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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 January 30, 2005. Miller helped Rochester continue its conference-leading play by stopping 111 of 114 shots in three victories last week. Miller turned aside 42 shots, one shy of his career high, to lead Rochester to a 5-1 win in Cleveland on Tuesday. One night later, he matched that effort with 42 saves in a 4-2 victory at Hamilton. Finally on Friday evening, one day after being named to the PlanetUSA roster for the 2005 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic, Miller tied the Amerks’ single-season record with his sixth shutout of the season, stopping all 27 shots he faced in Rochester’s 4-0 blanking of Binghamton. On the week, Miller was 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .974 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. With just three losses in his last 21 decisions, he has taken over the AHL lead in wins (25) and shutouts (6) while ranking second in minutes played (2,244), third in saves (1,098) and fourth in save percentage (.933). Miller’s 25-11-2 record and 2.11 GAA have helped the Amerks to the best record in the AHL’s Western Conference. Other nominees for CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week include Albany goaltender Ari Ahonen, Binghamton left wing Brandon Bochenski, Bridgeport center Kevin Colley, Chicago left wing Brad Larsen, Cincinnati right wing Pierre Parenteau, Cleveland left wing Jason Jaffray, Edmonton goaltender Tyler Moss, Hamilton forward Chris Higgins, Hartford right wing Jeff Hamilton, Hershey right wing Jeff Ulmer, Houston center Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Lowell center Eric Staal, Manchester right wing Brad Smyth, Norfolk left wing Rene Bourque, Philadelphia goaltender Antero Niittymaki, Portland center Brian Sutherby, Providence left wing Andy Hilbert, San Antonio forward Josh Olson, Springfield defenseman Nikos Tselios, St. John’s goaltender Mikael Tellqvist, Syracuse goaltender Karl Goehring and Utah goaltender Jean-Marc Pelletier.
