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N.Y. Rangers draftee K’Andre Miller makes U.S. World Junior roster

23 Sunday Dec 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, K'Andre Miller, New York Rangers, Nick Suzuki, University of Wisconsin, Vegas Golden Knights

University of Wisconsin freshman defenseman K’Andre Miller won’t be home in Minnesota for Christmas.

Wisconsin’s K’Andre Miller (Photo/ David Stluka/UW Athletics).

Miller, 18,  will be in Vancouver after earning a roster spot on the United States team that will compete at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship December 26 to January 5.

Miller, who was chosen by the New York Rangers in the first round with the 22nd overall pick in the 2018 National Hockey League Draft, is having an impressive rookie campaign at Wisconsin.

The smooth-skating blue-liner is the Badgers’ leading scorer with 4 goals and 13 assists in 18 games. He’s tied for seventh in scoring among defensemen in NCAA Division I hockey. He’s also among the nation’s top 50 D-I scorers.

University of Wisconsin freshman defenseman K’Andre Miller is Vancouver-bound for the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship (Photo/Greg Anderson/UW Athletics).

“We’ve said from day one that this is a selection process, and as a staff we’re thrilled with the 23 players selected to represent the United States in one of the greatest tournaments on the hockey calendar,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, general manager of the 2019 U.S. National Junior Team and also the assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. ”

Embed from Getty Images

“By no means did we come to this decision easily, and that’s a credit to the players,” he added. “It’s easy to say our talent pool is deeper than it’s ever been, but so too is the character of these young players, and now it’s time for these 23 selected players to come together and represent our country with pride,” he added.

Congrats to #NYR prospect K’Andre Miller on representing @usahockey at the #WorldJuniors! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/womauCupXm

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 23, 2018

Miller had an eye-catching collegiate coming out party of sorts with a four-point game – a goal and 3 assists – against Penn State University on Dec. 3. He became the first Badgers defenseman to accomplish that scoring feat in more than six years.

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

 

 

 

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K’Andre Miller Broadway-bound as N.Y. Rangers take him in 2018 NHL Draft

23 Saturday Jun 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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2018 NHL Draft, K'Andre Miller, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers

DALLAS – K’Andre Miller enjoys being a myth-breaker. Now he’ll get a chance to do it on Broadway.

Miller, a smooth-skating defenseman with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, was selected by the New York Rangers with the 22nd overall pick of the 2018 National Hockey League Draft in Dallas Friday night.

The Rangers traded up in the draft with the Ottawa Senators for a chance to grab Miller.

“It means the world to have a team to want you that bad to trade for you,” Miller told reporters. “For them to have that opportunity for me, it’s pretty cool, I’m excited.”

Embed from Getty Images

He’s also excited about the prospect of playing in a diverse market like New York to further help shatter stereotypes about blacks and ice hockey and spread the message that hockey is indeed for everyone.

“Being African-American, the opportunity doesn’t come that often. I worked very hard to be in this position,” he said. “And for all the young kids out there, anything’s possible. I was a kid just a little while ago and to be here really means a lot.”

The NYR traded up to select K’Andre Miller at No. 22. “Being African American, the opportunity doesn’t come very often. I worked very hard to be in this position.” pic.twitter.com/4wikUvNVXL

— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) June 23, 2018

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound native of Minnetonka, Minnesota, said people sometimes ask if he was a basketball player because of his size and frame.

“It’s always been my motivation to prove to people that no matter what your skin color is, what you look like in general, you can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it,” Miller told me last year. “When I see people of color in my community in Minnetonka and Hopkins trying to play hockey, I always go up to them whenever I can and straight-up tell them ‘Don’t listen to what anybody says. Play whatever you want to play, if it’s hockey, soccer, lacrosse, tennis, whatever you want to do. Just do it.’”

Miller, 18, a mobile defenseman, moved up NHL Central Scouting’s draft rankings over the season, jumping to 23rd-best North American skater from 31st at mid-season.

Miller looks forward to playing in the NHL someday. But first he’ll play for the University of Wisconsin, starting next season.

