Anyone who has followed the Summit Youth Hockey program over the last few years likely is familiar with the name Chris Miller. Since he started coaching hockey during his senior year of college, Miller has steadily spread his passion for the game to his athletes and helped develop the next generation of leaders on and off the ice.

Miller made the move to Summit County 10 years ago and has been instrumental in the Summit Youth Hockey program since then. Miller has served as the executive director of the youth program for the last eight years while also coaching a pee wee level team and the U14 team.

For years, Miller has watched the Summit High School hockey program from afar, and, after seeing the team go through many ups and downs, he felt like it was his time to contribute to the program in the head coach position.

“I figured this was my time to step in,”Miller said of taking on the role. “Create a new culture. I am planning on being here for a long time, so this is something that I want to see some changes in a positive way. I plan on doing it for the next 10 to 20 years.”

Miller takes over the reigns of the program from former Summit Youth Hockey director of operations, JR Engelbert, who served as head coach of the Tigers for the last two seasons. In that time, Engelbert led the team to two consecutive playoff berths, but the team struggled in the playoffs, leading to back-to-back eliminations in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.

Miller is looking to build upon the success of Engelbert’s teams but is also planning on establishing a new team culture with a complete overhaul of the previous coaching staff. Former Summit High School hockey head coach Bobby Dore will return to the rink as an assistant, while Marquise Prentice will be the junior varsity coach.

“We just have a really passionate coaching staff that brings all different types of communication methods and backgrounds,” Miller said. “It takes a village to develop these kids and to put a good product out on the ice. We have a great community of coaches that have been working hard at that.”

With the new coaches paving the way, Summit has been hard at work in its preparation for the high school season. Throughout the early fall, Summit has played in five preseason tournaments where the team competed highly and walked away with a record well above .500.

“This year’s team can go as far as they want to go,” Miller said. “Skill is not an issue. It is all going to come down if they come together as a unit and if they can play for each other. They are trending in the right direction.”

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In terms of leadership, Summit will be greatly aided on and off the ice by its strong group of seniors. After graduating five seniors last season, Summit currently has six seniors listed on this year’s roster, with defenseman Cole Stuckey leading the charge in terms of his on-ice skills and influence on the program. Stuckey will serve as the team’s captain this season with junior forward Wyatt Boeckers earning the honor of being named assistant captain.

“Cole Stuckey has played since he was a freshman,” Miller said. “Cole is a Summit kid and he has been in the program since he was four. Wyatt is a kid that has been in the program for the last four to five years, but is actually from Fraser. We combine with Fraser for our high school program. They have both shown leadership skills and earned letters this year.”

Both Stuckey and Boeckers will lend the team a fair amount of on-ice skills, which Miller pinpoints as one of the team’s biggest strengths. 

“One of our greatest strengths is our individual skill,” Miller said. “I think we can compete on an individual-school basis with any team in the mountains. We have kids that can shoot and skate and stick handle.”

In terms of weaknesses, Summit’s current struggle is figuring out how to play consistently and through adversity. Miller and the team are constantly working in practice and in games to stress the importance of every shift while also getting the team to play with a “blue collar” style.

By the end of the season, Miller expects the team to be at a point where it can check off team goals of not only making a third-straight playoff berth, but also advancing past the first round.

“We have struggled in the playoffs over the last 10 years,” Miller said. “We have had some great teams get to the playoffs, but just haven’t been able to get that win. It is all going to come down to will. How bad are they willing to play for each other? Hockey is a team sport and you can’t do it all yourself. Unfortunately, it has been something that we have struggled with, but I think the team is coming together.”

The Tigers will begin their pursuit for the playoffs on Friday, Dec. 1, when they travel to Denver University’s Joy Burns Arena to take on Colorado Academy. Summit will play three challenging games on the road before hosting its home opener on Dec. 15 against Kent Denver High School. 

“We are looking to execute on our systems,” Miller said. “We are looking to be strong on our special teams play. Our penalty killing towards the end of our preseason has gotten a lot better so we are just trying to work that chemistry on our power play unit. We have all the skill in the world, we just have to build that trust within our team.”

Summit will play on Friday at 7:15 p.m., with the home opener scheduled for 7 p.m. on Dec. 15.