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NHL AWARDS CEREMONY

June 23, 2010

Ryan Miller

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Vezina Trophy

Q. You look genuinely humbled up there?
RYAN MILLER: Yeah, standing next to Martin Brodeur, and Ilya Bryzgalov, after watching them the entire season and being thoroughly impressed. It feels really good to walk away with this award.

Q. Can you talk about (Indiscernible)?
RYAN MILLER: Yeah, just got a taste of one other trophy they got, so I guess we're doing it in similar order. You know, they've got their Vezina and the Stanley Cup, so learning as we go.
But, yeah, great company. I looked up to those goaltenders definitely when they're in the NHL. It was pretty cool. I look up to Marty quite a bit. And Bryzgalov and I came into the American League at the same time, so it's been really fun watching him progress. He played my brother, Drew, for a while, so I knew what kind of stand-up, character guy he was, so it's pretty cool.

Q. You knew what you were up against with the Olympics and everything this year. Did you talk about changing your work habits? Changing some things to get you through it and obviously the things that you did to prepare for the season?
RYAN MILLER: Yeah, from a habits standpoint, it's just being smarter, getting ahead of things. I'm a skinny guy. I have to change my workout routine, and about two summers ago I did that. And it's been a steady progression with learning and evolving as a player, and putting the work into the mental side and the physical side and the time with the team. The stuff that makes us good on the ice.
So I think it's definitely something that reflects very well on my teammates and the ability to adapt and grow a defensive game that's kind of been coming for the last two years.
We've talked about this, Paul and I have talked about this a lot. It's been an evolution. We missed the playoffs for two years where we struggled in certain areas, but we weren't that far off.
So I think one of the things we did really well was we cleaned up defensive zone and the communication, and knowing what I like to see on the ice, and what Patrick Lalime likes to see on the ice, and that makes a great defensive environment for us.

Q. You said out there, this is one of the most fun years you've had. Is it really special?
RYAN MILLER: Yeah, I'm looking at all these names. It's pretty amazing the history on this trophy. So to get my name on there is pretty cool.

Q. What does Buffalo mean to you?
RYAN MILLER: Buffalo's been there for me since day one. The organization got behind me, and taken the chance on me being a fifth round pick. It's not often that an organization will really sit and help a player develop that long. But Buffalo is very loyal to their players and draft picks, and they stick by you.
I think that as an organization, they've been outstanding and the fan base is also outstanding. They're rabid hockey fans, so every night they expect you to be on your best. I think that helps you as a player. They want to see you go out and perform and give it your all, and that's the kind of attitude you want to bring every night.

Q. What does it mean to win this trophy? Talk about what it means?
RYAN MILLER: Yeah, you know, as a kid, you look at it. I remember getting the decks of playing cards, the pack of playing cards, and it always had the award nominees. It was just so cool.
Thinking as a goaltender that was something I wanted to do, and watching it on TV. My heros are on here, so this is pretty amazing.

Q. Are you a vocal leader?
RYAN MILLER: No, I mean, if somebody has to chat or talk to the media, I'm usually going to be right there, just by nature of my position. But in the locker room, no, I let the boys kind of work things out. If we need to talk about something, we'll talk about it.
But I don't exactly hide how I feel, so they can tell by looking at me what's going on. Usually I'm trying to be as calm as possible and give them a sense that everything's going to be just fine.
But other than that, we work through things pretty calmly. I don't get too fired up, and I don't try to say too much, so when I do say something, it's appropriate.

Q. You just talked about your heros on the trophy now. There are kids around the U.S. and Canada where you're their heros now. Is that a responsibility that you take seriously and really think about?
RYAN MILLER: Yeah, it's definitely something that you have to consider. You know, you don't sign up for the job, but it's part of the job. You know, it's a great game. You have to embrace that part of it. You want to grow the game. You want young kids to feel the same way about something that you did when you were young.
So I'm going to try to do things the right way and give back where I can. And just playing your hardest, you know, people pick up on that. So I think it's an attitude that we're trying to keep with the Sabres there and do things the right way. That's how I'm going to try to continue to approach things.
Just enjoy this for a little bit, and then right back to work. That's how I always finish every interview, right back to work.

Q. Now that you've had some time to reflect on it, what do you take away from the playoff experience this past weeks?
RYAN MILLER: Just the playoff experience? It wasn't a high point. We had great aspirations, but it's something where you can learn from every circumstance you're in. We got ourselves in a tough spot, and we didn't find the right way to work out of it.
I think the guys are going to have to look in and figure out what they can do differently. From my own game, I think there were a few situations where I would have done something different, but obviously we lost. That is going to be the case.
But I felt good about putting myself out there every night, and I feel like I prepared the right way. I made some mistakes out there, but I think that's part of hockey. We just didn't get enough games to let the mistakes balance out.

Q. What was the Olympic experience like? How tough of a transition was it to go back to the NHL?
RYAN MILLER: The Olympics was fun. It was a lot of fun. In amateur hockey you don't really -- well, let me rephrase that. When you're playing pro hockey, you don't get the opportunity to play in the tournaments like you did when you're an amateur, every couple of weeks you're in a tournament. So there is certain excitement in that. Grinding out the regular season is a completely different experience.
The NHL Playoffs is a different experience. It was a lot of fun to get together with your country men and push for something and have it come very, very close.
I think we did set a great tone for USA Hockey, and just doing something with a group of guys felt good.

End of FastScripts

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