Miller had 7 goals and 17 assists in 50 games. Not bad for a player who switched to defense from forward two seasons ago. He skated for the U.S. at the 2018 IIHF U18 world juniors, scoring a goal and 2 assists in seven games.

K’Andre Miller was exposed to the NHL at an early age, taking part in a commercial for the league when he was 10. With him, left to right, are retired forwards Pat LaFontaine and Neal Broten and former goaltender Mike Richter (Photo/Courtesy USA Hockey).

“I’m a defenseman that’s real hard to play against, offensive-defensive zone,” Miller said.

The Rangers will have to wait a while for Miller’s Broadway debut. He’ll play for the University of Wisconsin Badgers and former Rangers forward Tony Granato this fall.

Embed from Getty Images

Miller traces his interest in becoming a professional hockey player to Minnesota Wild team captain Mikko Koivu.

“For my ninth birthday, I went down to Dallas to watch the Stars play the Wild,” Miller told me last year. “We went down to the locker room after the game and Mikko came up to me, shook my hand, said happy birthday, and asked when the next time I would be at a home game in Minnesota because he was going to try to get me a stick.

“I went back to the rink in Minnesota about two months later and he picked me out in the stands, he had the trainer come up with a stick and hand it right to me,” Miller added. “That was probably the coolest experience I think I’ve ever had with an NHL player.”

Erica L. Ayala contributed to this report.

“Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play

 

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Players of color anxiously await the call at 2018 NHL Draft in Dallas

19 Tuesday Jun 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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2018 NHL Draft, Akil Thomas, Jett Woo, K'Andre Miller, Montana Onyebuchi, Niagara IceDogs, Ontario Hockey League, Oshawa Generals, Serron Noel, Western Hockey League

Niagara IceDogs right wing Akil Thomas is traveling from hometown Toronto to Dallas, Texas, in a rented RV with his family just so he can sit, wait, and wonder when he arrives.

Thomas hopes the wait to be picked by a team in the 2018 NHL Draft won’t be as long as the drive to Texas – a journey that exceeds 1,400 miles and 21 hours.

The waiting is the hardest part for Akil Thomas and other players at 2018 NHL Draft (Photo/Niagara IceDogs).

“I’m pretty nervous now,” Thomas told me recently. “I’m going to be sitting in a chair waiting for my name to be called. It’s going to change my life, obviously. I don’t know who’s going to pick me, I really don’t know what to expect. For everyone, it’s kind of nerve-racking. It’s kind of your first experience of the NHL.”

Thomas is one of a least eight players of color who could be selected by one of the league’s 31 teams during the two-day draft that begins Friday inside Dallas’ American Airlines Center.

Cable’s NBCSN airs the first round in the United States at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. NHL Network picks up Rounds 2-7 on Saturday starting at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. In Canada, Sportsnet and TVA Sports broadcasts the draft both days.

Here’s a look at some of the potential picks:

AKIL THOMAS, right wing, Niagara IceDogs, Ontario Hockey League: NHL Central Scouting ranks Thomas as the 15th-best North American skater in the draft. The 5-foot-11, 171-pound forward notched 22 goals and 59 assists in 68 games and served as an assistant captain for the IceDogs.

He had 5 goals and 6 assists in 10 OHL playoff games last season.  Thomas also played for Canada in the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation U18 World Junior Championship, tallying a goal and an assist in four games.

Niagara IceDogs right wing Akil Thomas was his team’s  second-leading scorer last season with 22 goals and 59 assists in 68 OHL games (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images)

Thomas comes from a hockey family. His father, Khalil Thomas, was a career minor league player. Ditto his uncle, Leo Thomas, who was recently named head coach of the Macon Mayhem of the Southern Professional Hockey League. He’s currently North America’s only black professional hockey head coach.

Akil Thomas’ father and mother, Akilah Thomas, are owners of the Oshawa RiverKings of Canada’s Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League.

“I love hockey so much because I’ve been around it because of my uncle and dad,” Akil Thomas told me. “I don’t get tired of working on my shot in my back yard, I don’t get tired of going to the gym because I don’t see it as hard work. I see it as fun.”

