A phone call can change a life. After leading the Moose Jaw Warriors in goal scoring in the regular and post-season in his overage year, Kenton Miller has his sights set on a bigger stage.
Miller was traded to the Warriors last October from the Calgary Hitmen. Before that, he was with the Spokane Chiefs for two seasons. During his time with the Warriors, he doubled his career total, which caught some people’s attention, most notably, the Vancouver Canucks.
“After my phone call where I found out I was going…I literally was jumping for joy. It is what I’ve always wanted,” stated Miller with a big grin on his face.
Since the National Hockey League is currently in a lockout after the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expired on Sept. 15, Miller won’t be joining the Canucks training camp. Instead, the 1991-born Redvers native left Tuesday morning for Chicago to tryout for a roster spot with the American Hockey League Chicago Wolves, the farm club for the Canucks.
“With the lockout, they said to go to the AHL camp,” he explained. “I always figured I was going, but I found out a couple weeks ago that I was going to Chicago for sure.”
Miller participated in the Canucks summer development camp and felt he belonged at that level.
“I went to their summer development camp and it went really good. I felt good and scored a couple of goals,” he said. “I want to show that I’m always going. I think I can be a fast player and I can score.”
The Wolves camp will take place over the weekend and then a game on Monday. Cuts will be made over those three days. The Wolves begin their season on Oct. 13 at home. Warriors General Manager, Alan Millar stated in an earlier Times-Herald article that Miller “is a solid, two-way, reliable, experienced guy.” He is hoping to prove he belongs at the next level.
“The camp is intense…tryouts starts Friday and go Saturday and Sunday and game already on Monday,” he said. “I’ve been working hard all summer.”
For more on this story, read an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
