Drew Miller: Building His Own Legacy
12/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 7, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Since before he can remember, sophomore forward Drew Miller has bled Green and White. A Lansing area native, Miller grew up as a Spartan and spent most of his youth around the MSU hockey program.
Part of growing up in the area was seeing the impact that MSU athletes have in the community, especially in a big time sport such as hockey.
With his understanding of the difference he can make in the community, Miller took it upon himself to get involved in PACT (Putting Athletes and the Community Together), a program designed to help MSU student-athletes get connected with the local community. Miller has taken part in many activities including a wheelchair hockey game, a pen pal program with local Lansing elementary schools and visiting the pediatric wards in local hospitals.
"With Drew, I can ask him to do anything in the community and he will go out of his way to make time to be there," said Angela Howard, Associate Director of SASS. "And if I need three more guys to help out that day, I can put him in charge of it knowing that it will get done."
With such strong leadership skills off the ice, it's no surprise that this season Miller was named a captain as only a sophomore. He is one of only seven sophomores in the history of the program to earn that distinction.
"It's definitely an honor to be appointed a captain," Miller said. "I've always tried to be a leader on the team, but last year as a freshman it was hard to be a bigger leader."
On a team where 15 players are freshmen or sophomores, head coach Rick Comley felt it was necessary to have a younger player helping to lead the team.
"With just two seniors and a junior as captains, it would be easy to lose contact with the freshmen who are still adjusting," Comley said. "It's important that one of our leaders is in that age group."
It's not just being one of the younger guys though that has helped Miller become a leader.
As a freshman, Miller, 6-foot-2, 170 pounds, appeared in 41 games for the Spartans while tallying 10 points. His role as a defensive forward was vital for MSU especially during opponents' power plays.
"Penalty killing was the one part of my game that was really, really strong last year," Miller said. "I prided myself on blocking shots and getting that aspect done for the team."
This season, though, Miller hopes to become more of a scoring threat for the Spartans. He said that while he was okay with only accumulating 10 points last season; he expects more of himself as a forward.
"I'd like to get more points this season, that's for sure," Miller said. "I'd like to be more of a scoring threat and not in the defensive role on the fourth line like I was last year."
With Miller's strong work ethic and desire, don't be surprised if he does just that this season.
"Drew has improved a lot since last season and now he's healthy too," Comley said. "He came in last fall nicked up a bit and now he's stronger as well so all it takes is time. He will have the chance to showcase his improvement this season."
The last sophomore to have the distinction of being named captain is Miller's current teammate and fellow captain Jim Slater. Miller knows he's in good company with a player of Slater's caliber.
"Jimmy has been a captain the past three years and he, along with some of the other captains before, is a true leader," Miller said. "I just have to try to do what they do and show the young guys some of the stuff I've picked up from them."
Being counted on to lead the younger group is not always an easy task. The transition to the college level can sometimes be tricky and Miller knows that getting the freshman acclimated early is key to the team's success this season.
"The quicker we can get them adjusted to the faster pace at the college level, the better off we'll be," Miller said. "Part of my job as a young captain is to get all of the freshmen on the same track as us as soon as possible."
Miller understands the transition better than most. Along with just the normal pressure of being a freshman in a nationally known hockey program, Miller had the additional pressure of his family name as well.
 Only a sophomore, Drew Miller was selected an assistant captain by the Spartan coaching staff.  | |
As the 10th member of the Miller family to be a part of the MSU hockey program, Miller had expectations placed upon him before he ever stepped foot onto the ice as a Spartan.
"Drew had unbelievable pressure on him with the great success that the Millers before him had in this program," Comley said. "Last season, he began to make his own impact on the program as a tremendous penalty killer."
Establishing his own identity outside of his family has not been easy for Miller.
"I've always been known as Ryan's little brother or one of the Millers," Miller said of his Hobey Baker award winning brother. "It's only going to be my second year so I haven't really figured out how to be fully recognized as Drew Miller but hopefully somewhere down the line in my next three years I'll figure it out."
Being named captain is already something that differentiates Miller from his famous brother. While Ryan earned numerous awards at MSU, being selected a captain was never one of them.
"I guess I'm one up on him now," Miller said with a laugh. "No, it's different for a goalie. A goalie doesn't have as much room to be a leader."
While Miller does want to establish his own legacy outside of his family name and brother, he said that being a Miller is something that he wouldn't change even if he could.
"It's not like it's a bad thing to be Ryan's little brother," Miller said. "The comparisons used to be worse when he was at MSU playing hockey and I was also in Lansing playing. Now that he's gone, during the season we're each our own players and we can just be brothers."
Although it hasn't been easy stepping out of the shadow of his family, Miller's coach believes that Drew will leave his own mark on Spartan hockey.
"I don't know if there is anybody who loves this program more than Drew does," Comley said with a smile. "He grew up around it with his family, and now he's ready to make his own strong impact here."
Building his own legacy - that's exactly what Drew Miller expects.
By Kelly Thesier, MSU Sports Information
