Photo Courtesy Kai Brown/Portland Winterhawks
Medicine Hat product Ryan Miller has enjoyed his sophomore season in the WHL with the Portland Winterhawks.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
In just his second season in the WHL, Ryan Miller is looking forward to helping lead the Portland Winterhawks in the playoffs.
The Medicine Hat product wrapped up the regular season of his sophomore campaign in the WHL, tallying 16 goals and 31 points in 50 games. For the second year in a row, Miller and the Winterhawks will face the Price George Cougars in the WHL playoffs.
Last season, Portland beat Prince George in six games in the Western conference finals, propelling them into a finals series with eventual champion Moose Jaw Warriors. This year’s matchup, which gets underway Friday in Prince George, will bring new but also similar challenges Miller says.
“They’re going to be out for blood and they’re going to come at us pretty hard,” Miller said. “But all of our preparation throughout the season just leads us into the playoffs here. There’s a strong belief in our group that we will play good.
“They lost a couple of players (from last year) but they’re pretty similar in the way they play physical and are looking to go after our top guys. We just have to play them hard because it’s going to be a physical series. If we stay on top of them, we’ll be fine.”
Miller picked up valuable playoff experience in the Winterhawks’ run to the finals last season, learning hard-earned lessons of what it takes to reach that distance. Those tidbits and lessons are something the 17-year-old hopes to pass on to those in the Portland lineup who weren’t in the hunt last season.
“Just trying to take guys under your wing and just kind of push them throughout the game,” Miller said. “Obviously you’re going to have some nerves heading into that first game, but you just have to turn those nerves into excitement and just be excited to play in those big, big moments.”
His biggest takeaway from the playoff run was to just be ready in a series. With injuries ever apparent in the postseason, he says it’s a matter of being ready when called upon.
“You have to be versatile, you have to be ready for any situation, that’s the biggest thing,” Miller said. “As well, just embracing the moment, believing in yourself and believe in what you got.”
Miller missed time in the regular season after suffering a fractured femur on Nov. 13, keeping him out of the lineup until Jan. 2. He got hit and couldn’t feel the break but had to be helped off the ice. He says he heard from a lot of family and friends and used his team as motivation to get back on the ice.
“Right after, family and friends were reaching out and just keeping tabs on me and I was just watching my team play,” Miller said. “It motivated me to get back to help my team win some games and I just put in a lot of hard work in the gym and rehabbing with your training staff.”
Early in the year, the former SEAC Tiger committed to the University of Denver for the 2026-27 season, joining dozens of CHL players taking advantage of the NCAA’s rule changes allowing major junior players to play DI hockey.
Miller says he had a few schools reach out but chose Denver due to its prestigiousness. He likes the idea of potentially facing off against his older brother Tyler who plays for Michigan Tech. He was also named to the NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings, listed 118th among North American skaters.
“It motivates you to keep, keep climbing up the rank and but I honestly just try not to look at it too much and just kind of worry about winning games and help our team win games down the stretch here,” Miller said.
He’s donned an ‘A’ on his jersey as an alternate captain with the Winterhawks this season. Being part of the leadership group is something he takes pride in and he says he wants to set the standard for those younger than him.”
“I’m just trying to lead by example on and off the ice, just trying to work hard and show guys the way,” Miller said. “Last year, I was in their situation where sometimes you’re not playing as much, but just trying to talk them through. Telling them you have to be ready for any situation. We had a couple guys going out during playoffs last year and some guys are getting called up to play in top minutes, so you have to always be ready.”