Thomas is all business off the ice as well. Though still a teenager, he has his own clothing line.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Can play center or wing and plays with a balance of skill, will and a very strong sense of what needs to be done at any time” – TSN hockey analyst Craig Button, who ranks Thomas as a top-six play-making forward. TNS rank him 28th on its Top 93 draft list.

SERRON NOEL, right wing, Oshawa Generals:  Central Scouting ranks Noel as the 10th-best North American skater.

The 6-foot-5, 205-pounder from Guelph, Ontario, had 28 goals and 25 assists in 62 regular season games for the Generals. He had an assist in five OHL playoff games and chipped in 2 goals and 4 assists in five games for Canada at the 2018 U18 world juniors.

Oshawa Generals right wing Serron Noel finished second in goals on his team last season with 28 (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images)

Noel, 17, is the son of Dean Noel, a former Canadian Football League wide receiver. He steered Serron toward hockey because of concerns about the rate of  concussions in football.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “He’s 6-foot-5 and one of the youngest players in the draft. He has the upside to become one of the premier power forwards in this league” – The Hockey Writers.

K’ANDRE MILLER, defense, USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program:  Miller,18, is a smooth-skating defender who has moved up Central Scouting’s chart. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder from Minnetonka, Minnesota, jumped to 23rd-best North American skater from 31st at mid-term.

K’Andre Miller helped anchor the defense for the United States at the IIHF U18 World Championship (Photo/USA Hockey)

Miller had 7 goals and 17 assists in 50 games. Not bad for a player who switched to defense from forward two seasons ago. He skated for the U.S. at the 2018 IIHF U18 world juniors, scoring a goal and 2 assists in seven games.

Any NHL team that takes Miller could have to wait a few years for him. He begins playing for the University of Wisconsin Badgers and Head Coach Tony Granato this fall.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Strong skating, puck carrying defenseman who can quickly get the play moving forward. Athletic with excellent potential” – TSN’s Button, who projects Miller to become a Top 4 defenseman. Miller is ranked 24th on TSN’s Top 93.

Jett Woo, Moose Jaw Warriors (Photo/Marc Smith/DiscoverMooseJaw).

JETT WOO, defense, Moose Jaw Warriors, Western Hockey League. Woo is hoping to make history and become the first player of Chinese descent to be chosen in the first round of the NHL Draft.

Defenseman Andong Song became the first Chinese-born player drafted when the New York Islanders chose him in the sixth round in 2015.

Woo may achieve his goal, even though his stock dipped with Central Scouting. The 17-year-old from Winnipeg is ranked the 28th-best North American skater, down from 20th at mid-term.

Rugged Moose Jaw Warriors defenseman Jett Woo wants to be the first player of Chinese descent to be selected in the NHL Draft’s first round (Photo/Marc Smith/DiscoverMooseJaw).

Named after Chinese action film star Jet Li, the 5-foot-11, 205-pound Woo had 9 goals and 16 assists in 44 games last season for Moose Jaw. He scored 2 goals and 1 assist in 14 WHL playoff games last season. He also contributed a goal and an assist for Team Canada at the IIHF U18 world juniors.

“I’m not exactly sure if my dad is a big fan of Jet Li…he might be,” Woo told NHL.com. “I know that’s where my name came from. I know my grandparents liked the name.”

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Poised defender with above-average speed and a strong understanding of the game” – The Sporting News, which had Woo 56th in its April rankings.

JERMAINE LOEWEN, left wing, Kamloops Blazers, WHL: Loewen, 20, aspires to be the NHL’s second Jamaican-born player. Graeme Townshend – a forward who played for the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, and Ottawa Senators – was the first.

Kamloops Blazers forward is what most NHL teams covet in a player: size and hands soft enough to score 36 goals last season (Photo/Kamloops Blazers).

Loewen is ranked as the 160th-best North American skater and is projected as a potential late-round pick.  At 6-foot-four, 221-pounds, Loewen was the Blazers’ leading scorer last season with 36 goals and 28 assists in 66 regular season games.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “A raw player player with a huge frame. Plays a very impressive game with good on ice smarts, He can be heavy on his feet, but there is no denying his ability to get the job done. Loewen could turn into a Wayne Simmonds-type player” – ISS Hockey.

