Ryan Miller: ‘There’s no such trade’ that can fix Buffalo Sabres this season
Ryan Miller was pulled in the second period of the Buffalo Sabres' loss at the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night, having given up all five goals during the 5-0 defeat in just 24:32.
It was the Sabres' 11th loss (including two overtime losses) in their last 14 games.
"Yeah, well, it's not good hockey. It's not good from top down," Miller told reporters after the game, played in front of friends and family of the Michigan native. "I need to be better. Just can't seem to find a night where I can get in a groove. It's just … I don't know what the hell it is."
So what's the solution? A huge trade? A change behind the bench?
Miller said there's no external move that can reverse the Sabres' fortunes; that the responsibility lies within their dressing room.
From Miller after Buffalo's loss to the Wings:
"That's not my decision. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen in the locker room. If you guys really think there's going to be any kind of trade made anywhere that's going to affect this team any more than we can affect it in this locker room, you guys are just … I don't know what to think, because there's no such trade.
"There's not ever going to be a trade in the history of the NHL that's going to affect anything like that. There's no chance anybody comes into this team and just shakes it up or we can even move multiple players and get any kind of return … If you want to just destroy a team and just go out and be reckless and do something, yeah.
"But then there's going to be new guys in here, but other than that, this locker room's going to be pretty much the same, if not completely the same, and we've got to find it from in here. [Points to chest] We can't sit and wait for somebody else to f--king do it."
Miller had played better in recent games, giving up two goals in each game of a split against the Toronto Maple Leafs. But this was the second time in the last month he was pulled after giving up five goals.
Overall, Miller has a 3.29 GAA since being run over by Milan Lucic on Nov. 12, missing several games and suffering concussion-like symptoms.
As he said, there's no quick fix for this team coming from the outside. It begins with the players on this roster; more to the point, it should begin with Miller … but the Sabres have been waiting for that to happen all season.
Additional reporting by Nick Cotsonika/Yahoo! Sports.
