Steve 'Killer' Miller, the winningest coach in U.S. WJC history, looks back on a lifetime in hockey

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Jan. 1—ST. PAUL — Steve Miller nearly became a wrestler.

Before his 39 seasons of coaching in college hockey and before his nine stints with Team USA in the IIHF World Junior Championships, the Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, native was given a heck of a recruiting pitch to compete in the wrestling room.

It came during his sophomore year in high school. Miller, who had only played one year of organized hockey at the time, attended tryouts, unsure if he'd make the team.

"We had 40 kids there, maybe 35," he recalled. "Mike Dibble was the coach ... and he goes, 'I'm checking grades tomorrow and 10 of you guys need your haircut.' We couldn't afford organized hockey before that. I played one year on the bantam 'B' team. At the same time, I'm getting recruited by the wrestling coach."

Miller wrestled growing up. He also played football and told his dad he was going to be an NFL quarterback one day, but quickly found out he was more equipped to be on an ice sheet instead of the gridiron or the mat.

He spent his summers rollerblading and his winters on local outdoor rinks, and he made it through the next day of hockey tryouts, and the next day after that, and the one after that.

"On the last day, Dibble brings me into his office and goes, 'Well, you're one of two guys that are the last ones standing," Miller remembers. "I was this close to being a wrestler. A lot of guys had bad grades and didn't want to cut their hair. I had short hair, and my grades weren't good, but the other guys ... horrible.

"By that time, I wasn't a starter on the football team, not that I ever thought I should be. I was small. You get to a point where you're like, 'Let's see where this hockey thing goes.'"

For Miller, it's hard to imagine how his life in sports would've turned out if he were cut from his high school team.

Nicknamed "Killer," he's a three-time national champion. He's coached hundreds of players over his four-plus-decade career, serving behind the bench as an assistant in 21 NCAA Tournaments.

He also won the Terry Flanagan Award in 2009, which recognizes an assistant coach's career body of work. Miller coached at his alma mater, St. Mary's (D-III), before taking jobs at Miami, Denver, Providence, Air Force, Ohio State and the University of Minnesota, his current school.

However, no U.S. coach has the resume Miller holds when it comes to World Juniors. He's been on staff nine times in 10 years, more than any other coach in Team USA history. His four gold medals, one silver and one bronze make him the most decorated WJC American coach ever.

U.S. head coach Bob Motzko, who hired Miller as his associate head coach at the U of M in 2022, called him an "encyclopedia."

"He remembers World War II history, Civil War history, hockey history. It's actually obnoxious to be around," Motzko quipped.

But when Miller was asked a loaded question about the WJC memories that stick out over the last decade, it became easier to see Motzko's sarcastic perspective.

"They all have their unique moments, and they're all intertwined together," said Miller before he began to ramble.

"You got Teddy Stiga's goal. Trey (Augustine) makes that unbelievable toe save to get us through. Troy Terry and Jeremy Bracco. Tyler Parsons making Canada 0-for-5. Russia scoring their first two in the semis and us having to get to the bottom of he lineup. The bubble was just Trevor Zegras calling out Canada — we didn't know about that until after the fact. Vancouver, what a great run. Ryan Poehling's four-goal game. Winning in Sweden was a big one. Being down 4-2 in the third in Montreal."

Before Motzko hired Miller in 2022, he gave him his WJC call in 2016.

"I think it was in June or May when Bob called me," Miller recalled. "He said, 'What are you doing for Christmas this year?' I told him I didn't know. He said, 'Do you want to go north and plant the flag?'

"Of course, I go, 'What flag? Plant what?' He was talking about World Juniors, and that's where it all started. That was the Toronto-Montreal one with Troy Terry. I think it was the first team ever to beat Canada and Russia two times each in the same tournament. That's where it all started."

After taking home Team USA's first gold medal since 2013, the duo won the bronze the following year in Buffalo. Miller admitted he thought it was his last opportunity to be on the U.S. staff.

He returned to Ohio State for the second semester as the Buckeyes went on a run to the Frozen Four.

