Air Force’s eye in the sky decided it was time to fly … and Ohio State is the beneficiary.
Steve Miller, who has been the Falcons’ director of hockey operations for the past two seasons, was announced as the Buckeyes associate head coach on Friday, according to the Big Ten school.
Calm and affable, the man affectionately known as “Killer” helped coach Frank Serratore and his staff in a multitude of ways. Serratore has said Miller’s insight was one of the reasons the Falcons were a top-10 defensive team and had Division I’s top penalty kill this past season.
Stationed high above the Cadet Arena ice during games, Miller no doubt provided valuable suggestions for in-game adjustments.
The Falcons capped what many consider to be their finest season by winning 27 games, capturing Atlantic Hockey’s tournament title and reaching the NCAA Tournament’s elite eight and pushing Harvard to the brink before losing 3-2.
“Steve is one of the most respected coaches in college hockey,” Buckeyes coach Steve Rohlik told the school’s website. “He is outstanding at developing players and brings a great deal of championship experience to our team.”
Much contributed to AFA’s success, but Miller’s impact is felt wherever he coaches.
In nearly 20 seasons at Denver with George Gwozdecky, the Pioneers won two national championships, won the WCHA’s Final Five four times and the conference’s regular-season title three times. He recruited two Hobey Baker Award winners – Matt Carle and Will Butcher – and coached 41 draft choices and 55 all-WCHA selections. He was a graduate assistant for Gwozdecky at Miami for two seasons before that.
After that, he served as the first head coach and general manager of the Madison Capitols (USHL), then spent a season as associate head coach at Providence College in 2014-15, when the Friars won an NCAA Tournament. In addition to his work at Air Force, he also helped Team USA capture gold – in Canada no less – at the World Junior Championships in July.
Winning seems to follow the understated Wisconsin native, and that, as well as Miller’s wealth of acumen and experience made him an attractive hire to Ohio State in an intriguing Big Ten.
The conference added Frozen Four participant Notre Dame as a member for hockey only this season. Wisconsin is resurgent under coach Tony Granato, Minnesota is Minnesota, relative newcomer Penn State made its first NCAA Tournament and excitement is running high in Michigan where both the Spartans (Danton Cole) and Wolverines (Mel Pearson) have new coaches.
Miller joins a Buckeyes program that spent much of this past season ranked but couldn’t get over the hump to join the Gophers and Nittany Lions in the Tournament.
“I am honored and humbled to join such a prestigious institution and build on what coach Rohlik and the student-athletes have achieved,” Miller said in a press release.
Miller’s stop in Colorado Springs was impactful, and we wish him and his family all the best in Columbus, Ohio.
Making the grade
The Falcons’ record achievements on the ice this past season were mirrored off the ice as 15 players were selected to the Atlantic Hockey Conference all-academic team, one up from a season prior.
The student-athlete is eligible for the honor if he posts a 3.0 or better grade-point average in each semester his team is competing, which in hockey’s case is both semesters.
Representing Air Force on the AHC all-academic team are: seniors (graduated) Johnny Hrabovsky and A.J. Reid, rising seniors Dylan Abood, Erik Baskin, Phil Boje, Jordan Himley, Jonathan Kopacka, Ben Kucera and Tyler Ledford, rising juniors Billy Christopoulos, Evan Feno, Kyle Haak, Matt Koch and Matt Serratore and rising sophomore Pierce Pluemer.
Abood – a co-captain this past season, Baskin and Himley have all been named to the all-academic team three times. Christopoulos, Feno, Haak, Hrabovsky, Koch, Kucera, Ledford, Reid and Serratore have all been named to the team twice while Boje, Kopacka and Pluemer were all honored for the first time.
©Chris Bayee 2017
