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Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller, whose career was shaken by a knee injury suffered in April 2019, announced his retirement on Wednesday. “Although my spirit for the game is there,” Miller wrote in a lengthy Instagram post, “unfortunately my body is not.”
Miller, 33, missed the 2019-20 season by recovering from a twice broken kneecap, which he initially injured in a crash against the boards on April 4, 2019 in Minnesota. Within days of being allowed to resume play in this season’s Eastern Conference Finals, he once again managed to break it in an off-ice practice. Miller underwent two more knee operations.
Miller, who was twice nominated as the Bruins’ Masterton Trophy contender for his persistence and dedication to the sport, made a comeback last season. He played 28 games, removing his morning skates and training to rest his injury. More bad luck befell him. In his last game as Bruin, he suffered a concussion in Game 4 of the first-round series against the Capitals, after defenseman Dmitry Orlov hit him under the chin. He believed he would have been cleared to play in Game 7 of the second round, but the Bruins lost to the Islanders in six games.
“It weighs on you,” Miller said in June of his many recent injuries. “It’s not easy. You want to be out there with the guys and help them win. I think I could have helped. Just get one more game.
“That’s the way it is sometimes, it’s hockey. It’s life. Just turn the page.
Miller, who grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles (Santa Clarita, California), foiled his entire hockey career. He was one of the few Southern California products to make it into the NHL. He left home at 16 and traveled to New England to play preseason hockey at Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts. He played four years in Vermont, including two as captain, and was not drafted. His try with the Providence Bruins in 2010 led to a two-pronged deal the following season.
After 154 AHL games, he made his NHL debut in November 2013, aged 26, and became a regular in 2015-16 (a career high 5-13-18 in 71 games). The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Miller served as a physical presence in the Bruins’ third pair, greatly improving his skating to be an effective NHL player.
“I would say it’s rare for [one’s skating] to improve as much as his, “said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, who coached Miller to Providence, in an interview in 2018.” Everyone in the organization knows, this is how it is. he moved from Providence to Boston.
“It’s not easy to work. You start to get into your habits, and it’s hard to take advantage of it. You can have it, but you’ve been doing it your whole life. It takes dedication. “
Over the course of his career, Miller has earned a reputation as one of the strongest athletes in the Bruins’ organization; for a time, he was the only one who could challenge Zdeno Chara in the team’s annual pre-season traction competition. Miller has also teamed up with independent coach Adam Oates, former Bruins star, to improve his puck game. Although Miller made his bones in disrupting and intimidating opposing forwards, he has become a reliable puck mover.
The one-time draft has become so reliable that it landed a four-year, $ 10 million contract in 2016. After it expired, the Bruins brought Miller back on a one-year contract with big bonuses last season.
In eight seasons in the NHL, he has 71 points (13-58—71), 776 hits and 571 blocked shots in 352 games. He played 33 playoff games (1-6-7).
Signing off his retirement message, in which he thanked Bruins management, past and present coaches and teammates, and Bruins fans, he wrote: “Forever a Bruin.”
Matt Porter can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyports.
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