Let's go Buffalo

Courtesy of the Buffalo news:


Ryan Miller's head is full of thoughts. His family calls him "a deep thinker." Connect with him on a subject and he'll offer philosophic commentary inconsistent with the stereotypical star athlete.
Miller also owns an emotional soul. It was on full display in his first forays as a Buffalo Sabres goaltender. His fury over a poor performance would cause his lower lip to tremble. He wouldn't suffer the prodding from reporters in search of answers or a reaction.
You could say he wears his emotions on his sleeve, but a better glimpse into what makes Miller tick can be found on the back plate of his goalie mask.
That's where you'll see what's always on his mind.
The ubiquitous "Miller Time" logo, which has followed him since college at Michigan State, is smack-dab in the center. In the upper-left corner is a USA Hockey logo superimposed over an outline of Michigan, the star in the "A" marking his hometown of East Lansing. A lizard, symbolic of an instinctive creature incapable of rapt thought, is perched in the upper-right corner.
The eye, however, is drawn to two images on the lower half. Between the straps stands a cartoon bulldog in Michigan State gear. Along the bottom, just above Miller's protruding black mane, is "Matt Man" in script.
Matt Man is Matt Schoals, Miller's 16-year-old cousin.
Matt Man would love to have a miniature bulldog someday, but he has more pressing concerns right now. He was diagnosed with leukemia in December.
Miller looks at the insignia just before he slips the mask over his scraggly head. Matt Man is a reminder of what truly matters, and the goalie admitted that has helped propel him through the second half of the season and into the Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes.
"You learn a lot from tough situations, and I know my tough situations haven't been nearly anywhere close to what he's gone through," Miller said after Wednesday's practice in HSBC Arena. "The magnitude of the things he describes to me and how tough he's been and how brave he's been is unbelievable."
Which cousin has been the bigger inspiration for the other is difficult to say. Schoals and his family have been blissfully distracted byBuffalo's playoff run, which has been anchored by Miller's remarkable play.
"It's kept my mind clear of everything and kept me positive because I know I have a hockey game to watch and get to see my cousin play against the best," Schoals said Tuesday from a Michigan hospital, where he awaited an unscheduled CT scan. "It's really cool because on days when I'm bored or really lonely, I have something to look forward to.
"I do feel like I'm on the ice with him because I'm on the back of his helmet."
Schoals had been lethargic for days, and then one morning, while getting ready for school, the square-jawed lineman and wrestler broke down into a 6-foot-1, 212-pound, crying heap on the stairs of his family's home in DeWitt, Mich.
Matt's mother took him to be tested for mononucleosis. The finding was substantially more serious.
"Burning sensation when we found out he had cancer," said Matt's mother, D'Arcy Schoals. "It's devastating. Your whole world crashes in. You just reach down and pray to God to bring us out."
The news shook Miller, just nine years older than the cousin he playfully dubbed Matt Man as a newborn.
"I know how hard Ryan took this," D'Arcy Schoals said. She is Ryan's father's sister and cousin to NHL players Kelly, Kevin and Kip Miller. "I remember the first conversation with Ryan how upset he was. He was devastated. It has affected him."
Perhaps there's no coincidence Miller's statistics correspond with the ordeals his cousin has endured.
Before the diagnosis, when trivial matters meant a little more to Miller, he was devastated when the freak bounce of a practice puck fractured his right thumb. The disheartening break sidelined Miller for nearly eight weeks and crushed his U.S. Olympic dreams.
He returned to action five days after he learned Matt had leukemia, and the rookie goaltender went on a run that startled even the Sabres. Somehow, he was better with a tender blocker thumb than he was before the injury.
Miller was 6-4 with a 2.77 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage when he got hurt. From the time he came back until the Olympic break, he was 14-3 with one overtime loss and one shootout loss, a 1.98 GAA and a .930 save percentage.
"Every time I tie my skates up I look at this thing," Miller said, pointing to a hockey stick-shaped scar where his thumb attaches to his right hand. "Then you throw in a situation where my cousin is having his young life challenged, you just start to appreciate.
"When you start to think outside yourself and your little life . . . All these things give you perspective. Combine that with my injury, and I felt like "Just enjoy it and have fun. It's not going to last forever, so just do it and have fun.' "
March was a grueling month for Matt Schoals. His immune system was intentionally eradicated by three days of full-body radiation followed by three more of chemotherapy. On the seventh day he rested, but his 13-year-old sister, Lexi, had stem cells and T-cells removed for a March 28 transplant performed at Detroit's Karmanos Cancer Institute, named for the late wife of Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos.
Matt is in full remission. The wicked abnormality known as the Philadelphia chromosome has been eliminated from his body - for now. Unlike the Flyers, whom his cousin helped banish from the first round of the playoffs, the chromosome can come back.
"Everybody knew the chances of him making it was 5 to 15 percent," D'Arcy Schoals said. "We're still fighting the odds. He has shocked everybody because he came out of it in complete remission. There's no leukemia in his system right now. We're still not there yet, and he has an 80 percent chance of relapsing."
All of Matt Schoals' blood still is Lexi's at the moment, prompting him to joke about committing a crime and leaving behind DNA evidence to get his little sister in trouble.
He's taking anti-rejection medicine and steroids. The next stage is rebuilding his immune system. Until then, he must wear a surgical mask and has restricted human contact, which rules out seeing his cousin play live. He hangs out alone at home while his parents are at work, unable to step outside because germs can prove fatal. His diet is limited.
"I'm just excited because I'm almost done," Matt Schoals said. "I'm trying to play football again and all that. I just want my normal life back, just go back to school and hang with the other kids and be a normal high school teenager."
D'Arcy Schoals marveled when informed the days leading up to her son's transplant matched up with Miller's worst stretch of the regular season. From March 11 through April 1, the lizard must have crawled under a rock because Miller went 3-5 with a shootout loss. He was twice removed.
Perspective was never far away, not as long as Matt Man was pressed firmly against the back of Miller's head.
Miller, with his cousin in remission, rebounded in the final weeks of the regular season. He gave up only five goals in his last four outings, including his lone shutout. In the playoffs he is 8-3 with a 2.25 GAA and a .921 save percentage.
"As much as "SportsCenter' likes to portray things as the end of the world when a team loses, like it's the worst day of their life, once you step back for a second and look around, it's a hockey game," Miller said.
"Yeah, it means a lot to the people involved and the fans. It's exciting and fun. But if things don't go your way, come on. Look around you. We're at war with Iraq. We're having a lot of trouble with the Middle East. We're having immigration problems."
Miller paused, looked to the carpet and shook his head.
"And kids are sick before they've experienced life," Miller said. "You're just thankful for what you have."