University of Vermont Athletics

Aaron Miller 1993 - Hockey

A former All-American who has gone on to become an Olympian and a standout defenseman in the National Hockey League, Aaron Miller was one of the best defensemen in UVM history. A 2003 UVM Hall of Fame inductee, he was 1989 draft choice of the New York Rangers.

At Vermont, Miller was an All-ECAC First-Team selection and a Second-Team All-American in 1992-93. He competed for UVM from 1989-93, registering 11 goals and 51 assists in 122 collegiate contests. An honorable mention All-ECAC selection as a sophomore and junior, Miller won the Jim Cross Coaches' Award in 1993.

"Aaron was the best defensive defenseman in the ECAC for three of his four years at Vermont," his coach at UVM Mike Gilligan said. "He developed into an offensive threat as a senior, and has been chipping in offensively ever since. His continued development has brought him to the elite level in the NHL."

While there are no official records kept regarding average amount of ice time per game, suffice it to say that Miller was the all-time leader in the Gilligan era. During his junior and senior seasons, Miller would often log up to 30 minutes of ice time a game, a remarkable statistic considering the physical nature of the position and the toll the game can take physically.

Miller, who saw his draft rights traded to Quebec while at UVM, has spent over 10 seasons in the NHL, and in 2003 signed a contract extension with the Los Angeles Kings. The Buffalo, N.Y. native has played in well over 500 career regular season games. After the 2002-03 season he sported an impressive career plus-minus rating of plus-37, including a combined plus-22 with Colorado and Los Angeles in 2000-01.

He made his NHL debut in the 1993-94 season with the Quebec Nordiques, which later moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche. In February 2001, Miller was traded to Los Angeles where he has anchored the Kings blueline since.

In December 2001, Miller was named to the United States Olympic Men's Hockey Team for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. The addition of Miller to the team gave Vermont two members of the United States team, as he joined former Vermont teammate and current Philadelphia Flyers star John LeClair '91 on the roster. Miller and LeClair helped the team to the silver medal.