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Greg Millen

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Greg Millen
Born (1957-06-25) June 25, 1957 (age 67)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Right
Played for Pittsburgh Penguins
Hartford Whalers
St. Louis Blues
Quebec Nordiques
Chicago Blackhawks
Detroit Red Wings
National team  Canada
NHL draft 102nd overall, 1977
Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career 1978–1992

Gregory H. Millen (born June 25, 1957) is a Canadian hockey commentator-analyst and a former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 14 seasons for six teams in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently a colour commentator on Hockey Night in Canada and the NHL on Sportsnet, primarily covering the Calgary Flames.

Playing career

As a youth, Millen played in the 1968, 1969 and 1970 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with minor ice hockey teams from Toronto.[1]

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Toronto native was chosen 102nd overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft, while he was in the midst of a fine Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) season with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. He had played for the Peterborough Petes in the OHA from 1974 to 1977. In 1978–79, he looked solid in 28 games as a rookie and became a fan favourite at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. Two years later, Millen won 25 games and nearly led his team to a first round upset over the St. Louis Blues, losing the decisive fifth game in double overtime.

In spite of his post season heroics, the Penguins allowed Millen to leave the club that summer. In June 1981, the Hartford Whalers signed him as a restricted free agent; the Penguins had the right to match the offer but their general manager, Baz Bastien, was on vacation and was unaware that Millen had signed, and as a result the deadline for the Penguins to match passed. In compensation, the Penguins received forwards Pat Boutette and Kevin McClelland.[2][3]

Hartford Whalers

With the Whalers, Millen pushed incumbent starter John Garrett into the backup role and logged a heavy workload. After playing in 55 games for the Whalers in 1981–82, Millen represented Canada at the 1982 Ice Hockey World Championships. In 1983–84, he led the NHL with 60 appearances, but he could not get the lowly Whalers into the post-season. During the 1984–85 season he was involved in a blockbuster trade that sent him to the St. Louis Blues with Mark Johnson for goaltender Mike Liut and forward Jörgen Pettersson.[4][5]

St. Louis Blues

In St. Louis, Millen formed a solid goalkeeping tandem with Rick Wamsley and helped the club reach the Conference Finals in 1986, where they were defeated in seven games by the Calgary Flames. During the Division Semifinal against the Minnesota North Stars, Millen started and won two games, including the series-clinching game 5. Then in the Division Final, St. Louis defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 3. He posted a record of 4–2 and once again was in net for the series clincher. He played in two of the Campbell Conference final games as Wamsley was the starter for the rest. Wamsley was traded to Calgary during the 1987–88 season, making Millen the undisputed starter in St. Louis and he enjoyed his best year with the club the following year.[6] In 1988–89, Millen registered an NHL-high six shutouts along with 22 wins while making 52-starts, all highs for his Blues career.

The following year netminder Vincent Riendeau began taking a bigger share of the starts and with college free agent Curtis Joseph in the wings, Millen was being pushed out. On December 13, 1989, he was packaged with centre Tony Hrkac and traded to the lowly Quebec Nordiques in exchange for offensive defenseman Jeff Brown. Millen was shocked by the deal: "I was devastated. My family was just entrenched in St. Louis. We were involved with the community, and we really enjoyed St. Louis an awful lot."[7]

Quebec Nordiques

With the Nordiques, Millen won only 3 of 18 starts while his goals against average ballooned to 5.28. Clearly unhappy and with the team in last place, Millen wanted out. He made it clear to the management that he had no intention of playing out his career in that kind of situation.[7] In March, the Nordiques included him in a package that saw Hall of Fame winger Michel Goulet leave the Nordiques in a six-player trade with the Chicago Blackhawks.[8]

Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks goaltending tandem consisted of Jacques Cloutier and Alain Chevrier in 1989–90, but the day after Millen was acquired, Chevrier was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins.[9] Millen played ten games down the stretch for the Blackhawks and was in net when the playoffs started. Chicago coach Mike Keenan was quick to change up his netminders and that spring actually saw three different goalies (Millen, Cloutier and rookie Ed Belfour) start games, but Millen, with 15 appearances led the way as the Hawks advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals before losing to the Edmonton Oilers.[10] The following season, Millen lost his starting job and nearly found himself out of the league altogether. Belfour took the starting job and ran with it playing 74 games and posting 43 wins and a stingy 2.24 goals against average. "Eddie answered the Bell," Millen explained. "He probably had as good a year I'd ever seen a goalie play in the NHL. It was a kick in rear for me, a little bit demoralizing."[7] With Cloutier as Belfour's backup, and a Dominik Hašek now in the Chicago system, Millen was not only limited to just 58 minutes of game play in the entire season, but also his stint as a Blackhawk was over.[11] In September 1991, Millen was traded to the New York Rangers for future considerations.

