Whiny Miller & Overpaid Leino Skate into Philly Tonight, Sabres vs Flyers
Those are the words of former Flyers winger Ville Leino about making his way back to the City of Brotherly Love for the first time since slipping on a Sabres sweater.
Yes, this evening will be the first our Flyers host Buffalo this season.
It's funny how Leino mentions all the good memories he had while he dawned our crest. I guess they weren't good enough to stop him from saying Buffalo should have won the QuarterFinals series against us last Playoffs? But at least he got his money, right?
6yrs, $27-Million, $4.5-Million AAV to be exact. How's he doing?
In forty-five games played, Ville's scored 4-goals and assisted on 11 others, making his grand total a whopping 15-points. He's also been thrown into different line combinations more times than a prison fish has been passed around the cellblock. Leino just cannot find a home for his chemistry.
The Sabres' posted an entire article on their website about Ville's return to Philadelphia tonight, as if it's any bigger a story than you or I getting a piece of veal stuck between our teeth.
The only thing he'll harness is the puck for too long before getting banged off of it and turning the play over in the opposite direction.
As long as I'm on this cold rant, I might as well turn the attention on to Ryan Miller.
Ol' Mill is having a down year. Last season wasn't his best, but this year Ryan Miller hasn't bounced back. He's currently sporting a .909 SV% and allowing 2.75 goals against him on average. There has even been trade speculation surrounding his name.
Aside from the substandard in-net statistics throughout the 2011-12 schedule, Miller has also had it rough when it comes to the physical department --
So how has Ryan Miller handled this surprisingly loathsome season he and the rest of his mates have had? Just bitching and bitching and bitching and whining, then bitching and groaning, buying tampons then bitching that they make his hatchet-wound itch.
It's what Miller does best. When he's not complaining to the officials on the ice or standing up in his crease with that "Mommy, he just hit me!" look on his face, Ryan's in the locker room pouring his stink into the microphones of the press as if they were Comcast's customer service representatives.
Not like we're not used to his complaining, amirite?
But know this; Regardless of the fact Miller cries more than that Emo, Britney Spears fan, he's still capable of becoming that shutdown netminder we were all once used to facing. This game tonight will depend on how often, and how quickly, we beat Ryan for lit lamps.
Heading into this evening, Buffalo's lost their last two contests and still remain 10-points outside the 8-seed of the Eastern Conference. The Sabres efforts have heaped at the bottom of an abyss this season and it doesn't look they're going to be able to make a run before the schedule ends. But they're still a dangerous squad to face.
Here I am ragging on the Sabres and their performance while I virtually have no room to talk.
To say we've been struggling lately is like saying Gary Coleman had difficulty shopping at the local Big & Tall. It's quite the understatement.
Since our win against Florida (25-Jan) before the All-Star break, our Flyers have won twice.
Two victories.
And it's always lovely stumbling across Tweets like these --
As for right now, all signs are pointing at Ilya Bryzgalov getting the nod. It'd be his first start since his shutout/shootout loss against the Islanders. Between then and now, he had been sidelined due to flu symptoms.
It's cold in space.
And as for Jakub Voracek, he's been listed as day-to-day, but it seems like he'll play tonight. However Jaromir Jagr, Andrej Meszaros, and Marc-Andre Bourdon have not been seen practicing in this morning's skate --
That's just terrific.
UPDATE:
Per BuffaloNews.com writer, John Vogle --
Guess we'll have to wait for another time to see Ryan Miller need his box of Kleenex.
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