RYAN MILLER TO JOIN AMERKS HALL OF FAME
Former goaltender and two-time AHL All-Star to be inducted later this season as the 69th member of prestigious club
Oct 30, 2024The Rochester Americans are pleased to announce today that the team will induct goaltender Ryan Miller into the Amerks Hall of Fame as the Class of 2025.
Unanimously selected for induction by the Amerks Hall of Fame Committee, Miller will take his rightful place in the prestigious club during a pregame ceremony on Friday, April 11 when Rochester hosts the Laval Rocket at 7:05 p.m. at The Blue Cross Arena.
“The City of Rochester and the Amerks organization were a very important part of my hockey career,” said Miller. “I’m excited for the opportunity to return with my family and revisit that special time. It’s a tremendous honor to be a part of the Hall of Fame and join the other great players who wore the red, white and blue.”
One of the most decorated goaltenders in franchise history, Miller appeared in 172 career games over parts of four seasons (2002-06) with the Amerks, posting a 92-61-16 record with a 2.34 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. The two-time AHL All-Star selection also finished with 15 shutouts, tying for second-most in franchise history behind only fellow Amerks Hall of Famer Bobby Perreault, while his 2.34 goals-against average remains the 10th-best all-time in team history.
Miller, who becomes just the seventh netminder to be enshrined in the Amerks Hall of Fame, reached the 20-win mark and led Rochester to the postseason in each of his first three seasons with the Amerks. In 26 career playoff appearances, he boasted a 13-13 record with a 2.37 goals-against average, .916 save percentage and two shutouts. He also saw time in 18 contests with the Buffalo Sabres, the team that selected him in the fifth round (138th overall) in the 1999 NHL Draft, including 15 during his rookie season.
His best season as an Amerk came during the 2004-05 campaign when he backstopped the Amerks to an AHL-best 51-19-4-6 record, helping Rochester claim the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as regular-season champions and earning him his second straight AHL All-Star selection. He was also named the recipient of the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the top AHL’s top goaltender and Amerks MVP.
That same season he would also go on to set the single-season franchise record for most shutouts in a season with eight while posting a 41-17-4 record to go along with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. Miller came just seven wins shy of tying Gerry Cheevers’ mark for wins in a season with 48.
A native of East Lansing, Michigan, Miller joined the Amerks for the 2002-03 season following three seasons as a standout at Michigan State University, where he was a three-time CCHA Goaltender of the Year and won the Hobey Baker Award as the top collegiate player in 2001 after leading the nation in wins, winning percentage, save percentage (.950), goal-against average and 10 shutouts. He was also a two-time First Team All-American and was named the 2001 Big 10 Men’s Athlete of the Year and USA College Hockey Player of the Year. Miller, who set an NCAA record with 26 shutouts, became just the second goaltender ever to win the prestigious award following Robb Stauber, another former Amerks goaltender. In 106 career games with the Spartans, Miller posted a 73-19-12 record with a 1.64 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage. He was inducted into the Michigan State Hall of Fame in 2013-14.
Miller appeared in 18 seasons with Anaheim, Vancouver, St. Louis and Buffalo from 2002-21, posting a 390-289-87 record with a 2.64 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in 794 career NHL games. Miller made his NHL debut with the Sabres on Nov. 19, 2002 at New Jersey. All-time, Miller ranks 14th on the NHL’s wins list, 12th in saves (21,621) and 19th in games played (794). He also ranks fifth in save percentage among all-time NHL goaltenders with 700 appearances. The only four others with a higher save percentage all-time are Hasek (.922), Roberto Luongo (.919), Henrik Lundqvist (.918) and Tomas Vokoun (.917).
He is the all-time leader among U.S.-born goaltenders in wins (391) and remains one of only six goalies in NHL history to win 30 games in seven straight seasons (2006-12). He also leads American goaltenders in career save percentage (.914), ranks second in shutouts (44) and games played (796) and ranks third in goals-against average (2.64) with at least 500 games played. Since his NHL debut in 2002-03, Miller ranks fourth among NHL goaltenders in wins, saves and appearances. He remains one of just 30 goaltenders in NHL history to win 300 games in his career. He won his 390th career game on Mar. 18, 2021 vs. Arizona, passing Dominik Hasek (389) for 14th place on the NHL's all-time wins list for goaltenders and surpassed John Vanbiesbrouck (374) for the all-time lead among U.S.-born goaltenders in wins (375) on Feb. 17, 2019 vs. Washington.
Miller spent 11 seasons with Buffalo from 2002-14, going 284-186-57 in 540 games. He holds Sabres franchise records in career wins (284), appearances (540), minutes (21,660:48) and single-season wins (41 in 2009-10). He led Buffalo to the Eastern Conference Final in both 2006 and 2007, joining Dominik Hasek as the only Buffalo goaltender to reach consecutive Conference Finals. The highest honor of his NHL career came following the 2009-10 season when he won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top netminder. That year, Miller broke his own record with 41 wins and finished with an astounding 2.22 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage, both NHL career-highs, while leading the Sabres to a Northeast Division title.
Additionally, Miller has made seven career trips to the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Ducks, Canucks, Blues and Sabres. In 57 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, the 6-2, 170-pound goaltender went 28-27 with three shutouts, a 2.52 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. Miller ranks second in Sabres postseason history wins (25), games played (47) and saves (1,336).
Internationally, Miller represented Team USA at the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Winter Games, leading the U.S. to a silver medal in 2010. He was named the MVP, Best Goaltender and an All-Star at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, posting a 5-1 record with a 1.35 goals-against average and .946 save percentage in six tournament games. Overall, he went 6-1 with one shutout, a 1.30 goals-against average and .945 save percentage in seven tournament games. His six Olympic wins are the second-most in Team USA history. Miller also represented his country at three World Championships (2001, 2002, 2003), posting two shutouts with a 2.09 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in eight tournament contests.
Throughout his illustrious career, Miller is the only player in hockey history to be named the top goaltender in the NCAA, American Hockey League, National Hockey League and Winter Olympics. He is also a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022 and was inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame along with having his jersey No. 30 retired in January 2023.
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