Quiet goalie Miller calming young American Olympians

The big headlines went, appropriately, to Swiss standout Jonas Hiller on Wednesday.

Which is fine by his American counterpart Ryan Miller, who has quietly – literally and figuratively – backstopped the United States into medal contention in Vancouver.

As easy as it could be to overlook Miller’s 19 saves on an afternoon when Hiller stopped 42 – including several in spectacular fashion – don’t discount some of the tough early stops Millers was forced to make.

Playing behind a U.S. team that looked jittery in its first game as the unquestioned favorites, Miller threw out a blocker on Julien Sprunger’s labeled shot from the slot after a bad turnover just 3:30 in, and made another point blank stop off Raffaele Sannitz less than a minute later, allowing the Americans to finally settle down and into a game they would go on to dominate for prolonged stretches in the other end.

“With a goalie like Ryan Miller, just like Hiller, you expect the big saves,” said U.S. coach Ron Wilson.

It’s that calming influence U.S. teammates cite first when asked about Miller.

“Sometimes I wonder if he even has a heartbeat back there,” said U.S. forward David Backes. “He’s a cool, calm and collected guy. Even after a 42-save performance against Canada (on Sunday) we might have got half a smile out of him. He just went about his business, stretched and started preparing for the next game. To have that backbone and that leadership is huge for our club.”

Several other players echoed those thoughts, talking about how quiet and focused Miller gets before every game, and the confidence his intense concentration generates on the youngest team in the Olympic tournament.

“When he gets to the rink, he’s pretty business like,” said Zach Parise, who scored both U.S. goals – one a third-period deflection that angled up and over Hiller before taking a favorable and agonizingly slow bounce into the goal, and the other into an empty net. Between those two goals, Miller also flashed the glove on a blast off the rush from the top of the circle. But don’t think that is the only flashy thing about Miller.

Despite all the talk about his quiet focus at the rink, the Buffalo Sabres standout has been doing plenty of talking away from it, including a recent stint on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show that included conversations about his actress girlfriend Noureen DeWulf.

“I’m not in a bubble,” he said. “USA Hockey only has so many opportunities to promote so we end up doing a lot in a short period of time. It’s something we don’t normally get and something where a lot of people listen across the nation so it’s about different subjects. They touch on the hockey but they wan to know more what’s going on.”

For the versatile, deep-thinking Miller that means a wide range of hobbies – from landscape photography to playing guitar in a rock band – but right now his focus in primarily on winning a medal. The possibility of it being gold has already led to the phrase like “Do you believe in Miller-acles” being thrown around in cyberspace.

“We got a long way for that,” Miller cautioned. “People can start believing if we put another solid game together. I believe in this team, but we have to get the job done.”

Miller will be a big part of that, in large part because he has learned not to try to do too much. Ever since starring as the hometown hero in Michigan State, Miller has worked hard with his long-time goalie coach Terry Barbeau to improve the efficiency of his movements. Even while he was winning American Hockey League Goalie of the Year during the NHL lockout, Miller was working to get to save positions faster, trying to eliminate his college habit of sliding into shots and moving into shooting lanes. He continued to focus on it this summer – arriving to each new position fast, square and set – and cites it as a big reason he is among the NHL leaders in most goalie categories.

That efficiency is certainly not lost on his Olympic teammates, who feed off his subtle, no-scramble movements on the ice as much as his cool, calm demeanor off it.

“He’s a big solid guy. He’s not all over the place. He’s very in control of his body,” said veteran defenseman Brian Rafalski, who has quickly emerged, alongside Miller, as a leader of the U.S. squad. “He’s got a good demeanor about him. He doesn’t get too upset if a goal gets scored, he bounces right back and that’s a really good quality in a goalie.”

~ Here are more thoughts from Miller after the 2-0 win over Switzerland:

- On the job the American defense is doing: “I think our D are doing a great job. I think we’ve done a great job pressuring up ice and our neutral zone has been pretty good. They didn’t have a lot. We moved the puck really well. We got up ice. They play a frustrating neutral zone and we were able to spend some time in zone. We knew we didn’t want to make it a three-quarter game and get cut off at the line. We did a pretty good job from our backend of getting the puck up and helping out. The Swiss are really organized and they’re very frustrating so we’re happy to get through this one.”

- On the youth of the U.S. showing a little in stretches: “In a way, I guess you could see it maybe a little bit in the second period. But the first period was very strong. I thought we could have had some goals. One good one off the post. Hiller made a couple of spectacular saves early. Then in the second period, we got some open looks and Hiller got a piece of a few of them. If we keep creating chances, we’ll be good. I think the guys were close to getting frustrated, but we held tight and we kept with the game plan.”

- On whether he got a look at the Swiss no-goal: “I spun around. He kind of shot it from right on the goal line. It hit my stick, so I was a little concerned about it. They have those cushions pushed back so far, and it didn’t appear to hit any webbing. I had a good feeling it wasn’t in, so I got a little lucky on that one. I was trying not to get my stick in the way. It was an impossible shot – or a great shot – and I was trying to get my stick out of the way.”

- On having two cracks at a medal now: “It feels good but obviously the job is not done. We know how tough the teams are coming up. Finland, I watched a little of the first two games. I was impressed with their blue line. It’s just a great tournament. We had a tough game today and we’re really happy to learn something.”