2010-2011 Player Profiles: Drew Miller...

Hey, kids, guess what? Hockey's almost here. That means it's time for me to get back into this whole blogging thing that I've neglected during the off-season. Since I lack the creativity to come up with a new gimmick, I decided to continue the Player Profiles series I did last year leading up to the season. I'll be taking a look at a different player (almost) every day between now and when hockey starts. By my count, there are 10 days until the Wings open the regular season. Get excited. Today's subject:

Drew Miller

2009-2010 Regular Season: 80 GP, 10-9-19, +/- 2, 12 PIM

2010 Playoffs: 12 GP, 1-1-2, +/- 2, 4 PIM

Season Highlight: His flying goal against Nashville.

Season Lowlight: Getting waived by the Lightning.

Drew Miller wasn't really even on my radar at the beginning of the season last year. He was tucked away in one of the league's hockey wastelands, and didn't seem particularly important. He ended up getting waived by the Lightning, which I would consider vaguely insulting coming from the Lightning (of course, this was in the pre-Steve Yzerman GM days). Ken Holland snagged Miller off of the waiver wire (which seems like a rarity for the Wings in the recent past), and it turned out to be another good find on his part.

I was glad to hear that the Wings re-signed him over the off-season. He's fighting for a spot on the fourth line this season and it's not clear what kind of ice time he's going to be seeing. He endeared himself to me last season with his hard work, but he might have a hard time cracking the lineup unless there are injuries. Also, did you know that Ryan Miller is his brother?  Wowzers.

What he needs to do to make me smile: Keep rocking that salt'n'pepper hair.

Red Wings 3, Sabres 2 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

• The first ten minutes of the game looked like a continuation of the Minnesota game. The Wings were in vintage form, and I was as thrilled as can be. Then, oddly enough, the Wings started to sit back and allowed the Sabres back into the game.
• Pavel Datsyuk’s goal was from an incredible angle. I have no idea how he managed to put it in the net from that close to the goal line, with a defenseman in the way.
• Eaves’ goal was the result of straight up hard work. I liked it a lot.
• I skimmed through the last few minutes of the first period because my new housemate who’s moving in tomorrow showed up and we were chatting. I don’t regret anything.
• They managed to play the start of ‘Piano Man’ right at 9 o’clock. I was really amused. If I was in charge of the audio at the Joe, I know that I’d be hoping that there was a stoppage in play right at nine so that I could play it right on the dot. It’s the little things in life that amuse me.
• I really don’t like seeing Jason Williams (Who?) and Todd Bertuzzi on the ice together. It just seems like a bad idea.
• It turns out that the Sabres' tying goal came on a play that should've been blown dead because the puck hit the netting. I had no idea until that information found its way to Twitter via the Salers. FSD pointed it out later during intermission. Based on history and karma, we should expect the Wings to play the Sabres again this time next year and score a goal on an eerily similar play off the netting. At least that's what happened when San Jose was the beneficiary of a missed call like that two seasons ago, only to see the Wings get retribution almost exactly one year later on a bounce like that. See folks, this is why we believe in the Hockey Gods.
  
• The Sabres rang a shot off the post late in the third period that I was 100% sure was in the net. I was so sure that I started yelling at my TV for half a second. Luckily, I was wrong.
• That overtime goal was pure Olympic Rafalski. I’m sure Ryan Miller was wishing that they were still on the same side.
• I was a lot happier to see R. Miller give up an OT goal this time around.
• This game brought the Wings dead even in the goals for/against category. That makes me sad.
  
• All in all, I’d say that this was a pretty typical ’09-’10 Wings game.
  

GP Answers:
1. Miller vs. Miller tonight. I can’t tell you what I’d give to get a chance to take on one of my siblings in an arena like this. Which one will prevail?
Drew wins! Sure he didn’t score on his brother, but I have a feeling he’d rather have these two points in the standings.

2. The powerplay’s suddenly caught fire since Johan Franzen returned. Can it keep going after a having such a rocky first part of the season?
How nice is it that the Wings have a powerplay again? They’ve got a nine-game conversion streak going on right now. In those nine games, they’re 6-2-1. I guess that’s what a real, live powerplay does for a team, eh?

3. Zetterberg had one of his best games of the season on Thursday after having his line shuffled. Can that success continue?
He wasn’t nearly at the level we saw on Thursday, but he was definitely more visible than he’s been in the recent past.

4. The game against the Wild was remarkable in the sense that the Wings displayed a level of effort and commitment to win that has been lacking this season. What are the odds that we get to see a game like that twice in a row? If they play like that again tonight, I might have to call this the start of a trend. By itself, though, the Wild game doesn’t mean a whole lot.
During the fist ten minutes of the game, it looked like we were seeing the same team that dominated the Wild. Then they went and let up. Still though, they’re looking like a team that can go places right now.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Brian Rafalski
You score an overtime goal and you get the baked goods. That’s the way things go.

Jimmy Howard’s rebound control gets the Golden Facepalm
Rebounds led to both goals. This continues to make me nervous.

What I Learned:
Drew Miller and Ryan Miller are brothers. Wowzers!!!

Red Wings vs. Sabres GP...

1. Miller vs. Miller tonight. I can’t tell you what I’d give to get a chance to take on one of my siblings in an arena like this. Which one will prevail?

2. The powerplay’s suddenly caught fire since Johan Franzen returned. Can it keep going after a having such a rocky first part of the season?

3. Zetterberg had one of his best games of the season on Thursday after having his line shuffled. Can that success continue?

4. The game against the Wild was remarkable in the sense that the Wings displayed a level of effort and commitment to win that has been lacking this season. What are the odds that we get to see a game like that twice in a row? If they play like that again tonight, I might have to call this the start of a trend. By itself, though, the Wild game doesn’t mean a whole lot.

Michigan Beats Canada...

I was going to write a recap of the USA-Canada game today, but I never quite got around to it. You'll just have to make do with this:

That game was everything that hockey should be. I had at least 127 moments when my heart stopped. If that doesn't sell people on hockey, nothing will. I recorded NBC while the game was on, and they even cut in to show the last 40 seconds or so after the empty net goal. They then stayed with hockey to show the post-game show, which annoyed me for reasons I don't quite understand. It probably had something to do with the fact that the post-game coverage was pointless and could never do that game justice.

Americans like to make fun of Michigan because we don't have any jobs, and Detroit has long been a punch line for the rest of the country. Those of you who think it's cute to make jokes about crime rates and unemployment should think again next time you want to mock us. There's no way the USA wins that game without Brian Rafalski, Ryan Miller, and Ryan Kesler. (Dear Rafalski, I had better see a ton of that kind of play for the Wings down the stretch. We know you can do it; there are no excuses.)

Kesler's empty netter is easily one of my top three empty net goals ever. I was 99% sure Canada was going to tie up the game during that long stretch they had when we couldn't clear the zone to save our lives, and then things turned around when he put Team USA up by two.

Brad Watson made the call that gave Canada the powerplay on which they narrowed the USA's lead to one goal in the third period. I'm just saying...

That was the most fun I've had watching a hockey game in a long time. The world would be a much better place if every game was like that one.