Anaheim Ducks: Countdown to the Season Opener- Ryan Miller

The “Sunglasses Effect”

For those of you who don’t know, I am a science nerd. So, allow me to explain to you what the “sunglasses effect” is. Scientists believe they have stumbled across the technology needed to stop a hurricane before it makes landfall. By pumping billions of tons of dense gas into the atmosphere, sunlight could be absorbed. The warm ocean water, which a hurricane feeds off of, would cool down. In turn, this would create what is known as the “sunglasses effect”, scientists secret weapon against hurricanes. Now, what does this have to do with the Anaheim Ducks?

Going into the 2017-18 season, the Anaheim Ducks knew that finding a reliable backup goalie was at the top of their summer to-do list. Their star netminder, John Gibson, was a brick wall in the net. However, he was no stranger to injury. This ended up hurting the Ducks when Gibson was injured in Game 5 of the 2016-17 Western Conference Finals against the Nashville Predators.

The Anaheim Ducks began their hunt for the perfect veteran goaltender to serve as Gibson’s back up and mentor. When Ryan Miller hit the open market, the Ducks didn’t hesitate to snatch him up. They signed him on July 1, 2017, to a two year, $4M contract.

Due to a wrist injury that was aggravated during the preseason, Miller sat out the first few weeks of the regular season. However, he made his regular-season debut dressed in a Ducks sweater during the teams first 2017-18 season contest against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Late in the second period, Carolina scored two goals within just a few minutes of each other, giving them a 3-2 advantage over the Ducks. It seemed as though the Hurricanes had gathered some momentum, and they were looking to devastate the Anaheim Ducks. Fortunately, Anaheim scored a goal late in the third. The third period ended in a tie game, and when no one scored in the OT period, the game was sent into a shootout.

The Hurricane’s first two shot attempts were unsuccessful, both saved by Ryan Miller. Corey Perry‘s goal was the only success for the Ducks, giving Carolina one more opportunity to potentially win the game. Sebastian Aho skated down the ice, hoping for one last attempt to tie up the shootout. Nevertheless, RM30 made the save.

The “sunglasses effect” proved to be a success. Ryan Miller had stopped the Hurricanes before they had the chance to devastate his team. Although the Anaheim Ducks didn’t have to pump billions of tons of dense gas into the atmosphere of the PNC Arena in Raleigh, they introduced their secret weapon that night in North Carolina.

With a win in the shootout, the Anaheim Ducks won the game, 4-3.

Winning Big in “Sin City”

The day the Anaheim Ducks played the Vegas Golden Knights, on February 19, 2018, was one of the highlights of my year. I had been watching VGK closely since the 2017-18 preseason when I found out I would be flying to Vegas in February to watch the Ducks take on the Golden Knights. In all honesty, I was afraid my first NHL game experience would end in a Ducks loss. Nevertheless, the Ducks put on one heck of a show, thanks in large part to Ryan Miller.

The Anaheim Ducks had finally found their groove after a season of continuous injury. I remember sitting down and telling my uncle something along the lines of, “John Gibson is healthy, so the Golden Knights better put up one heck of a fight if they want to win.” However, as I often do, I spoke too soon. John Gibson was injured in the second period and didn’t come back to play in the third.

Gibson had managed to save all 13 of the Golden Knights shot attempts up until that point. The Ducks were up 1-0 after a goal from Jakob Silfverberg. However, after Gibson left the game injured, Las Vegas stepped up their game in a big way. Ryan Miller, however, wasn’t having any of it. In the third period, he faced 20 shots from VGK, and he saved every single one of them.

Josh Manson came back late in the third and scored the Ducks second goal of the night. Nevertheless, Ryan Miller’s solid goaltending outshone everyone’s performance that evening. For the first time since 2002, the Anaheim Ducks had their first combined shutout.

Miller’s performance in the net stirred up Ducks Nation. They shut down the Golden Knights “Go Knights Go!” chant, and filled the T-Mobile Arena with the joyous reverberation of “Let’s Go Ducks!”

Swimming in Familiar Waters

As a native to the Pacific North West, I am no stranger to the migration patterns of the orca pods in the Washington and Vancouver B.C. areas. I am also not a stranger to seeing the Canucks logo, with their giant blue killer whale, everywhere. Seeing as how the Canucks are the closest NHL team in a 100-mile radius, it makes sense. However, all of my friends, who are Vancouver fans, love to joke about how the Ducks have “stolen” all of their good players over the years. In a sense, they are correct, and Ryan Miller is “exhibit A.”

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Let’s rewind to January 2, 2018. For the first time since the Anaheim Ducks had picked him up in free agency, Ryan Miller was stepping foot inside Rodgers Arena. The last time he had been on that ice, he was clad in blue, green and white. The star goaltender who had once been a Canuck was now returning as a Duck.

His previous three seasons in Vancouver were in the rearview mirror, and his allegiance was now with Anaheim. The Canucks put up a good fight. However, Ryan Miller led the Ducks in an impressive 31-save shutout. The contest ended with the Ducks winning, 5-0.

Honorable Mentions: Career Highs

The 2017-18 season proved to be a great year for the US-born veteran goaltender. On April 7, 2018, Ryan Miller reached two monumental career milestones. The 3-0 shutout, against the Arizona Coyotes, marked Millers 43rd career shutout. This ranks him second among US-born goaltenders.

During the same game, he recorded his 340th career win. He now possesses second place on the list of all-time wins among goaltenders born in the US. There was one more amazing feat RM30 has accomplished this season. Due to his win on February 19, 2018, against the Vegas Golden Knights, Ryan Miller has defeated every active NHL team at least once.

Ryan Miller was undoubtedly the Anaheim Ducks best acquisition during the 2016-17 offseason. He made a big splash in Anaheim during the 2017-18 season. What is your favorite Ryan Miller moment of the season? Let us know by commenting down below or finding us on Facebook/Twitter.