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Winningest American Goalie Olympic Medalist Ryan Miller To Retire From NHL

by Todd Kortemeier

Ryan Miller tends the net during the Men's Ice Hockey Preliminary Round Group A game on day nine of the Winter Olympics Sochi 2014 at Shayba Arena on Feb. 16, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

 

Ryan Miller, star of the Olympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010 and all-time winningest American goalie, is calling it a career.
After 18 NHL seasons and 390 wins, Miller announced Thursday he will retire at the end of the 2020-21 season.
“It was a dream come true when I played my first NHL game and it has been a privilege to spend 18 years as a professional,” Miller said in a news release from the Anaheim Ducks, with whom he has spent the last four seasons. “I have decided that I am going to retire after the season having been given more time doing what I love than I could ever have hoped for.”
Miller’s NHL career began with the Buffalo Sabres in 2002, one year after he won the Hobey Baker Award as the top men’s player in college hockey with Michigan State. Miller played in the American Hockey League (AHL) during the 2004-05 NHL lockout and was named best goaltender there as well. In 2010, Miller won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender. 
But Miller is perhaps best remembered among American hockey fans for his performance in Vancouver in 2010, when he backstopped Team USA to the silver medal. Miller’s lone loss of the tournament came in the gold-medal game, a heartbreaking overtime loss to Canada. Miller was named MVP of the tournament, making him the only hockey player to win the Hobey Baker and be named best goalie in the NCAA, the AHL, the NHL, and at the Olympic Games. Miller returned to the Games in 2014, playing in one game and allowing one goal in a victory over Slovenia.


Todd Kortemeier is a sportswriter, editor and children’s book author from Minneapolis. He is a contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.