"I thought I was done with World Juniors," Miller said. "We had just got beat by (Minnesota) Duluth in the semifinals. I went and spent some time with my sister after that loss. Then I drove down to hang out with my dad in Madison (Wis.), and I looked at my phone and David Quinn is calling me. I let it go to voicemail because me and my dad were going out for breakfast. Quinny finally connected and asked, 'Do you want to work World Juniors again?'"

Ultimately, Quinn didn't join the U.S. staff that season, taking his first NHL head coaching gig with the New York Rangers. The job went to Mike Hastings instead, who also gave Miller the call.

He then got the call from Scott Sadelin, then from Nate Leeman and David Carle. Rand Pecknold was the only Team USA head coach to leave Miller off the staff in 2023.

"I give Rand a hard time. 'You fired me,'" Miller quipped. "He starts going, 'No, no, no, no, no.' At the time, told him to take it up with my wife because I'll be home for Christmas."

Current U.S. players and coaches praise Miller for his detail. He's considered to be a wizard in coaching the penalty kill units.

"I've had different roles," Miller said. "When we first started, Bob wanted me doing all of the 5-on-5 pre-scout. I was the eye in the sky with Kris Mayotte. It kind of rolled into Quinny. He wanted me as the eye in the sky and the PK. Hasty wanted me to do eye in the sky and PK, then halfway through the tournament, he goes, 'I want you on the bench.' Then you get with Nate, and he goes, 'You're coaching the D and you got PK.' It's built from there."

As long as Miller is still coaching, he will always pick up the phone when World Juniors comes calling.

"You can't say no to your country," Miller said. "I always joke with my buddies — they ask me when they're going to get a chance — you can't say no because you might not get asked back. You can't say no. It's too great of an honor. If I said no, my wife would be mad at me and kids would be horribly mad at me. It hasn't even been a thought to say no."

Motzko added, "From a hockey standpoint, there's a reason every coach, but one, has brought him back. It's invaluable what his knowledge is to guide people through the process. It's real. It's the reason I hired him."

This year's World Junior Championships are just the second Miller has coached in the United States, and it's by far the closest to his hometown.

It's become a family event for Miller.

"My dad was here for the first couple of games before they took off," Miller said on Tuesday. "My brother's coming into town with my nephew. Unfortunately, my sister passed away and my mom passed away. My sister organized the whole thing in Buffalo (in 2018). She died of cancer, but I still have the picture on my phone. That was the first time we'd been together as a family — everybody — in 20 years. But you think about them more this time. We're in the State of Hockey, close to the great state of Wisconsin. It's hard not to think about them when I'm here."

Miller said he keeps his medals from the past in his office as he strives for a seventh. The U.S. heads into the medal rounds at 5 p.m. on Friday against Finland as the No. 2 seed out of Group A, searching for its third consecutive gold.

"I joke that we have everyone covered. Mom's got hers and the kids have theirs," Miller said. "It's like comparing your children. They're all different in their own unique way, championships and gold medals. You always think about the teams that came up short. You never say they deserved one because you always have to earn what's given to you, but you always think about the teams that came up short."

As much as Miller enjoys talking about his experiences in hockey, he reaches another level when dissecting what the sport has given him.

Miller has lived around the country with his wife, Heidi. His daughter, Alexis, the oldest of three siblings, played soccer at Bowling Green. The middle child, Cole, currently plays for St. Thomas, while his youngest son, Connor, played D-III at Lake Forest College.

"It's given me everything in my life," Miller said. "Hockey owes me nothing. I have my wife because of this sport. I raised my family in Colorado because of this sport. My kids are intertwined in this sport. Even though my daughter didn't play hockey, she's a high-level soccer player. Taking the job at Ohio State allowed me to watch her compete her entire career at Bowling Green. ... The math with Cole going to St. Thomas worked out for me to go to Minnesota.

"All of the decisions I made in my coaching career, first and foremost, have been family. ... Hockey owes me nothing. I just turned 60. I'm very thankful for the ride it's put me on."

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