Pro-Reads with Ryan Miller
With Ryan Miller
Managing an area pass off the rush Part 2
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Ryan Miller retired this summer but after a remarkable 18-season career that included the most NHL wins by an American goalie (387), the 2010 Vezina Trophy and a silver medal as MVP of the 2010 Olympics, we weren’t going to pass on a chance to pick his considerable puck-stopping brain and break down video from his last couple of seasons with the Anaheim Ducks.
As thoughtful off the ice as he was brilliant on it, Miller is poised rejoin the USA Olympic team as a coach for the 2022 Beijing Games, something he discusses at length on Episode 137 of the InGoal Radio Podcast before reviewing footage of a half dozen saves for Pro Reads.
THE SCENARIO
Our last Pro Reads video review with Miller focused on a managing a right-to-left area pass against the San Jose Sharks. This time, Miller is facing another area pass, but from the other direction, against the Los Angeles Kings, with differences and similarities worth noting:
Much like Miller’s last Pro Reads, we’ve already given away what’s about to happen with the title, but as the play crosses the blue line, what factors are you looking for?
How do things look a few seconds later below?
Which of the two other attacking Kings represents the most likely target?
Which of the three Kings players is most dangerous? The passing options include since-traded highly skilled forwards Jeff Carter driving the middle and Tyler Toffoli on the back side.
What do you make of Miller’s depth and angle here?
THE SAVE
Now let’s take at the entire sequence to see how Miller handled it:
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- Ryan Miller breaks down his save on a left-to-right area pass against the LA Kings, with Jeff Carter in the middle and Tyler Toffoli on the back side as the two primary threats.
- Miller explains that his movement into the save may not match a modern technical goaltending manual, but describes the specific reasons behind his depth and angle choices in that situation.
- Miller discusses the growing NHL trend of 'squeeze plays,' where defenses deliberately compress time and space at the blue line, and how that shapes a goalie's read on cross-ice passes.
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