Forward Austin Wong hopes to follow his brother, Tyler, into pro hockey.

AUSTIN WONG, center/right wing, Okotoks Oilers, Alberta Junior Hockey League:  Ranked 174th among North American skaters by Central Scouting, Wong was the Oilers fourth-leading scorer last season with 25 goals and 29 assists in 55 AJHL games.

The 5-foot-10, 189-pound 17-year-old from Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, is committed to play Ivy League hockey for Harvard University starting in the 2019-20 season.

Wong’s older brother, right wing Tyler Wong,  played last season for the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League and the Quad City Mallards of the ECHL.

He was an NHL preseason and training camp sensation for the Vegas Golden Knights last September. Tyler Wong scored the first goal in Golden Knights history in an exhibition game against the Vancouver Canucks. He finished the game with a hat trick – three goals.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “A pitbull of a power forward who combines skill and truculence…He gets in on the forecheck and is able to make quick reaction plays that lead to scoring chances around the net,” Steve Kournianos, The Draft Analyst.

ISAAC NURSE, right wing, Hamilton Bulldogs, OHL:  Yep, another Nurse looking to make it big in hockey. Ranked the 180th-best North American skater, Nurse notched 17 goals and 13 assists in 68 games for Hamilton last season. He added 7 goals and 4 assists in 21 OHL post-season contests.

Unlike cousin Darnell Nurse, a defenseman drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft, Issac Nurse is taking the long road to the NHL. The 19-year-old Hamilton native was initially cut by the Bulldogs and played Canadian Junior B hockey in 2015-16 before rejoining the hometown Bulldogs the next season.

Hamilton Bulldogs forward Isaac Nurse has taken the long path in hockey, a route that he hopes will lead to the NHL (Photo/Aaron Bell/OHL Images).

At 5-foot-10, 174-pounds, Nurse comes from one of Canada’s most competitive athletic families. Sister Sarah Nurse starred at the University of Wisconsin and played for Canada’s women’s hockey team at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Cousin Kia Nurse, Darnell’s sister, is a point guard for the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team and played for Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janerio.

Isaac’s father, Roger Nurse, was a star lacrosse player. His uncle, Richard Nurse, was a wide receiver for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats. An aunt, Cathy Nurse, was a hoops star at Canada’s McMaster University. And former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb is a relative by marriage.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “He’s hard to play against and he fits into how we want to play…He’s a big part of why this team is where it’s at right now” – Hamilton Bulldogs Head Coach John Gruden.

Kamloops Blazers defenseman Montana Onyebuchi.

MONTANA ONYEBUCHI, defense, Kamloops Blazers, WHL: A physical 6-foot-3, 209-pound blue-liner, Onyebuchi  dropped off Central Scouting’s list after being ranked the 216th-best North American skater at mid-term.

About the name: Onyebuchi’s father hails from Nigeria and moved to Canada following high school.

Onyebuchi, 18, had 4 goals and 13 assists in 62 games for the Blazers and the WHL’s  Everett Silvertips. The Dugald, Manitoba, Canada, native also accumulated a whopping 109 penalty minutes between the two teams. Think 2015 sixth-round draftee Bokondji Imama.

Defenseman Montana Onyebuchi, left, split his last season between the Kamloops Blazers and Everett Silvertips (Photo/Kamloops Blazers).

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Onyebuchi is a bit of a wild man who is fearless, yet feared by others. He can definitely fight and be a physical presence, but Onyebuchi is also a powerful skater with a raw skill-set that suggests he has a pro upside” – The Hockey Writers.

Some lower-ranked players may not get their names called in Dallas on Friday or Saturday, but that doesn’t mean NHL teams won’t come calling.

They could be invited to NHL rookie and prospect camps teams hold shortly after the draft. The camps, tryouts of sorts, can lead to NHL or minor league opportunities down the road.

