A Couple of Ryan Millers

Ryan Miller, for me, is one of those guys who no I'm willing to go outside of my team in order to collect. I've been a big fan of his ever since the 2010 Olympics, when he was a MAJOR piece in not only getting U.S.A. to the gold medal game, but bringing them to within one goal away from the first U.S. men's hockey gold since 1980.

The one moment from then that sticks in my mind actually came from not a game, but the medal ceremony itself. The silver medals were being handed out individually to each player as their names were announced. An ecstatic Vancouver crowd gave polite applause to each of the American players, except for Ryan Kesler who got a little bit extra love from his NHL home crowd. However, when Miller's name was announced, the crowd ERRUPTED. It was great to see everybody in attencance show how much respect they had for the effort and performance that Miller put forth throughout the tournament.

I've been a fan of his ever since.

Anyway, I came upon a couple of Ryan Miller hits, which is always nice, as most of his stuff tends to be pretty cheap.

11-12 Ultimate Ultimate Patches 18/35

I love with this card how the two patches are from a different part of the uniform. The one on the left is obviously from the crest and the piece to the right is from either the number or nameplate of the away jersey.

10-11 Dominion Jersey 98/99

I really like last year's Dominion design. This is simply a parallel of the base set, with the jersey swatch in place of the team logo, but truthfully, these look better than most regular relic inserts in other products.

From what I hear, Jonathan Quick is next in line to be U.S.A.'s goaltender in 2014. If he is able to match Miller's production in 2010, he'll be putting us in position to win the first U.S. men's hockey gold medal in 34 years.