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Miller making mark in Bearcats fold
By Reuben Villagracia
Saturday, February 7, 2009

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Something unheard of happened during a Thunder Bay Bearcats‘ game on Wednesday: Tyler Miller did not register a single point.
Miller‘s name and the scoresheet have been synonomous with each other since the Fort Frances native joined the team. He has 17 goals and 21 assists in just 15 Superior International Junior Hockey League games in a Bearcats uniform – make it 90 points in 44 games if you include his totals with the Port Hope Predators of the Ontario junior A loop.
But the undisclosed amount of cash Bearcats management paid (said to be in the five-digit range) to the Predators for Miller‘s card demanded more than sheer points. So far, that‘s working out too.
Miller, 20, played the point on the powerplay and, along with childhood friend Brian White, was on the first line of penalty-killing forwards throughout Wednesday‘s 3-2 win over the Fort William North Stars.
“One of the big things when Millsy came here is he adds a lot of confidence to our team,” said Bearcats coach Jeff Ricciardi, whose club takes a nine-game win streak into Miller‘s hometown against the Jr. Sabres today.
“Not only offensively, but also defensively. He‘s a smart player and when you think of the other additions we‘ve made in (Jeremy) Beller, (Kyle) Tront and White, we‘ve added some fairly talented offensive players that can get the job done and really improve our powerplay.”
Miller, who jumped back into heavy action after sitting out almost two months awaiting the trade, said the SIJHL can get a lot rougher than the Toronto leagues.
“The calibre‘s the same. Down there they have the two-ref system and you can see everything that happens on the ice,” Miller said. “Some nights, they‘re on and off here. The speed of the guys out here and everything is the same.”
The Sabres boast a homegrown mentality to building a team. Coach and general manager Wayne Strachan is a Fort Frances native and eight of his players are from the town or surrounding Rainy River area. Since losing out on a bidding war for Miller, Strachan has publicly said he wasn‘t pleased how the Bearcats swooped in with a pile of money.
Miller admitted returning to play in front of his hometown today for the first time since the trade is “definitely going to be weird.”
“There‘s nothing I could do,” he added.
“Whoever got me, got me and I was just going to play hockey and do what I do. I‘m glad I ended up in Thunder Bay because they‘ve got a good team for a run.”
Ricciardi wasn‘t about to throw more wood on the fire, especially with his team entering hostile territory with all eyes on Miller.
“Between the teams, I don‘t think it adds any heat. But at the end of the day, those kids are from Fort Frances and there was a lot of pressure on them to go back there. They wanted to come here and we‘re more than happy to take them. They‘ve been fantastic additions,” Ricciardi said.
“I‘m sure (the fans) are upset and I can understand that. That‘s the way hockey is. We don‘t get all the best players from Thunder Bay to play here either.”
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