Ryan Miller to retire at season’s end, cements place in Sabres history
This past Thursday, April 29, after playing 18 seasons in the NHL, former Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller announced his retirement following the end of this season. He will walk away from a career that earned him the most wins by an American goalie in league history, an Olympic Silver Medal and the Vezina trophy.
Originally a fifth-round draft pick (138th overall) by the Sabres in 1999, he made his NHL debut in 2002 after playing collegiate hockey at Michigan State, where he won the Hobey Baker in 2001. His early career saw ups and downs, winning 6 of his first 18 starts. It was not until 2005 when Miller earned a full-time role in the Sabres lineup.
After playing the lockout season in Rochester, Miller opened the following year for Buffalo in net and supplanted Martin Biron as the team’s starting goalie. Although his career in Buffalo was just beginning, he earned 70 wins in 109 starts during his first two years as starter (2005-06 and 2006-07), resulting in postseason runs that are fondly remembered in Buffalo, as they made back-to-back trips to the Conference Finals.
After those two seasons brought immense success, including the 2007 President’s Trophy, he became the face of the Sabres in the post-Drury & Briere years. His early career arc culminated in 2010, his most successful year. It began by leading Team USA to a silver medal in the 2010 Olympics, which also saw Miller named Olympic Tournament MVP. And with a 41-18-8 record and .929% save percentage, Miller won the NHL’s Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender. Afterwards, he was strongly considered one of the league’s elite netminders.
When Terry and Kim Pegula became the team’s owners in February 2011, it started a new era of Sabres hockey. The team’s performance improved greatly, finishing 16-4-4 en route to reaching the postseason, their most recent appearance to date. The next couple seasons saw great change come to a franchise that had seen stability for nearly a decade.
It resulted in longtime members of the franchise Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek being traded, along with firing Lindy Ruff during his 15th season as head coach. After Darcy Regier was replaced by Tim Murray in early 2014, the team headed into a rebuilding period, and as Miller was in the final year of his contract, it appeared that would be his final year in Buffalo.
Along with Steve Ott, Miller was traded to St. Louis on February 28, 2014, and after nearly a decade as Buffalo’s starter, the face of the franchise was gone as the Sabres started over. After being traded by Buffalo, he would play for three teams (St. Louis, Vancouver, Anaheim) over the remainder of his career.
As he heads into retirement, Miller’s legacy on the ice is profound, as he holds the all-time record for wins (284) and games played (540) by a Sabres goaltender. Off the ice, his impact has been felt across the country through his Steadfast Foundation, which he founded in 2006 to help fight cancer, especially in children.
Miller started the foundation after his cousin Matthew Schoals was diagnosed with leukemia, and Miller wore the name ‘”Matt Man” on his mask to honor him ever since. He has also raised money for numerous causes over the years, in Buffalo and across the nation.
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Considered the second-greatest goalie in Sabres history, Miller’s legacy is set in stone and, as the Buffalo News wrote after Miller was traded, he will certainly be “a tough to act to follow.” He will always be remembered as a great goalie and individual, who will be immortalized in Buffalo by his fans for the memories he created and those whose lives he positively impacted throughout his career.