a couple of different projections of what the team should have looked like. 

What I find fascinating is the performances put in last night by the two Sabres in contention who weren't picked for the team, namely Ryan Miller and Tim Connolly.  Miller, in his first start since October 28th, stopped 32 of 33 shots and out-dueled Antero Nittimaki in the SO to earn the Angry Goat Boys their 9th straight road victory.  While Timmah!, with all the pressure on him to score after Floppa put the B. Street Bullies ahead, came up enormous with a sweet back-hander to send the game into the regualr-season equivalent of Double OT allowing Max the opportunity to be the hero.  So, in the end last night's game was a big "Screw you" to Don Waddell et.al. over at US Olympic Central from the boys from Western NY and boy howdy, was it loud and clear.  Good job guys.

If injury was the reason why Miller was left off the squad then why take Robert Esche?  No slight to him, he's a fine goalie and I'm sure the decision was a tough one, but if performance was to be the ultimate arbiter, as Waddell has said, then Miller's 11 games should have been more than enough to warrant a better appraisal :

"Ryan's season started off very well as we all know, and then unfortunately he suffered the injury. Injuries are something that nobody can control. We felt that the three goaltenders we named are all starters with their hockey clubs and have had success with their hockey clubs."

How's that for double-speaking the situation.  Esche has had to fight off Nittimaki all season, John Grahame hasn't exactly set the world ablaze in Tampa and was soundly out-played by Miller in their one meeting in Grahame's barn earlier in the season (another SO win... where Miller stoned both Richards and St. Louis).  If anything Miller can only not be considered the starter in Buffalo because Marty Biron is only the hottest goalie in the friggin' league. 

As for Connolly, his inability to effectively play the wing probably hurt his chances more than anything, he's a centerman on a squad with too many already.  Couple that with his playing in the media black hole of Buffalo and it's an easy excuse for Waddell and Lavalamp to use.  Truth to tell he's more valuable as a penalty killer to that squad than Mark Parrish is as a reserve Right Wing, but hey, what do I know?  I mean, if Keith Tkachuk actually skates what are the chances of his taking a bunch of dumb penalties? 

Props to the Co-Captain, My Captain, Chris Drury for making the squad... not that there was any real doubt.  I will take some umbrage with Mr. Mirtle's line combinations though.  If Drury isn't centering the 4th line then he should be on Weight's Left Wing, not his right.  That's where he was in Colorado and that's the side he plays on the Sabres PP.  His normal linemates are Hecht and Grier.  He and Hecht flip-flop positions regualrly, while Grier is a RW and nothing else. 

There will be plenty of other Sabres in attendance during those two weeks in Italy as Teppo Numminen and Toni Lydman will certainly skate for Finland, Jochen Hecht for Germany.  Afinogenov will probably skate for the Russians along with maybe Kalinin.

As for the game itself, I listened to the radio feed and it seemed like a tight contest.  The Flyers seemed to have problems containing the Sabres once the boys found their legs in the second period, but Nittimaki came up huge a bunch of times.  Considering this was the 4th game in 6 nights for us, getting anything from the game was a plus.  I'm not going to read too much into this though, the Flyers are banged up right now so, any win is a good win but in no way am I convinced this team won't give us more trouble in the future. 

Ta,

Comments

[James Mirtle]

The thing with Miller is that had he not been hurt and kept playing the way he was earlier, he'd be on the team. He was hurt and Biron has taken the reins in Buffalo, making it tough for Team USA to bump international cogs like Esche and DiPietro. Esche has been there before, and as we'll see with the Canadian team when it's announced here shortly, that means a ton when it comes to naming the team. Grahame has played very well this season, too.

Miller will get his chances in the future, that's for sure.

[Tom L]

James,

Thanks for stopping by and I understand the reasoning of why those three were selected, but my point is that, honestly, Waddell talked out of both sides of his mouth on this.

As you pointed out, if performance was the arbiter, Connolly would be centering the 4th line, not Weight.

Oh well, a little reality in the face of this awazing run of games is probably warranted.

Ta,