New York Rangers

The Rangers were involved with prolonged contract negotiations with Mike Richter and they acquired Millen as an "insurance policy". The 1991–92 season started with Richter un-signed, so Millen was John Vanbiesbrouck's back-up for the first two games of the year. On October 7, the Rangers signed a new deal with Richter and Millen was assigned to the San Diego Gulls of the International Hockey League (IHL). After a five-game stint in the IHL, Millen was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings.

Detroit Red Wings

Detroit had Tim Cheveldae as their starting goaltender but needed a backup for the 1991–92 season. At the start of the year they had acquired Millen's former teammate Vincent Riendeau, who then injured his knee in his Detroit debut which sidelined him long term. Other solutions like Allan Bester and Scott King had not worked out, so the Red Wings made a move for Millen. With Cheveldae carrying a heavy load, Millen was used sparingly but made the last ten appearances of his career in the Red Wings net before hanging up his pads for good at the end of the season.

Broadcasting career

After ending his career, Millen became the colour commentator on television broadcasts for the expansion Ottawa Senators. During his eleven seasons affiliated with the Senators, his play-by-play partners included Don Chevrier, Rob Faulds, and Dean Brown. He also paired with Chevrier as the lead broadcasting team for CTV's ice hockey coverage at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Beginning in the 1995 season, he joined the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. After a year with CTV Sportsnet, he rejoined HNIC in 1999–2000 as the colour commentator of the network's secondary broadcast team, first paired with Chris Cuthbert and then Jim Hughson, mostly covering the second game of weekly doubleheader and three playoff rounds.[12][13] He was promoted to the lead team in 2007, working alongside Bob Cole. In this role he worked on CBC's coverage of the 2007 and 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.[14][15][16][17][18]

In 2005, he moved from the Senators to the Maple Leafs local broadcast team,[19] and in 2007 he became the Leafs' lead television colour commentator, working alongside Joe Bowen on Sportsnet Ontario and Leafs TV.[20]

As of 2014 he works exclusively for Rogers Communications, both on telecasts that are part of the national television contract under the Hockey Night in Canada, Rogers Monday Night Hockey or Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey banners. He previously worked as an analyst on Maple Leafs regional package that appears on Sportsnet Ontario. He now works primarily on Calgary Flames broadcasts under the Hockey Night in Canada banner.

