7/30/2019 Grading Kieran Millan
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Grading Kieran Millan
by Jashvina Shah/Staff Beat Reporter
Kieran Millangrabbed Hockey Easts Defensive Player of the Week
honors after
halting 42 pucks against Merrimack on Jan. 6. The senior did let
two pucks into thenet, but his 42 stops, 20 ofwhich came in the
games last frame was enough for the
Boston Universitys mens ice hockey team to come away
victorious.
Its not the first time Millan has stonewalled 40-plus shots this
season, or the first
time Hockey East handed him a weekly honor, as the Alberta
native earned Player of
the Week honors in December.
The former National Rookie of the Year has started 16 out of 18
games this season,
recorded two shutouts and won nine games, including two games
against rival
Boston College and one at the Worlds Most Famous Arena.
Yet the 22 year-old goalkeeper has a goals-against average of
2.79 and has given up
five goals in a game five times this season. That includes the a
six goal allowance to
the UMass-Lowell River Hawks, which resulted in Millans
departure from the game
for just one of two times during the season. The other time BU
head coach Jack
Parker spelled Millan for the oft-sidelined Grant Rollheiser
occurred en route to
BUs 6-1 loss to BC in December.
Millan has been inconsistent, sometimes playing spectacularly
while failing to
provide any puck detection at other points of this season. His
goals-against average
and his .916 save percentage point toward more than just
inconsistency -- it points
to a subpar season.
But statistics can never display the complete picture, as they
are often distorted by
deflected shots, strange bounces and human errors -- something
numbers cant and
dont reflect.
Statistics dont take into account how two goals this season
happened when a puck
bounced off BU defensemen Max Nicastro and past Millan.They dont
factor in the
amount of turnovers the Terriers committed in their own zone or
how many
breakaway chances the Avalanche draftee needed to fend off.
The 22-year-old also proved his worth more than just a few times
this season, andnot just during the third period of BUs most recent
victory over Merrimack. Against
the Wildcats in November, Millan, aided by an invisible force
field, kept 22 UNH
shots out of the net to preserve a victory for the Terriers.
There have been a few instances where Millan hasnt brought his
best to the ice,
most notably when the Terriers dropped a 7-1 decision in Lowell.
His reflexes were
7/30/2019 Grading Kieran Millan
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slow and at times it looked as if he didnt know where the puck
was. It was far from
brilliant and not even stable.
Examples aside, Millans play overall so far this season supports
the 9-6-1 record the
Alberta native sports. His net-protecting ability also speaks to
a better goals-against
average than the one he currently has.
There are moments when Millan has looked more than awful with no
puck
awareness, but hes been slightly more than bad this season and
his play has picked
up of late. The Alberta native also deserves some sympathy for
trying to stop pucks
with a poor defense prone to turnovers playing in front of him
for most of the
season.
Grade: B+
