Junior goaltender Ryan Miller earned his second-straight West All-America first-team honor Thursday, while two Spartan defensemen made the second team.
The second-team accolades taken by junior defenseman John-Michael Liles and senior defenseman Andrew Hutchinson make MSU the only school with three All-Americans this year. The American Hockey Coaches Association selected the All-America teams.
Miller led the nation with eight shutouts this year and was third overall in goals against average (1.77), saves percentage (.936) and minutes played (2,411:26). He also posted a 26-9-5 record, which was good for the second-most wins by a goalie in the nation.
He also was named a first-team All-American after the 2000-01 season.
“I’m proud of the accomplishment,” Miller said. “After last year, I felt a lot of pressure to repeat everything and live up to the standard I set. I think I did myself proud.”
Liles led MSU with 35 points this season while tallying 13 goals and 22 assists - both career highs - in 41 games. He finished with a plus-6 plus-minus rating and was second on the team with seven power-play goals.
“I didn’t even know when the awards were going to be handed out - I wasn’t really paying attention to it that much,” Liles said.
“I found out (Wednesday) from coach (Tom) Newton and I was really happy about it and my family was really happy about it.
“It’s something that’s nice for everybody that gets it and also for the team. Teammates are a big part of these awards - you have to give a lot of credit to them.”
Hutchinson’s selection was a little more surprising than the other two, considering he was only a second-team All-CCHA honoree this season. He scored six goals and tallied 16 assists with the Spartans this year, but was better known for his sound defensive capabilities.
He signed a contract with the Nashville Predators last week and was assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League. Hutchinson has played two games and notched one assist for the Admirals.
Miller honored again
The Soo Indians, which Miller played junior hockey with, will retire his number during a ceremony tonight in Sault Ste. Marie.
Miller’s No. 39 jersey will be raised to the rafters of the Big Bear Community Recreation Center tonight during the first intermission of the Indians’ game against the Capital Centre Pride. Miller’s younger brother, Drew Miller, plays for the Lansing-based Pride in the North American Hockey League.
Ryan Miller played for the Indians from 1997-99 before coming to MSU.
Wait training
MSU assistant coaches Newton and Dave McAuliffe are both pursuing head coach jobs - Newton is eyeing Bowling Green and McAuliffe applied at Northern Michigan.
But they might not know their job search fates for quite some time.
Bowling Green spokesman Kris Kamann said the Falcons won’t announce their new head coach for another couple of weeks.
Newton, a Falcon alumnus, is expected to be a leading candidate, along with Boston College assistant Scott Paluch.
Northern spokesman David Faiella said the Wildcats won’t name their new coach until mid to late May. McAuliffe is thought to be an outside candidate, with Northern assistant Dave Shyiak viewed as the front-runner.
“There’s nothing much right now,” McAuliffe said. “I don’t think anybody’s in a real rush to do anything and I’m not in a rush either. I mean, worst-case scenario is that I’m back here.
“We’ll just have to see how things unfold over the next couple of weeks and I think we’ll probably know a lot more after the coaches’ convention in Florida next month.”
Packing ’em in
The Spartans set a school-record for home attendance this season, hosting an average of 10,277 fans per game. In all, 195,261 tickets were sold for 19 home games. Of course, the numbers are inflated greatly by “The Cold War,” which drew 74,554 fans to Spartan Stadium on Oct. 6.
In the 18 games at Munn Ice Arena this season, about 6,706 people per game paid for tickets.
The previous MSU record was 6,722 fans per game, set in 1986-87 - the year after MSU’s last national championship.
