Miller Time in Torino

In the land of exquisite cuisine and fine wines, can the United States Olympic team bring a brand name that tastes great and is less filling? Ryan Miller is making a strong case for his inclusion on the United States olympic team in 2006. With 6 already in October, Miller is also setting his sites on the record for rookie wins in October of 7 set by Ed Belfour in 1990.
Although his numbers are not impressive when compared to the goaltender numbers of the old CBA, Miller is more importantly making the big saves when they count and giving his team a chance to win games by avoiding mental errors. So far he has made only two head scratching plays and only one, the game winner against Florida, has hurt the team.
Even more important for his olympic chances is his poise on breakaways. Ryan is emerging as a wall in these critical situations that receiving increased importance in the shootout era NHL. His stops on the TB shootout game and against PJ Axelsson at the end of the second period of the Boston game could be a precrusor to a performance as the starting goaltender in Torino.
With a limited pool of US born goaltenders to choose from, only Rick Dipietro has a resume that could challenge Ryan Miller.

Honey Bunches of Teams

The Buffalo Sabres know how to win. The Sabres are off to a 5-2-0 start. That means 10 points. Unfortunatley that is only good enough for a tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. It is still early in the season but this is indicative of the new tighter NHL. With the new scheduling of more division rivalaries, 32 of the 82 games will have a four point swing if a game is decided in regulation. This means the Northeast division will be a slugfest until April. With no weak teams in the division it will interesting to see how this extra wear and tear effects teams come playoff time.
In the Southeast division Tampa Bay and Florida get 8 games versus traditional patsies the Washington Capital and the Carolina Hurricanes. I do not include the Atlanta Thrashers in this category dispite their slow start because they have the firepower to be a competive team. If they don't beat you on the scoreboard they can always send Eric Boulton out to kill your forwards. This guy is a menace. Maybe it's just the past games against Toronto and Tampa Bay that he has been in a feisty mood but I don't remeber him being as dirty when he was a Sabre.
Once the calendar is flipped for the new year we should have a better idea of what this new schedule is doing to teams playoff chances. I understand the NHL wants to develop more rivalries but teams are not just fighting teams in their division for playoff spots. They are competing against teams in the entire conference. It doesn't matter how often you play a team that determines rivalries. It's the importance of the game that matters. A Sabres-Panthers matchup in March will probably be just as intense as a Sabres-Bruins game. These are the teams fighting for the playoffs. The addition of more interdivision games hurts teams chances that play in better divisions.

Shots all Around

The Buffalo Sabres are currently leading the league in shots per game. As a result of this new high flying offensive attack they are also giving up more a high number of shots per game as well. In the old NHL this was a prescription for disaster. Especially for the Sabres. We all remember two years ago when a 2-1 deficit at the end of the 1st period was reason to turn off the game because there was no way they were coming back.
The tradeoff for defense for offense only works because the new rules allow it. The Sabres are off to scintillating start right now but if the referees do not continue calling the games the same way throghout the year we could be heading for a reverse of the usual Sabres trend of starting the season poorly and finishing strong.
The NHL can't afford to not continue enforcing the rules. The game is more exciting. The last time NHL games were this exciting was when I was watching the Sabres Stanley Cup run of 1999. These are regular season games creating the increased heart rate.