California native Kevan Miller reflects on growth of hockey within The Golden State

ANAHEIM — California has traditionally not been a hockey hotbed over the years, but Kevan Miller can recall the times in which the Iceoplex — the Los Angeles Kings’ go-to practice facility for over a decade — was packed to the brim whenever the club took to the ice.

Considering that same rink was Miller’s go-to spot to work on his game as a kid, it made for quite a few memorable encounters as a budding hockey talent in California — a rare sight at the time.

“Rob Blake was one of the guys that I liked,” Miller recalled. “He was one of the first NHL guys I ever got to meet. Marty McSorley, big fan of him. The rink that I grew up playing at is no longer there, but the Iceoplex off Roscoe Boulevard, the team used to practice there, so I got a chance to meet Luc Robitaille, Wayne Gretzky and all the guys. It was really cool growing up and being around them.”

Miller, who was raised just 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles in Santa Clarita, was a firsthand witness to the effect that Gretzky’s arrival had on the state — with the Kings’ stock in a crowded L.A. sports scene suddenly soaring during “The Great One’s” tenure with the franchise from 1988-96.

That momentum has carried over into the 21st century — with a pair of L.A.-centered franchises in the Ducks and Kings hoisting three Stanley Cups in the span of eight seasons (2007, 2012, 2014). Given the success of those clubs — as well as a San Jose Sharks team that has made the playoffs in 18 of the past 20 seasons — the NHL is starting to see the fruit of its labors starting to pay off in the Golden State, with more and more young talent emerging from the region.

In total, just 45 players from California have logged a shift up at the NHL level — not the best ratio considering the state boasts a population of close to 40 million. But those numbers are starting to improve, with Miller standing as one of 12 NHL players this season who call California home.

The list may not be as extensive as, say, the pipeline built in Minnesota (42 active NHL players in 2019), Michigan (36 players) or Massachusetts (24 players), but it’s hard to deny the level of talent that has started to emerge out west.

Headlined by Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews — who was born about 30 miles east of San Francisco — California is starting to produce more and more quality players poised for success up in the pro ranks.

When looking at the next wave of American stars on Team USA’s National Team Development Program, four players from California regularly play on both the U-18 and U-17 teams, with U-18 defenseman and Anaheim Hills native Cam York all but guaranteed to be a first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.

For Miller, who had to move east at the age of 16 to take the next step in his hockey career, the development of hockey within his home state has been an encouraging sight, to say the least.

“It’s a huge state, there’s a lot of people, so you’d think that it would kind of catch on eventually,” Miller said Thursday following Bruins practice. “I think when Wayne Gretzky came out here initially, hockey kind of blew up. Then there was a little bit of a lull, but then you saw the Ducks win a Cup and then the Kings get really good. San Jose has been good for a really long time. You’re starting to see more kids playing — in juniors, you’re seeing kids coming out of California. It’s really good for the sport.”

The route that Miller took to get to the NHL might be a bit unorthodox — and involved plenty of miles on the road — but it was essentially the only option for an up-and-coming hockey player growing up in a part of the U.S. without a ton of resources to help him progress as a defenseman.

After spending his freshman and sophomore seasons at Canyon High School in Santa Clarita, Miller moved all the way out to Sheffield, Massachusetts at the age of 16 to play three seasons of prep hockey at The Berkshire School.

The sunny climate of Southern California is a wee bit of a departure from the chilly temps found out in the Berkshires during hockey season, but Miller didn’t have any qualms about making the 2,800-mile trek — considering it eventually led to a collegiate career at the University of Vermont before inking a contract with the Bruins organization in 2011.

“Not really,” Miller said. “My peewee hockey coach’s son went there and he had suggested it and that’s kind of where I looked it. … You know you’re going out there for a reason, to play hockey. It’s a cold-weather sport, so it was a good transition.”

Even with both the Kings and Ducks currently at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, it looks as though California continues to roll along as an emerging market for hockey — with USA Hockey membership reports stating California saw the largest bump of 8U players in its history during the 2016-17 season — 25.2 percent year over year.

There’s still some work to be done — especially when it comes keeping more and more young players out west to develop rather than heading up north. The emergence of D-I college programs such as Arizona State are a step in the right direction, although Miller added that new California-based prospects shouldn’t be adversed to making a move if the opportunity presents itself.

“For me, anyway, you get to a certain point out here in travel hockey and high school hockey or whatever it may be,” Miller said. “There’s not a whole lot of college programs around here, that are D-I. … Outside of that, there aren't any real junior programs or anything. So in order to make the next step, I think you have to go somewhere else. That was kind of my story, That’s the nature of any sport. Football, look around, there’s certain pockets of the country that you just have more success with where you come from. That’s probably the challenge.”