ORLANDO, FLA – Having a family member play the same sport that one plays professionally is certainly begging for comparisons. Having your father not only play the same position but excel at it at the highest level can provide pressure to live up to the family name that might leave the son (or daughter) drowning in expectations.
Sunday afternoon at the Amway Center, Orlando Solar Bears goalie Charlie Millen not only lived up to the name on the back of his jersey, he proved that he has the talent to be a chip off the old block.
Solar Bears goalie Charlie Millen made 38 saves to earn his first with in an Orlando jersey Sunday afternoon (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Making his first start in front of a home fan base thirsting for a win, Millen stopped 38 of 39 shots to lead Orlando (17-14-3-0) to a convincing 4-1 win over the South Carolina Stingrays (20-14-1-0). Teammate Trevor Olson scored twice and four other Solar Bears chipped in with two points apiece to earn a split of the weekend set between the two ECHL South division rivals.
“It was amazing. I’ve been seeing how hard the guys have been working all week in practice. Last night I think we deserved a better result by the way we played,” the rookie netminder from Peterborough, Ontario said when asked about his experience on Sunday. “I just tried to go in there today and play loose, make the saves I should make and try and put as much effort [in] as I can to help the guys win.”
Millen, the son of former 16-season NHL netminder Greg Millen, started the season with the Birmingham Bulls in the Southern Professional Hockey League before suiting up for no less than three other ECHL squads (Allen, Worcester, Reading) before ending up in Central Florida in a trade. In fact, he played in just one ECHL contest – a start for the Railers in November against the Solar Bears which ended in a 4-3 overtime loss to Orlando.
Sunday he was tasked with trying to dig his new team out of a two-game funk where the Solar Bears had lost back-to-back agonizing 2-1 results to Greenville and South Carolina. Frustrated after two less-than full out efforts, Millen’s teammates came out full of energy and anger. Orlando put four quick shots on Stingrays netminder Gordon Defiel – himself a one time Solar Bear – in the opening minute of the first period.
That burst out of the gate led to a quick lead for the home team. Just 1:32 in, defenseman Mike Monfredo dumped the puck deep into the South Carolina end. A miscommunication on a weird carom between Defiel and his defenseman led to Olson stealing the puck behind the net and stuffing it into the wide open net for his fourth goal of the season.
“It was guys doing the right thing by getting the puck deep. It took a weird carom off the end wall. I picked it up and stuffed it in the net,” Olson said. “It obviously felt pretty good to get that first one.”
Defiel saw more than his share of rubber in the first seven minutes of the frame as Orlando piled up nine shots in that time. The Stingrays then found their rhythm thanks to a power play that netted them four shots on Millen, bringing the shot clock to a 11-8 Solar Bears advantage with 9:29 left in the stanza – numbers that equaled Saturday night’s entire opening period.
The Solar Bears power play, which had been silent in the previous two contests, made itself heard with alarming speed a few minutes later. Going on the man advantage at the 13:39 mark, Mathieu Foget won an offensive zone faceoff back to Michael Brodzinski (two assists) at the point. He let fly with a bomb that Olson, who was standing in the slot, got a piece of with his stick to redirect it home for his second of the night and fifth of the year.
Orlando’s Trevor Olson (11, black jersey) gets position in front of South Carolina goalie Gordon Defiel during Sunday’s seond period (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
“Ollie’s (Olson) been coming on all year long. I liked him at training camp. He was in and out of the lineup [and] he’s kind of earned himself a spot,” Solar Bears Head Coach and General Manager said about the rookie from Duluth, Minnesota. “He’s earned himself a place on the team. He’s a great penalty killer [and] he’s getting some offense now as well I think because he works so hard. He sticks to the structure.”
The middle frame was a goalie’s worst nightmare as the teams combined for 26 shots on net. Neither side was able to dent the twine as the two young netminders put on a show. Defiel had the tougher period of the pair, having to make a few ten-bell saves including a flashy glove stop on Colby McAuley as part of his perfect 15-stop frame. Millen was just as good, turning away all eleven Stingrays chances in the stanza.
Early in the third,South Carolina cut Orlando’s lead in half thanks to its special teams. During a penalty kill, Stingrays Kevin McKernan and Andrew Cherniwchan went on a transition rush into the Solar Bears end. McKernan drew a couple of defenders his way before shuttling the puck to Cherniwchan who fired a wicked wrist shot past Millen’s stick side for a short-handed tally and his 17th goal of the season.
Just 22 seconds after being stung by the Stingrays, the Solar Bears regained their two-goal margin on the same power play. With an additional delayed penalty coming on the visitors, Defiel stopped a shot by Mitch Hults (two assists) but could not control the rebound. Defenseman Cody Donaghey crashed the crease area and popped the disc into the back of the net for his second goal in as many games and his ninth of the season.
The delayed penalty, which turned out to be a major penalty on South Carolina’s John MacLeod for slewfooting, was enforced, putting the Solar Bears back on the power play. It took nearly all of the five minutes before Donaghey was able to find Foget on the backside with a pass that Foget tapped in for his tenth goal of the year and ninth with Orlando at 10:29.
From there it was the Millen show as he closed the door to pick up his first career ECHL victory.
Goalie Charlie Millen celebrates his first ECHL win with his teammates (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
“Millen, he’s been playing well. He competes all the time. We were fortunate to pick him up [from Reading],” Berehowsky said about his goalie.”We had him here before [as a backup in 2016-17] and I knew what kind of character he has and what kind of kid he was. Hopefully he can keep it going.”
The win brought the Solar Bears home record to 9-10-0-0, not exactly what the team wants. More importantly, it was a confidence builder as Orlando heads onto a long road trip.
“This one was huge. The fans came in yesterday and we played a good game but we didn’t get the win. Obviously we played well today and got a win for our fans,” Olson said. “Our record at home isn’t exactly what we want it to be but ending on a win here before the road trip is huge and if we can bring that with us and hopefully win a few games on the road and bring that back here.”
Notes: The three power play goals in four chances by the Solar Bears was a season high… Orlando’s penalty killing shut out the Stingrays on four opportunities, running its streak of perfect games to five… Stingrays goalie Defiel finished the game with 46 saves… With the victory, Orlando kept its record of winning when leading after two periods perfect at 13-0-0-0… Foget’s two points ran his consecutive games point streak to four games (two goals, three assists)… The Solar Bears first stop on their nine-game trip is Norfolk, Virginia where they will play the Admirals on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
Follow the author on Twitter @phnsingleaedit or @prohockeynews
You must be logged in to post a comment.