J.T. Miller sends message to fans in Vancouver before facing Canucks.

Things probably didn't end the way that either the Vancouver Canucks, their fans, or star forward J.T Miller had envisioned when he signed a 7 year deal at an average annual value and cap hit of $8 million per season, but there's simply no changing the past.

That is something that Miller seems to have accepted following a high profile trade that sent him back to the New York Rangers, a team he had previously played for, but he admits that it is not without it's regrets.

"They created a lot of special memories for me and my family, especially in the playoffs last year," said Miller of the fans in Vancouver as per Canucks insider Iain MacIntyre.. "I have three young children and one of their favourite memories was the fans chanting my name, probably something I'll never get back."

Now this might just sound like the kind of thing an athlete is supposed to say after being traded to a new city, but the nature of Miller's comments here make me believe him wholeheartedly. That's because Miller's wife has previously gone on record and shared a frankly unbelievable story about the couple's children and that very same chant, indicating to me that it was a very special moment for the Miller family as a whole.

Miller also spoke of the fans in the city and, although fans in Vancouver can get a bad reputation for being too passionate at times like many Canadian hockey fans, had nothing but good things to say about the Canucks' rabid fan base. In fact Miller would even go so far as to say that he saw a lot of himself in the Canucks fan base, and didn't feel it was fair to criticize them for that very reason.

"But their honesty, their passion ... I feel like I pride myself on a lot of the same things [they] do," said Miller. "They're obsessed with their hockey there, and obsessed with their team, and they're always blunt. Not to like that would be pretty hypocritical."

Fans in Vancouver won't get a chance to respond to Miller's comments anytime soon with today's clash between the Rangers and Canucks taking place at Madison Square Garden in New York, and instead will very likely have to wait until next season before the Rangers come to Vancouver again.