The Week That Was – Millar lands dream opportunity with Hockey Canada
Each week, CHL.ca goes coast to coast to highlight the top stories from around the league.
Millar joins Team Canada
Alan Millar is headed to the national stage.
On Monday, the longtime general manager of the Moose Jaw Warriors announced his resignation coming on the heels of his appointment as director of player personnel with Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence.
“It has been an exciting process but also difficult, just because I love managing in the Western Hockey League,” Millar said Monday per Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. “I really enjoyed my time in Moose Jaw and have been treated very well – met a lot of great people and lifelong friends.
“I have been fortunate over the years to have some opportunities come my way, but they just never got to a point where I would leave managing this team to do it. The opportunity to lead national teams and compete for world championships was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
Alan Millar has been named director of player personnel, overseeing player evaluations for the Program of Excellence.
MORE: https://t.co/VSTNOM52WX pic.twitter.com/DXLucpHLuD
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) February 22, 2021
Hockey Canada’s three-pronged Program of Excellence includes the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and culminates with the World Junior Championship. Miller’s previous involvement on the national stage includes serving as general manager of the gold-medal winning squad at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
“The opportunity to put that logo on is really an honour for me,” Millar added. “I am going to spend quite a bit of time on the road (scouting games). I will also be part of coach selection and putting those staffs together to make sure we are putting the best people together. It is going to be a big challenge but I am excited about that.”
Under Millar’s guidance, the Warriors advanced to the postseason four consecutive years from 2015-19, highlighted by an East Division championship in the 2017-18 campaign in which the club finished with 109 points.
Nedeljkovic shuts the door
Alex Nedeljkovic will save that puck for the mantel.
Making his 10th NHL appearance, the Ontario Hockey League graduate of the Carolina Hurricanes turned aside all 24 shots he faced Saturday versus the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning to notch his first career shutout.
“We were excellent tonight. We didn’t give them much of anything,” Nedeljkovic said postgame per Hurricanes team reporter Michael Smith. “From start to finish, we were playing our game and it showed. We got to them and got a few bounces our way.”
First career @NHL shutout 🙌 pic.twitter.com/1DAMWipIwf
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 21, 2021
Added Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour, “You are just happy for the kid. He has been a part of the organization for a long time. He has paid his dues and waited his time. He looked good tonight and he was ready to go. He needed to make some big saves for us tonight and he did. The guys played hard in front of him tonight. We are just happy for the kid.”
Spending part of the first four seasons of his OHL career with the Plymouth Whalers/Flint Firebirds franchise, Nedeljkovic then joined the Niagara IceDogs midseason in 2015-16 and helped guide the club to the J. Ross Robertson Cup Final.
In all, the shutout victory versus the Lightning is the latest accolade for Nedeljkovic whose mantel-full of achievements also includes OHL Goaltender of the Year recognition in 2013-14 in addition to the Baz Bastien Memorial Award presented in 2018-19 as the American Hockey League’s top goaltender.
Ellis chasing history
Colten Ellis is continuing his climb to the top.
Recording five perfect games on the season, the Charlottetown Islanders netminder has already established a single-season franchise record and is now quickly rewriting the record books across the QMJHL. With 16 career shutouts, Ellis now sits just one back of the league’s all-time mark set by Philippe Cadorette of the Shawinigan Cataractes in 2015-16.
Maxi #SaveOfTheNight | Colten Ellis (@IslandersHKY) had a shutout last night. He stopped 23 shots including this one 👇 pic.twitter.com/HBZizzkC2y
— QMJHL (@QMJHL) February 14, 2021
It has been a particularly dominant February for Ellis, who has been unbeatable in three of his past five outings, with the trio of shutouts all coming against the Halifax Mooseheads and totaling 62 saves.
Arriving in Charlottetown following an offseason deal with the Rimouski Oceanic, Ellis has been the defensive backbone of an Islanders club that sits atop the QMJHL with 20 wins and 40 points. Fifteen of those victories have come with Ellis between the pipes, contests in which he has dazzled to help him earn a remarkable 1.82 goals-against average alongside a .927 save percentage.
A third-round selection by the St. Louis Blues in the 2019 NHL Draft, the 20-year-old Ellis is currently competing in his fourth full campaign in the QMJHL.