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

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Stanley Cup dreams deferred, some NHL players seek gold at IIHF championship

03 Thursday May 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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2018 NHL Draft, Akil Thomas, Alec Marinez, Darnell Nurse, K'Andre Miller, NHL Central Scouting, Serron Noel

Their dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup deferred for at least another season, several National Hockey League players are going for the gold overseas, and players of color are no exception.

Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Alec Martinez are in Denmark hoping to power their countries to a gold medal at the International Ice HockeyFederation World Championship, which begins Friday.

Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse suits up for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship in Denmark.

Nurse’s Team Canada will face Martinez’s Team USA in an opening round match Friday at Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark, at 10:15 a.m. Eastern Time. The NHL Network will televise the May 4-20 tourney in the United States and TSN will carry it in Canada.

Nurse and Martinez became available to play in the 16-country tournament after the Oilers had a disappointing 2017-18 season and didn’t qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Kings got swept in the first round by the surprising expansion Vegas Golden Knights.

They’ll join other NHLers whose teams also either missed the playoffs or suffered early Stanley Cup exits to form world championship tournament squads with way more talent than the U.S. and Canadian teams that skated at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Those teams were stocked with U.S. and Canadian players from North American minor leagues, colleges, European and Russian leagues after the NHL opted not to suspend operations during the Winter Games to allow its players to participate.

So how good are these IIHF teams?

Team Canada is captained by Oilers center Connor McDavid,  he of 41 goals and 67 assists in 82 games.

He’s joined by fellow Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (24 goals, 24 assists, 62 games);  St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn (24 goals, 46 assists, 82 games); New York Islanders center  Mathew Barzal (22 goals, 63 assists, 82 games); Buffalo Sabres center Ryan O’Reilly (24 goals, 37 assists, 81 games); and, of course, Nurse (6 goals, 20 assists, 82 games).

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Alec Martinez plays for the U.S. at the IIHF World Championship.

Martinez (9 goals, 16 assists, 77 games) is joined on the U.S. team by Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane (27 goals, 49 assists, 82 games);  Calgary Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau(24 goals, 60 assists, 80 games); New York Rangers left wing Chris Krieder (16 goals, 21 assists, 58 games); Blackhawks right wing  Alex DeBrincat (28 goals, 24 assists, 82 games); and Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Cam Atkinson ( 24 goals, 22 assists, 65 games).

New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (27 goals, 20 assists, 62 games) is representing Sweden at the worlds. He tallied a goal and an assist in Sweden’s 5-0 rout of Belarus on Friday.

And speaking about international hockey tournaments, congrats to Team USA defenseman K’Andre Miller and Team Canada forwards Serron Noeland Akil Thomas –three potential first-round picks at the 2018 NHL Draft in June – for their play at the 2018 IIHF U18 World Championship that ended last weekend in Russia.

OHL Niagara IceDogs center Akil Thomas scored a goal at the IIHF U18 World Championship in Russia (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images).

Noel, a right wing for the Ontario Hockey League’s Oshawa Generals    who’s ranked the 10th-best North American skater eligible for the draft by NHL Central Scouting, had 2 goals and 4 assists in  five games for Canada.

Thomas, a center for the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs, tallied a goal and an assist in four games. Thomas is ranked the 15th-best North American skater in the draft by Central Scouting.

Forward Serron Noel of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals scored two goals for Canada at the IIHF U18 World Championship (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images).

Miller, ranked as the 23rd-best North American skater available for the June 22-23 draft in Dallas, had a goal and 2 assists for the silver medal-winning U.S. team that lost 3-2 to Finland in the tournament final.

K’Andre Miller helped anchor the defense and chipped in with a goal and 2 assists for the United States at the IIHF U18 World Championship.

Whichever NHL team selects Miller will have to wait for his services. He’s committed to play hockey for the University of Wisconsin Badgers starting this fall.

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

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USA Hockey’s K’Andre Miller proves that looks, and stereotypes, can be deceiving

07 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Dustin Byfuglien, J.T. Brown, K'Andre Miller, Kyle Okposo, Los Angeles Kings, Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild, Tampa Bay Lightning, University of Wisconsin, USA Hockey, Winnipeg Jets

K’Andre Miller remembers getting occasional odd looks or sometimes racially-coded responses after telling people what sport he plays.

