The spotlight in the NHL shifted towards Madison Square Garden as a highly-anticipated matchup between the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers played out on Saturday’s noon. As the attention centered in the meeting between J.T. Miller and Elias Petterson, for the first time since the trade that sent the former back to NYC, the 32-year-old Blueshirt issued an honest statement.
The Rangers took care of business at home, as they defeated the Canucks by a score of 5-3. Miller put the icing on the cake, after scoring the insurance goal into an empty net.
It was difficult to believe there wasn’t an extra twist to Miller’s matchup with his former teammates, following a shaky NHL season in which drama followed him everywhere in Vancity. After a whirlwind of a campaign, Miller and Pettersson were split, setting up the table for a huge encounter at the world’s most famous arena.
However, and despite his great performance painting a different picture, Miller made something clear about his relationship with Pettersson and his feelings for the Canucks locker room.
“The whole me-and-[Pettersson] thing, it’s still blown out of proportion,” Miller stated prior to the game, per Sportsnet. “Clearly, if me and Petey were better than we were, obviously this might be different. But it’s also not as bad as everybody thought, either. It’s just an easy thing for everybody to run with. There was just a lot of moving parts.
“I don’t want to get into too much detail, but, yeah, I think a fresh start was needed. I’ve got nothing bad to say about the Canucks or Vancouver as a city. We loved it there. It felt like home and that’s all you can ask for. But, unfortunately, this is a business and in the business end of things, it was getting difficult.”
Rutherford’s comments
After much uncertainty and speculation about a rift between the two players, Canucks president Jim Rutherford pulled back the curtain on the fractured relationship between Pettersson and Miller for everyone to see. Rutherford stated that the organization couldn’t move forward with both of them in the locker room. Just three days later, Miller was sent back to the Big Apple.
“I get what Jim [Rutherford] was doing. I have a ton of respect for Jim, and I talked with Jim after that. I wasn’t mad; I understand everybody has a job to do,” Miller added. “Leaving Vancouver, it wasn’t really something I ever even thought about. But there was a lot (that happened). It has been a long year for me, personally, away from the game. You sit back and try to evaluate what it means to you. Remember, we are just playing a game. I understand that it is your job.”
V for Vendetta
Whether Miller openly admits it or not, the win over the Canucks had to feel great, as he got a big weight off his back and put on a strong performance on display, in front of his former teammates and coaches. Moreover, the Blueshirts got back on the win column after three games, and are within one point of a wild card berth.