Miller's Time Is Worth the Wait

More than two months passed between Ryan Miller tying the record for most wins by a U.S.-born goaltender and finally eclipsing the mark, but you'd imagine he felt like it was worth the wait.

It was way back on December 2 that Miller came on in relief of John Gibson and backstopped an incredible Ducks comeback in a 6-5 victory over the Capitals in Washington D.C. That gave him 374 career wins, tying him for most all time among U.S-born netminders with John Vanbiesbrouck.
His first attempt to break the record came a week later against the New Jersey Devils at Honda Center, but the 38-year-old suffered a sprained knee in the third period and exited an eventual 6-5 shootout victory.
More than eight weeks of rehab followed, until Miller was finally healthy enough to serve as a backup to rookie Kevin Boyle during two games last week against Vancouver and Boston. Miller's chance to return to the net finally came Sunday against Washington at Honda Center, and he responded with 23 saves in a 5-2 victory, meaning he tied the record and eclipsed it against the same Capitals team.

"Very satisfying being able to come off injury and make a difference in the game," said Miller. "Pretty emotional for a couple reasons. When you have a knee injury, it's always uncertain what's going to happen. It took a lot longer than I hoped. But there was satisfaction tonight."
Miller had wife Noureen and son Bodhi at Honda Center to witness the record-breaking 375th win, not to mention an overflow crowd on Scott Niedermayer's Jersey Retirement Night. "I was happy I could do it at home with the fans here and my family here," he said. "It's pretty special to me."
The journey to 375 wins is an interesting one for Miller, who grew up in East Lansing, Michigan the product of an accomplished hockey family. His grandfather, father, uncle and five cousins all played for Michigan State, as did Ryan and brother Drew (a former Duck who won the Cup with Anaheim in 2007). Cousins Kelly, Kevin and Kip also played at MSU and in the NHL.
"He was meant to be a goalie," Vanbiesbrouck said of Ryan recently. "His time at Michigan State, you could tell he was gonna be a star. He comes from a great family and a great hockey tradition. I'm so happy that he's got this mark. For American-born goalies, it's such a great thing, and I'm so happy for him."
Ryan's father, Dean, knew Ryan was destined to be a goalie from a young age. "He'd be sitting in my lap at the Munn Arena [at Michigan State] when he was two or three years old, and he couldn't take his eyes off the goalie," Dean told Sports Illulstrated in 2001. "I'd think, Hmmm, that's weird. We might have a goalie here."
But since Dean wanted Ryan to learn the game as a forward, he told his son he could switch to goalie when he turned 10 years old, "if you'll promise me you'll work hard to be the best goaltender you can be."

Ryan's road to the NHL took some time, after a stellar career at Michigan State in which he set an NCAA record with 26 career shutouts and won the Hobey Baker Award in 2001, setting records for save percentage (.950) and shutouts (10).
Two years prior the Buffalo Sabres got him with the 138th overall pick of the 1999 NHL Draft, and after leaving Michigan State he toiled with Buffalo's AHL affiliate in Rochester before becoming a full-time NHL netminder in 2005-06. The 2009-10 campaign was undoubtedly his best, as he won the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender. During the Olympic break that season, he won a silver medal with Team USA in Vancouver and was named most valuable player of the tournament.
Miller spent time with St. Louis and Vancouver before signing a two-year deal with the Ducks in 2017.
"It's an amazing journey," Miller said after breaking the record. "You reflect on a night like this, and a lot of people were there to help me along the way. A lot of great teammates, and all those wins were a lot of fun. You smile and have a good time after those kinds of games, and I got to do that a number of times."
He did it again two nights later in Minnesota, stopping all 31 shots in a 4-0 victory to improve his career record to 376-270-80. In addition to that being the most among Americans, Miller ranks 16th on the all-time NHL wins list to go along with 44 shutouts, a 2.60 goals against average and .916 save percentage.

Miller will turn 39 in July, right around the time his deal with Anaheim expires, but he says he has no immediate plans to retire from the game. He acknowledges the record he set Sunday night, while continuing to rise, likely won't last forever.
"I don't think this will be a record that sticks around for too long," Miller said, mentioning Ducks teammate John Gibson as a candidate to pass him. "There are just too many U.S.-born goalies coming along right now. That's exciting for me because growing up there were only a handful of guys who were able to push through who were Americans.
"There are a lot of great American goalies who are gonna chase me down eventually, but it's nice to have it for awhile."