K’Andre Miller, defense, USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program (Photo/Rena Laverty/USA Hockey).

“They didn’t see me as ‘the hockey player type.’ I was a long, skinny kid. I looked like a basketball player,” Miller told me recently. “Every time I would go out to eat, people would be, like, ‘Oh, you play basketball, don’t you?’ I’d be like, ‘No, I actually play hockey.’ And they’d be like ‘Wow, you don’t really look like that type of player.'”

As a defenseman on USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program Under-18 squad, Miller is proving them wrong.

The 6-foot-3, 191-pound 17-year-old from Minnetonka, Minnesota, is blossoming into a blue-chip blue-liner for the NTDP after making the switch from forward only two season ago.

Miller, who’ll turn 18 on Jan. 21, will be eligible for the 2018 National Hockey League Draft in June in Dallas. NHL Central Scouting gave Miller a “B” rating last month, meaning he’s projected to be second or third-round pick.

He played in the 2017 CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game in Buffalo, New York, in September. He’s tallied 2 assists in the U.S. National Under-18 team’s first 13 games of the 2017-18 season and notched 3 goals and 14 assists in 54 games for the Under-17 squad in 2016-17.

NHL Central Scouting projects defenseman K’Andre Miller to be a second or third-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft in June (Photo/Rena Laverty/USA Hockey).

Headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan, the national team development program competes internationally, and also plays U.S. colleges and teams in the United States Hockey League, the nation’s only Tier 1 junior league.

While Miller has his sights set on playing in the NHL, he’ll attend the University of Wisconsin first.

He’s committed to play for the Badgers and Head Coach Tony Granto – who’s also the bench boss for the 2018 U.S. Winter Olympics men’s hockey team in South Korea in February – starting in the 2018-19 season.

If  Miller achieves his NHL goal, give an assist to to Minnesota Wild team captain Mikko Koivu.

“For my ninth birthday, I went down to Dallas to watch the Stars play the Wild,” Miller told me. “We went down to the locker room after the game and Mikko came up to me, shook my hand, said happy birthday, and asked when the next time I would be at a home game in Minnesota because he was going to try to get me a stick.

K’Andre Miller looks forward to playing in the NHL someday. But first he’ll play for the University of Wisconsin, starting next season (Photo/Rena Laverty/USA Hockey).

“I went back to the rink in Minnesota about two months later and he picked me out in the stands, he had the trainer come up with a stick and hand it right to me,” Miller added. “That was probably the coolest experience I think I’ve ever had with an NHL player.”

That experience helped seal the deal for Miller wanting to become a professional hockey player. But Miller’s uncle, Ken, should also get an assist for exposing his nephew to the game at an early age.

“He would take me out on the rink when I was little,” Miller recalled. “I started skating when I was two and he kind of helped me, put a stick in my hand, kind of taught me the game.

“I’d go over to his house whenever I wanted to and just watch games with him,” he added. “One of the cool things I still like about my Uncle Ken is whenever I usually go over there, we play roller hockey in his backyard.”

K’Andre Miller, right, is all smiles playing for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program (Photo/Rena Laverty/USA Hockey).

Minnesota has produced several talented black hockey players, including Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, forwards Kyle Okposo of the Buffalo Sabres and J.T. Brown of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Keegan Iverson, a 2014 NHL draftee who plays for the Ontario Reign, the Los Angeles Kings’ American Hockey League farm team.

But that hasn’t stopped some folks from wondering what the tall black kid from Minnetonka is doing on the ice with a stick in his hand. Miller takes pride in showing doubters that he’s built for the NHL.

“It’s always been my motivation to prove to people that no matter what your skin color is, what you look like in general, you can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it,” he said. “When I see people of color in my community in Minnetonka and Hopkins trying to play hockey, I always go up to them whenever I can and straight-up tell them ‘Don’t listen to what anybody says. Play whatever you want to play, if it’s hockey, soccer, lacrosse, tennis, whatever you want to do. Just do it.'”

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

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