Buffalo Goalie News

It's not often you can talk about two players who wear the same number who retired from the game and have ties to one team, but we're going to do that today as Ben Bishop and Ryan Miller are in the news thanks to the Buffalo Sabres. It's easier to trace why Miller would be associated with the Sabres as he played eleven seasons in the New York city, but Bishop's ties to Sabres started just today despite the netminder making it clear that he would likely never play in the NHL again. What's going on with respect to these two men who wore #30 and have the Sabres as an employer on their resumés? Let's dig into the the news!

We'll start with Ryan Miller because his is essier to both explain and understand. As we know, the Sabres traded Miller at the trade deadline in 2014 to the St. Louis Blues along with Steve Ott where he played just 19 games before signing with the Vancouver Canucks. After three seasons on the Canadian left coast, he migrated to the sunny skies of Anaheim, California where he played out the final four seasons of his career. When all was said and done, Miller had accumulated a career record of 391-289-88 while posting a 284-186-56 record in those eleven seasons in Buffalo.

What shouldn't be overlooked, though, is his significance to the team's success during those eleven seasons. He is the Sabres' leader in career wins in the Buffalo crease, and his 2009-10 Vezina Trophy came on the heels of one of the most successful seasons in Sabres' history after he went 41-18-8. He is 14th-overall in the NHL all-time wins for a netminder, one ahead of former teammate Dominik Hasek, and is the all-time winningest goalie among US-born netminders.

For these reasons, it's pretty easy to see why the Sabres have decided to make Ryan Miller's #30 the eighth number they hang in the rafters at KeyBank Center. Miller will join Tim Horton (#2), Rick Martin (#7), Gilbert Perreault (#11), Rene Robert (#14), Pat Lafontaine (#16), Danny Gare (#18) and Hasek (#39) high above ice level, and he'll be remembered for all he did while wearing the various Sabres' colours and logos over his career.

"I always feel like this is where I kind of grew up," Miller said on Thursday. "I went to college in my hometown, and then this was my chance to kind of step out on my own and also this was my first professional step. So a lot of firsts for me here and there's a great part of my career and a lot of great memories."

Miller certainly earned a spot in Buffalo's heart after his excellence on the ice and his contributions off it for so many charitable efforts. He already announced that he'll auction off hockey paraphernalia "through his charity, the Steadfast Foundation, to raise funds for three organizations: FeedMore WNY, the Buffalo Police Athletic League and Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County". He and his wife still run Catwalk For Charity events, so his charity and his generosity haven't gone unnoticed by the Sabres or its fans.

"I've always appreciated my experience here as a member of the community," Miller told the Sabres website. "Coming here and playing hockey was a dream come true. Playing with a great NHL organization and building something with a great group of guys. But then to also feel at home in the city was important to me and to make myself a member of the community where I could give back in different ways."

It's seems pretty elementary for the Sabres to honour Miller based on what he did for them and the city of Buffalo, so kudos for the Sabres for making things right by honouring one of the best goaltenders to ever don a Sabres jersey!

That brings us to the player who wears #30 that the acquired today as the Buffalo Sabres acquired a seventh-round pick and the rights to goaltender Ben Bishop from the Dallas Stars for future considerations. At the end of the day, this move allows the Stars to clear some cap space while the Sabres will move closer to the salary cap floor with Bishop's contract on the books. I'll never understand why teams acquire contracts for players that have stated they'll never play again, but I'm not an NHL brain.

Bishop, as we know, had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee on October 21, 2020. He was placed on long-term injured reserve recovering from the surgery, but his one-game conditioning stint with the AHL's Texas Stars on December 9, 2021 ended in an 8-4 final where Bishop gave up all eight goals on 34 shots. Despite being positive after the game, Bishop's discussion with Stars GM Jim Nill saw Bishop make it official: his career was over.

Bishop's $4,916,667 cap hit will help the Sabres inch towards the salary cap floor, but you wonder why the Sabres wouldn't try to use that $5 million to acquire a player who might actually help them get closer to the playoffs. Instead, they'll pull an Arizona Coyotes-esque move, sit on a dead contract just to hit the salary cap floor as their young players try to make miracles happen. With every goaltender in their system in free agency this summer, you'd think they'd have a purpose in spending $5 million, right?

The Sabres are an interesting tale of two ways of thinking. Adding Ryan Miller to their highest honour by retiring his number is classy and honourable. Acquiring Ben Bishop, who will never put the pads on again, while five goalies are in some form of free agency, including both Craig Anderson and Dustin Tokarski who started for them last season, is bewildering and somewhat insane.

We won't have to worry about Bishop getting Miller's permission to wear #30, but that shouldn't even be on the table. I have no clue what GM Kevyn Adams is doing in acquiring Bishop at all, but at least Sabres fans can cheer for one of the greats next season when Miller's #30 takes its place amaong the legends who played in Buffalo.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!