{"id":138650,"date":"2023-02-08T10:00:34","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T16:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=138650"},"modified":"2023-02-08T22:49:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T04:49:50","slug":"this-week-in-nchc-hockey-omahas-miller-called-a-great-person-jumping-into-action-at-youth-practice-after-roof-collapses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2023\/02\/08\/this-week-in-nchc-hockey-omahas-miller-called-a-great-person-jumping-into-action-at-youth-practice-after-roof-collapses\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in NCHC Hockey: Omaha’s Miller called ‘a great person’ jumping into action at youth practice after roof collapses"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Omaha’s Matt Miller is excelling on and off the ice for the Mavericks (photo: Mark Kuhlmann).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hockey players keep their heads on a swivel while out on the ice, and not just before their own benefit.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 30, Omaha junior forward Matt Miller wasn\u2019t just looking out for his own safety, but for that of around 50 five- and six-year-olds.<\/p>\n

Since last summer, Miller has been involved with hockey training programs headed by UNO alums Billy Pugliese and Matt Smith. Every Monday and Tuesday this season, Miller joins Smith and several other coaches and volunteers to help put on initiation program practices at Grover Ice Rink, a privately-owned facility one mile south of UNO\u2019s Baxter Arena.<\/p>\n

Twenty minutes into what should\u2019ve been a 45-minute session last Monday, Miller and the other coaches noticed water starting to drip down from a portion of the ceiling over where around 10 kids were practicing a station drill. A fire sprinkler line had broken, and it quickly started to look as though water was raining down from around a light fixture.<\/p>\n

Quick thinking led to an evacuation of the rink, around a minute before that portion of the ceiling collapsed. No one was injured.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The damage caused by a burst pipe during a youth hockey practice recently at Omaha’s Grover Ice Rink (photo: Matt Miller).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cA lot of water was starting to come down, and we knew we needed to file everybody off the ice,\u201d Miller said. \u201cWe gathered all the kids and directed them toward the benches and locker room area while we were trying to figure out what was going on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started rushing kids off the ice, and eventually even the coaches were like, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s just leave (equipment) on the ice and get off. A coach or two made it off the ice, and then myself and a few other coaches and dads that were out there helping were just leaving the ice and making it to the bench surface as the ceiling came crashing down.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sent the kids to the locker room, and hopefully they weren\u2019t too scared from it,\u201d Miller continued. \u201cBeing that young and just starting out in hockey, that must be tough because I\u2019d never seen anything like that. They definitely witnessed something there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grover Ice Rink was up and running again inside of a week. Learn-to-skate and adult hockey groups were back out on the ice two days later, and on the Friday of that same week, the facility resumed its regular schedule.<\/p>\n

Evan Schinasi, the Grover Ice Rink general manager, credited Omaha\u2019s hockey community with the fast turnaround.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the water shut off in less than 10 minutes, but that\u2019s enough to do some damage,\u201d Schinasi said. \u201cI probably had 20 guys here that night within an hour to help us clean up, and I didn\u2019t ask a single one of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was employees, friends, customers. By the time I shuffled the news people out, I turned around and there\u2019s 20, 25 guys there going, \u2018All right, what can I do?\u2019 Omaha\u2019s big, but it\u2019s not that big.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gratitude was also shared by parents of the young players that Miller helped supervise that day and again early this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t the first one to see it start to rain down, because I was on the near side of the rink, but it was a really cold day that day, and so I instantly thought a pipe froze,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThat\u2019s when you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, this is not good,\u2019 and when we saw that massive amount of water start compiling in the ceiling, we knew we needed to get out of there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose rinks have a lot of electrical stuff and water lines going through them, and in that case, it was a pretty big thing to break, so it was good that everybody knew to make sure the kids were safe first.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
MILLER<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMost of the kids\u2019 parents were there, and it\u2019s most of these kids\u2019 first year playing hockey,\u201d Miller continued. \u201cWe got a lot of people thanking us, \u2018Nobody really knew what was going on, but you guys stepped in and made the right call there.\u2019 It was relieving to know that nobody really got hurt, because it all happened pretty fast. Everybody just jumped into action, and the parents were super grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller plans to keep working with youth hockey programs throughout and beyond his own playing career. He started by helping with kids\u2019 hockey in his hometown of Fort Wayne, Ind., and his experience of helping to grow the game took on added significance last Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatt Miller is a great person,\u201d Schinasi said. \u201cHe\u2019ll be successful at whatever he does in his future. He\u2019s that type of person, and we\u2019re thankful for him and the other coaches and everyone else who was out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe work with all those guys and help facilitate everything they do, and they help us out. Our collective goals are to make sure people are having fun and to make sure the kids are getting better and help them achieve whatever goals they have out there, whether they want to play hockey and just have a good time, or become a great player and have a college or professional career. There\u2019s a path for everybody, and we\u2019re trying to help everyone have those options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller\u2019s own experience has opened doors for him, and the efforts last Monday of himself and his fellow coaches gave him one more valuable thing to remember as his career continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is an emergency, take action right away,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve definitely got to get people out of harm\u2019s way if you see something that\u2019s potentially dangerous. Our first thought was to make sure everybody\u2019s safe first, and to get the kids off of the ice. You never know what could happen if you wait too long, and it\u2019s just important to flip that switch when things go into emergency mode.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hockey players keep their heads on a swivel while out on the ice, and not just before their own benefit. On Jan. 30, Omaha junior forward Matt Miller wasn\u2019t just looking out for his own safety, but for that of around 50 five- and six-year-olds. Since last summer, Miller has been involved with hockey training […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":137327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[810],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThis Week in NCHC Hockey: Omaha's Miller called 'a great person' jumping into action at youth practice after roof collapses - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hockey players keep their heads on a swivel while out on the ice, and not just before their own benefit. 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