Michigan State University Athletics
Miller, Liles Earn CCHA Individual Honors
3/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
March 14, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Junior goaltender Ryan Miller (East Lansing, Mich.) and junior defenseman John-Michael Liles (Zionsville, Ind.) were honored at tonight's Central Collegiate Hockey Association awards ceremony in Detroit. Miller was named the league's Player of the Year for the second straight season while Liles was tabbed as the conference's Best Offensive Defenseman.
Miller enters this week's CCHA "Super Six" Championship with a 25-7-5 record, a 1.75 goals against average, a .937 saves percentage and eight shutouts, extending his NCAA record for career whitewashes to 26 in the process. He leads the nation's netminders in wins and shutouts and ranks third in goals against average, saves percentage and minutes played. In CCHA play, Miller was 18-6-4 and led the league with a 1.64 goals against average and a .941 saves percentage, and his eight blankings of conference foes in 2001-02 is one short of the conference record for shutouts in a season he set last year.
The 2001 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner, who also earned the league's Best Goaltender award for the third time after posting the lowest goals against average in conference play, keeps CCHA Player of the Year honors in East Lansing for the fifth straight season - Miller was preceded by Chad Alban (1998), Mike York (1999) and Shawn Horcoff (2000). He's also the first back-to-back winner since Michigan's Brendan Morrison accomplished the feat in 1996 and 1997.
Liles, MSU's leading scorer with 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points, paces CCHA defensemen in goals, points and shares the league lead in power-play goals by a defenseman with seven. Among defensemen nationally, he's fifth in points and goals. In conference games, Liles ranks second in scoring by a defenseman with 21 points and is tied for sixth with five power-play goals. He's the first Spartan to be named CCHA Best Offensive Defenseman since 1991, when Jason Woolley received the honor.
Other winners at the CCHA Awards include forward Pat Dwyer of Western Michigan (Rookie of the Year), Alaska Fairbanks' Bobby Andrews (Best Defensive Forward) and Guy Gadowski (Coach of the Year), Michigan's Mike Komisarek (Best Defensive Defenseman) and Kevin O'Malley (Ilitch Humanitarian Award) and Scott Titus of Ohio State (Terry Flanagan Memorial Award).
