Like many of us, Bruce Boudreau wants the debate and discussion surrounding J.T. Miller yelling at Collin Delia last night to end.
For context, the event we’re talking about came toward the end of Thursday night’s game between the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets. After making 35 saves on 38 shots, goaltender Collin Delia stayed on the ice as J.T. Miller skated the puck back behind his net following a failed zone exit.
Miller yelled at Delia to go to the bench for the extra attacker as the Canucks trailed 3-2 at the time with just over one minute remaining in regulation, and the clip has gone somewhat viral.
Everybody seemed to have a definitive take on the situation, with former NHL goaltenders such as Curtis McElhinney and Mike McKenna coming to Delia’s defence.
“3rd goalie trying to keep the team [relevant] and you yell at the guy,” McElhinney said in a tweet. “Seems like a good guy move. Maybe a drop pass at the blue line to the other guy standing flat footed at the blue line isn’t the play when trying to gain the offensive zone.”
McKenna, meanwhile, penned an opinion piece on Daily Faceoff in which he recalled his times being in the position Delia finds himself with the Canucks today. McKenna’s ultimate conclusion was that Miller owed Delia an apology for the bad optics of his actions.
As the Canucks get set to take on the Calgary Flames tomorrow, head coach Bruce Boudreau was asked about the incident when he spoke to media following the team’s practice in Calgary. Boudreau took full ownership for how things shook down.
“It’s my fault,” Boudreau said. “Colin was looking at me and he wasn’t paying any attention to J.T. If you’ve ever been on the ice, it’s pretty hard to hear. So I mean, he [Miller] was trying to get his attention. There was no animosity built — I mean, there’s 48 seconds left in the game. He’s looking at me, I’m waiting for us to come up the ice a little bit to make sure we have possession. I think it’s been blown way out of proportion.
“J.T. is doing everything he can do to win at that point, and Collin’s being the good person where he’s looking — he’s a new guy with us — and he’s looking at me for directions. So I mean, if I didn’t give the proper direction, it’s on me.
“I called him and then I sent him back and then I called him, and so to me, I think we’re making a mountain out of a molehill. All he’s [Miller] doing is trying to get the guy to go off the ice with a minute to go to try to tie the game.”
Miller spoke to Sportsnet’s Ryan Leslie about the situation, saying:
“Unless it’s inside our locker room, I don’t think anybody’s opinion really matters, to be honest with you. It’s not the coach’s fault. I don’t even know why this is even being talked about. Maybe I shouldn’t have done what I did, but I was letting him know to go to the bench. I had full control of the puck, that’s all it was. At the end of the day, it probably looks optically not good. So people with other opinions I don’t really give a — you know, care.”
Miller said it was “no one’s business” when asked if he chatted with Delia about the situation.
“The only reason there’s noise is because you guys are asking me questions about it,” added Miller. “I don’t care about this at all. I care about the guys in the room and my coaches and my teammates. That’s all I care about, and I didn’t even know this was a thing till today.”