JEANNERET: Miller more than deserving of his banner night

I don't know where the first "Millerrrrrrrrrr" call came from, but it caught on. I don't know where "Fa-la-la-la-la," "May Day" or any of the others came from either, but "Millerrrrrrrrrr" was definitely a signature as far as I was concerned on Ryan Miller's play. It caught on pretty good.
In addition to being a hell of a hockey player, he's a nice guy. I think that part of his personality certainly shines through.
With all the work he's done with the Courage of Carly Fund at Roswell Park and pediatric cancer patients, it's nice to see someone take the time out to give back to the community. Ryan did that in spades, he really did.
As he climbs the ladder in his life, he gets pretty darn near the top in terms of great people.

Before his career even comes to an end, he's adulated by not only the youngsters, but also so many of the families who are touched by pediatric cancer. Sometimes we forget about that because we feel so sorry for the children, but the children have parents and Ryan handled that pretty well, too.

It was also great to see alumni from those 2000s teams back in the building.
People think, "Yeah, well you see them all the time!" No, I don't! I absolutely do not!
Henrik Tallinder, he lives back in Sweden. I've never been past the shores of North America! But I love seeing them come back and getting the opportunity to talk with them.

I'm only speaking for myself and for the one night that I was very much a part of, which was RJ Night; I want to tell you it was an incredible experience for me. I did everything I could to not break down and I had a lot of trouble with it. And I know a lot of people who have said, "We did break down and start crying."
Funny enough, though, on April 29, which was the last game that I did - and the staff came out onto the ice at the end, and I came down and everything - on the drive home, I got across the bridge into Canada, I pulled over on the side of the road. It all came over. I just couldn't take it any longer. I was crying like a baby.
It was all the stress, but it was welcomed stress. It wasn't the kind you shy away from or you're afraid of. It was also a busy time and I found that as much as I love the fans, they seem to think there was a part in their lives for me, too, and that made it very, very nice.
Something always crops up that makes nights like Thursday memorable.

All I can say to you right now is at the start of the season, if somebody told you the Buffalo Sabres would be positioned where they are right now, and playing the type of hockey they are right now, and having so many so-called superstars in the lineup - young guys, young kids - you would've said, "Yeah, sure, RJ! Who's paying you, RJ?"
No one's paying me!
But I'll tell you what, I'm loving it. I'm loving it. I don't like the losses, but they come with the package. That's fine. They're a heck of a lot better than they used to be in the last 11 years. And they're fun to watch! That's the thing about it all.