Granted, it’s still early in the season, but Ryan Miller said the H-word hasn’t come up too much so far.
Last season, the goaltender stormed through the regular season and set numerous team, conference and national records en route to winning the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s outstanding player.
Now a junior, Miller is subject to the question that nags every underclassman who wins a major award...
Can he do it again?
“Some people were asking me before the season, before they saw what kind of team I have to play with,” Miller said last week. “All things were pointing to ‘What are you gonna do, you gonna do, you gonna do?’
“Last year, I didn’t come into the season thinking, ‘Oh, what can I do with this?’ It was, ‘What can I help this team do?’”
He said some fans and media misconstrue the function he serves for the fourth-ranked Spartans and assume that personal accolades drive his play.
“That’s where people miss the point of what I do,” Miller said. “I’m a goalie. I make up for the mistakes that my team makes and I rely on my team to make up for my mistakes.
“Some people don’t seem to understand that and it gets kind of frustrating when they try and say, ‘What are you going to do?’ when it relies on 22 guys to go out and do a job.
“You can’t go into a season thinking about individual goals because if you do, they’re not going to happen. Hopefully people begin to understand that I don’t set out for that.”
Miller’s numbers, except for his shutouts, are a little behind the pace he set last season. But he’s still near the top of almost every statistical category in the nation.
Last year, Miller posted a 31-5-4 record, a 1.32 goals against average, an NCAA-record .950 saves percentage and 10 shutouts.
Through 11 games this season, his record stands at 8-2-1 and he has a 1.49 goals against average, a .937 saves percentage and five blankings.
Not to mention that the five shutouts, including two this weekend against Miami (Ohio), have pushed his career total to an NCAA-record 23 and earned him CCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors.
MSU head coach Ron Mason, who’s usually stoic and reserved in his comments, was gushing with praise for Miller after the goalie’s whitewash of the RedHawks on Saturday.
“I hope the people out there realize what they’re seeing in Ryan Miller,” said Mason, MSU’s coach of 23 years. “They’re starting to appreciate him more with ovations and nice cheers, but they’re seeing a phenom out there playing in net.
“From my perspective anyway, as a coach, I’ve never seen a goalie like him. He’s right in the zone at this point and he just gives us a chance to win every night.”
Miller’s teammates said they admire how levelheaded and humble he is in the national spotlight.
“I think he’s handling it really well,” junior defenseman John-Michael Liles said. “He kind of relished the moment in the summer a bit, but come season, he was just focused again and ready to go.
“The returning Hobey Baker winner is something that comes with very high expectations, and I think he’s living up to them and playing even better.”
