The American Hockey League announced today that Rochester Americans goaltender Ryan Miller has been named the CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending November 14, 2004. Miller helped Rochester extend its winning streak to six games by stopping 109 of 112 shots in three victories last week.
Miller earned his first shutout of the 2004-05 season on Wednesday night, making 35 saves (including 22 in the third period) in a 1-0 win over Hamilton. He stopped 36 shots on Friday before denying five of six shootout attempts to preserve a 2-1 victory over Syracuse, then turned aside 38 shots more as the Amerks rallied for a 4-2 win and a home-and-home sweep of the Crunch on Saturday. Miller was 3-0-0 on the week with a 0.97 goals-against average and .973 save percentage.
In recognition of his achievement, Miller will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Americans home game.
A native of East Lansing, Mich., Miller is in his third season with the Amerks after three stellar years at Michigan State University, where he captured the Hobey Baker Award in 2001. He has won five straight decisions and six of his last seven to improve his record to 6-5-0 on the season. A 2004 AHL All-Star, the 24-year-old Miller is 56-48-12 in 118 career AHL contests, all with Rochester, and has moved into fifth place on the franchise’s all-time shutouts list with eight.
Other nominees for CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week include Binghamton center Jason Spezza, Bridgeport defenseman Bruno Gervais, Chicago goaltender Kari Lehtonen, Cleveland goaltender Nolan Schaefer, Edmonton goaltender Tyler Moss, Grand Rapids goaltender Joey MacDonald, Hershey center Andre Savage, Houston center Mikko Koivu, Manchester right wing Tom Kostopoulos, Manitoba goaltender Wade Flaherty, Norfolk goaltender Craig Anderson, Philadelphia goaltender Antero Niittymaki, Portland right wing Jonas Johansson, San Antonio defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski, Springfield defenseman Brian Chapman, St. John’s goaltender J.F. Racine, Syracuse left wing Mike Pandolfo and Utah right wing Martin Sonnenberg.
