Quentin Miller has huge shoes to fill as DU’s No. 1 goalie, but the freshman looks up to the task

There is tough news for the other top NCAA hockey programs that were happy to see Matt Davis exhaust his college eligibility It appears the University of Denver has revealed another one It was a winding journey for Quentin Miller to get here but he looks quite at home in net for the Pioneers He made saves Friday night outdueling Colorado College star netminder Kaidan Mbereko in a - overtime win in front of the largest crowd ever for a hockey encounter at Magness Arena He s amazing He s the best person and kid too so you just want to see him have success DU defenseman Boston Buckberger commented I think what he s done for our crew being kind of a brick and our foundation back there we know we can rely on him He s bailed us out numerous times already When we go the other way and get our chances we ve got to look back and give kudos and credit to him If it weren t for him we wouldn t have been able to come back Friday night Huge credit to him I just hope he keeps it rolling because it s awesome People toss around the term legend too loosely in sports but Davis became one at DU after his incredible postseason run leading the Pioneers to an NCAA-record th national championship He also helped the Pios back to the Frozen Four last year and finished his career - in NCAA Tournament games with eight goals allowed Those are massive skates to fill Enter Miller who played for three different Canadian junior teams and months ago wasn t playing at all because of an injury A Montreal native Miller was the backup goalie for the Patrick Roy-led Quebec Ramparts in - That squad won the Memorial Cup and helped Roy return to the NHL with the New York Islanders His work also made him a fourth-round pick in the NHL draft by his hometown Montreal Canadiens Miller was traded in the middle of the next season to Rimouski He needed shoulder surgery in September so Rimouski which was hosting the Memorial Cup traded for another goaltender When he was getting close to returning from the surgery there wasn t going to be obvious playing time for him so he went west to the BCHL and joined the Chilliwack Chiefs That s when the Pioneers got involved Before players with CHL experience were granted NCAA eligibility junior players often committed years in advance of college The forthcoming rule change drastically altered the recruiting landscape last season Assistant coach Tavis MacMillian learned of a guy in Chilliwack that was coming out of injuries so just connections and people that we know up there DU coach David Carle commented We didn t have a long time to watch him because he came back from injury sometime in late January early February We made the decision to recruit him and fortunately for us he was able to get games in through the BCHL playoffs We have good connections in the Montreal organization as well and they were supportive of him coming here That all kind of factors into it Miller played regular-season games for the Chiefs then helped them to the BCHL championship series before losing to the Brooks Bandits The Pios not only had to replace Davis but his backup from the past two seasons Freddie Halyk also transferred to Brown The three goalies on the roster are two freshmen Miller and Johnny Hicks plus junior Paxton Geisel who had appeared in one event in two years I think that was the big question coming into this year We didn t really have a goalie junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp commented But Miller has come in and he s been fantastic Even from event one against Air Force he had a really good contest and he s just embraced it He s super confident He s easy to play with He s getting better on his goalie breakouts and just keeps improving Miller improved to - - with a save percentage after the win Friday night He helped DU go to Western Michigan the defending NCAA champs and sweep the Broncos last weekend with saves on shots Related Articles Keegan Kelly nets hat trick for DU Pioneers in Summit League semifinal win over Oral Roberts Renck DU to West Coast Conference is ideal fit represents huge win for Pioneers University of Denver moving to West Coast Conference in DU hockey assistant coaches Tavis MacMillan Dallas Ferguson the men behind the man driving Pioneers success Colorado Sports Hall of Fame announces six-member Class of Colorado College was the better company for much of the first match in the Gold Pan series Friday night but Miller was unflappable in net He s allowed one goal or fewer in six of his nine starts The Pioneers have a deep but young group of forwards and an experienced defense corps They don t have a superstar talent like Zeev Buium but Carle s club boasts NHL draft picks and a sparse others who will sign professional free agent contracts As Pohlkamp noted goaltending was a big question It might not be now given how hastily Miller has settled in as the No guy I think it s just his consistency Buckberger mentioned I don t think he s really let in multiple bad goals He s just been so solid back there Now he s starting to play the puck better like Matty Davis did so well Just communicating with him working in practice seeing him grow as a goalie it s been amazing Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams