Did I read that right

I'm in the half and half camp.  I don't post here frequently, but I'm a daily reader, and I've gotta give you props, D.O., for sticking with your guns on Miller.  I'm hard-pressed to forget Miller carrying us to a few more-than-solid playoff runs, but he hasn't been close to consistent enough this season.  He was our crutch when the big guns left, and our crutch snapped.

As for his contract - pay him.  By and large, Miller is still an excellent goaltender, and the franchise can't take the PR hit by letting him go.  It won't hurt to give him "Campbell money", to use D.O.'s idea, and as the team improves, Miller should as well.

I hit the tab button one too many times...but I believe in the case of miller it is (1) a confindence issue and by that I not only mean himself but also in the backup (roll with me on this) but for years and I'm talkin like 10 or more buffalo has had a great net minder with a very strong backup goalie and then last year we traded Biron, which I was personally glad to see happen b/c I am a fan of his and he deserves a chance to start in the NHL, but after his trade we had to scramble to find a suitable back up for miller and conklin was good last year and a nice replacement net minder, then we got Tibeault (sp?) and at first I was thrilled b/c he is an experienced goalie then after watching him play I was nervous everytime he went in  (i.e. the nashville game) and I think Miller now carries the burden of having to win all of the games for us b/c he believes that Tibeault can not...(2) he is too tight in the net if you watch the last couple years when we were runnin and gunnin miller was loose and calm and confindent in the team and he made the great saves look easy now I think that with this new burden on his shoulders he is trying to tighten up his game and it is actually hurting his style of play...(3) goal production Miller was never a Hasek where he could just shut down other teams and only have 5 goals scored on him the whole month (don't get me wrong he is a great goalie and he can take a game over by himself) but he is not a strech or a shutout goalie like the Dominator, if you look back to the last couple of years we consistantly scored atleast 3 goals a game and last year we were the best team in the league for coming back from a 2 goal deficite now with the drop in consistant production (we still have a high goal scoring team but not on a consistant nightly basis) we are losing the games that we would win last year...(4) OT He is choking in shoot outs and I think that is due to reason number (2) he is just too tight he needs to relax and have fun playing...It's just a game and I know these boys are professionals they still just need to go out and have fun...if you look at the players during the winter classic I think it reminded them of that

very good post on the Miller topic.  I have to admit that this has really taken on a life of it's own since the Bucky column.  I completely agree with your assessment on Miller being a little bit too tight.  His biggest downfall has definitely been the shootout, where he has been downright awful.  I have never been a big fan of Miller although I do think he is a good goalie.  The part I hate the most is that he is always on his knees and when the puck goes behind the net he always flops around and looks uncomfortable while other goalies just stand their ground.