Personal life

Millen is married and has four children,[21] including a son, Charlie, a goaltender, who most recently played for the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.[22]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1973–74 Markham Waxers OPJHL — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
1974–75 Peterborough Petes OMJHL 27 — — — 1584 90 2 3.41 — — — — — — — — —
1975–76 Peterborough Petes OMJHL 58 — — — 3282 233 0 4.26 — — — — — — — — —
1976–77 Peterborough Petes OMJHL 59 — — — 3457 244 0 4.23 — 4 — — 240 23 0 5.75 —
1977–78 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OMJHL 25 — — — 1469 105 1 4.29 — 13 — — 774 61 0 4.73 —
1977–78 Kalamazoo Wings IHL 3 — — — 180 14 0 4.67 — — — — — — — — —
1978–79 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 28 14 11 1 1532 86 2 3.37 .888 — — — — — — — —
1979–80 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 44 18 18 7 2586 157 2 3.64 .881 5 2 3 300 21 0 4.20 .868
1980–81 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 63 25 27 10 3721 258 0 4.16 .864 5 2 3 325 19 0 3.51 .893
1981–82 Hartford Whalers NHL 55 11 30 12 3201 229 0 4.29 .873 — — — — — — — —
1982–83 Hartford Whalers NHL 60 14 38 6 3520 282 1 4.81 .863 — — — — — — — —
1983–84 Hartford Whalers NHL 60 21 30 9 3583 221 2 3.70 .878 — — — — — — — —
1984–85 Hartford Whalers NHL 44 16 22 6 2659 187 1 4.22 .855 — — — — — — — —
1984–85 St. Louis Blues NHL 10 2 7 1 607 35 0 3.46 .870 1 0 1 60 2 0 2.00 .943
1985–86 St. Louis Blues NHL 36 14 16 6 2168 129 1 3.57 .886 10 6 3 586 29 0 2.97 .911
1986–87 St. Louis Blues NHL 42 15 18 9 2482 146 0 3.53 .873 4 1 3 250 10 0 2.40 .918
1987–88 St. Louis Blues NHL 48 21 19 7 2854 167 1 3.51 .880 10 5 5 600 38 0 3.80 .849
1988–89 St. Louis Blues NHL 52 22 20 7 3019 170 6 3.38 .880 10 5 5 649 34 0 3.14 .890
1989–90 St. Louis Blues NHL 21 11 7 3 1245 61 1 2.94 .890 — — — — — — — —
1989–90 Quebec Nordiques NHL 18 3 14 1 1080 95 0 5.28 .853 — — — — — — — —
1989–90 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 10 5 4 1 575 32 0 3.34 .880 14 6 6 613 40 0 3.92 .867
1990–91 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 3 0 1 0 58 4 0 4.14 .875 — — — — — — — —
1991–92 San Diego Gulls IHL 5 2 3 0 296 20 0 4.05 — — — — — — — — —
1991–92 Detroit Red Wings NHL 10 3 2 3 487 22 0 2.71 .896 — — — — — — — —
1991–92 Maine Mariners AHL 2 5 2 599 37 0 3.71 .868 — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 604 215 284 89 35,377 2281 17 3.87 .873 59 27 29 3383 193 0 3.42 .885

International

Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA
1982 Canada WC 5 2 1 2 300 14 1 2.80

References

  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  2. ^ Starkey, Joe (2006). Tales from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-58261-199-0. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  3. ^ "Penguins win compensation decision - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  4. ^ Hafner, Dan (February 23, 1985). "NHL Roundup : Wamsley Makes a Stand as Blues Beat Sabres, 4-1". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  5. ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE; Whalers Trade for Liut". The New York Times. February 23, 1985. p. 18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  6. ^ Meyer, Mike (August 9, 2023). "Revisiting the Blues' Trade for Brett Hull". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Hadad, Dana (October 25, 1991). "Millen Hopes His Stint With the Gulls is a Minor Detour: Hockey: Goaltender still trying to figure out what brought him from Stanley Cup playoffs to the IHL". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  8. ^ Kiley, Mike (March 6, 1990). "MILLEN TO HAWKS". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  9. ^ "Blackhawks trade Chevrier to Penguins - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  10. ^ Lapointe, Joe (May 8, 1990). "A Turbulent Ride Through N.H.L. Playoffs". The New York Times. p. D27. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  11. ^ Murphy, Robert J. "Millen's Blackhawk days over - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  12. ^ Houston, William (July 28, 2005). "HNIC's new voice adds to hockey's buzz". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  13. ^ Houston, William (October 4, 2005). "CBC returns before whistle". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  14. ^ Houston, William (April 24, 2007). "CBC has its wish granted". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  15. ^ Houston, William (May 24, 2007). "Greg Millen: pizzazz producer". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  16. ^ Houston, William (May 21, 2008). "Broadcasters piecing together on-air rosters". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  17. ^ Houston, William (May 24, 2008). "CBC delighted with Stanley Cup 'dream series'". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  18. ^ Hackel, Stu (August 1, 2008). "The Morning Skate: Scotty's Motives, Lowe's Promotion, Sundin's Dithering". Slap Shot. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  19. ^ Houston, William (October 3, 2005). "Millen leaves Sens for job with Leafs". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  20. ^ Houston, William (October 1, 2007). "Neale leaving Leafs for Buffalo job". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  21. ^ "Program Guide - Personalities". cbc.ca. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  22. ^ Money, Don (January 7, 2019). "Millen, Olson star as Solar Bears beat Stingrays". Pro Hockey News. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
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