Spartan Stopper - Ryan Miller of the Michigan State hockey team

Hockey Digest, Summer, 2001 by Geoff Howell

Michigan State's Ryan Miller has a season for the ages en route to our NCAA Player of the Year award

IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND A frame of reference for what goal-tender Ryan Miller accomplished this season at Michigan State University. Whether you watched hockey in the '30s or the '90s, you have probably never seen numbers like this from a starring college goaltender: a .948 save percentage and a 1.36 goals-against average. Those numbers set school and league marks that would probably be safe for awhile--were Miller not likely to return for his third season of college hockey next fall.

"Ryan has been so steady and so confident, and he had this kind of a season with a team that, by Michigan State standards, is not one of their best," Northern Michigan coach Rick Comley says. "He is maybe one of the best goalies in college hockey history, up there with Ken Dryden."

Then there were the shutouts, nine of them, which, when combined with the eight Miller turned in as a freshman, add up to a new NCAA career record. The prior standard of 16 was established by Clarkson's Wally Ellis from 1927 to 1931; Miller will likely double Ellis' mark before he leaves East Lansing. And, according to coach Ron Mason, the Spartans stopper just about set a new school standard for media attention as well.

"The week after he set the shutout record, there was an unbelievable amount of hype and publicity ... USA Today, Sports Illustrated, all the local media," says Mason, likening it to the Stanley Cup playoffs. "But Ryan showed more maturity in that situation than I could possibly have imagined. He is a very level-headed kid."

The lanky netminder's premier attribute is probably his poise. A modern butterfly-type stopper, he challenges shooters to find the open net up high and calmly knocks aside whatever they can deliver. The Spartans were supposed to be in something of a rebuilding year, but Miller instead led them to the No. 1 ranking, the CCHA regular-season riffle, and a repeat trip to the Frozen Four.

It is not the first time a member of the Miller clan has delivered the Munn Arena faithful to hockey heaven. Ryan's father, grandfather, uncle, and five cousins all donned the Spartans uniform in their college days. Miller was the ultimate fink rat growing up in East Lansing. He regularly dropped by Munn for visits with the team and enjoyed summer workouts with the local heroes, including celebrated cousins Kip, Kelly, and Kevin Miller.

"At first they were just patient with me," Ryan says of his summer skates with his relatives." They'd flip pucks at me for a few minutes, then tell me to sit down while [former MSU goaltending standouts] Ron Scott or Norm Foster got some real action. When I was 13 or 14, they started really making me work and the pucks finally started to hit me when I was about 15."

This member of the Miller clan had no interest in seeing the view from his cousins' perspective. At the age of eight, Ryan switched from forward to goal after bargaining with his coach, who also happened to be his coach. Frustrated with his relatively passive role in team defense, Ryan asked to play goal. His dad, Dean, told him that if he picked up sufficient points in his next game, he would spring for some goalie equipment. Ryan went out, scored a hat trick, and has not skated a shift at another position since.

Truth be told, however, Ryan was destined for the nets. Beneath the calm, quiet outward appearance lies a bit of a flake.

"I talk to the ice a little bit as part of my pregame ritual," Miller admits. "I started doing it in juniors when there was no one in the stands early before the game. I'd go out there and talk to the ice for a little positive affirmation. I'd run through a list of things that I have to do, like keep my glove up, talk the defense, other things for a specific opponent. Now there are 200-300 people in the stands staring at me."

Miller made a smooth transition in his jump from the North American Hockey League to the CCHA. He split the job 50-50 with incumbent Joe Blackburn, a returning All-America, before earning the upper hand late in his freshman season. The two maintain a good working relationship despite the stranglehold on the position that Miller maintained this year.

"Joe has made my job a lot easier. He is a class act and an outstanding person," Miller says of the senior. "He brings a lot of character to the team and is very supportive of me. I've had goaltending partners who were fake or negative, but he's a stand-up guy--you know he has your back."

The Buffalo Sabres added to their stockpile of goalie talent by selecting Miller with their fifth-round pick in 1999. Mason hopes that they can wait another two years before signing him.

"The Miller family knows the value of an education," Mason says. "Plus, the Sabres ore deep in goal and look to be that way for awhile. I'm pretty confident that Ryan will stick around."

Miller's top competition for player of the year honors came from a pair of economy-sized forwards, 5'9" North Dakota senior Jeff Panzer and 5'7" Boston College senior Brian Gionta. The two returning Hobey Baker finalists each paced their respective conferences in scoring. Panzer and Gionta are probably the two most exciting players in the college ranks, although their styles differ considerably.