Friday, March 11, 2011
Extra Year at MSU Prepped Miller for Pros
By Nate Ewell, College Hockey, Inc.
When Ryan Miller decided to return to Michigan State for his junior season after winning the 2001 Hobey Baker Award, he wanted to continue to improve his game, work toward his degree and try to lead the team he had been following his entire life to a national title.
Little did he know at the time that he would be gaining experience that could directly impact his NHL team’s playoff run nearly a decade later.
That season after winning the Hobey – when Miller was dubbed “unscoreonable” by his Spartan teammates – helped the lanky goaltender learn about managing intense expectations, something he faced again this year after his remarkable 2009-10 season.
“Coming off the Vezina Trophy and the Olympics, everyone expects you to be perfect every night, and that’s not the nature of goaltending,” Miller said Thursday before leading the Sabres to an overtime win in Boston. “I got my first taste of that my junior year at MSU.”
To cope with those expectations after winning the Hobey, Miller focused on his mental preparations and talked at length with legendary MSU coach Ron Mason – and another MSU coach who had defended a national title the same time that Miller was winning the Hobey.
“I actually went and talked to Coach (Tom) Izzo,” Miller said of the Michigan State basketball coach. “I would stop by his office on my way to the rink and talk about managing expectations. I was just trying to think outside the box, use everything I could to help.”
That junior season wasn’t as statistically spectacular as Miller’s sophomore campaign – and, really, no NCAA goaltender before or since has matched those numbers – but he was still a first-team All-American and got within striking distance of his business degree (he earned it after two summer sessions). And he learned valuable lessons that have helped this season.
After starting 13-12-3, Miller and the Sabres have stormed back. They are 18-8-4 since Jan. 1, and his statistics reflect that success (16-7-4, .915). Thursday’s win moved Buffalo into seventh place in the Eastern Conference and Miller is leading the way.