COUGHLAN: Now a senior, Millan coming into his own

Who thinks that Boston University goaltender Kieran Millan should take a break this weekend? You know, give Grant Rollheiser a chance between the pipes in Providence on Friday or when No. 3 Denver University comes to town on Saturday?

Anyone?

Didn’t think so.

Millan was perfect for the sixth time in his BU career on Saturday night, shutting out the No. 15 University of New Hampshire Wildcats by accumulating a career best – when not allowing a goal – 35 saves.

The offense held up their end of the bargain as well, tallying twice in the second period and then closing the door with a three-goal third.

In the end, a satisfying 5-0 victory – their first of the 2011-12 season – was the No. 7/8 Terriers’ reward.

And for Millan? Career win No. 62, landing him neck-and-neck with Sean Fields (’04) for first on the program’s all-time leaderboard.

“Coming into the year I knew I needed two wins to become the all-time leader,” Millan said. “It’s pretty nice to tie it up in the first game, especially with a game like that. Hopefully I can break the record next game.”

Simple. Straight-forward. Honest. And a brick wall between the pipes. Ultimately, just Kieran doing what Kieran does best, starting in goal night in, night out.

But it wasn’t always that way.

For those of us who can remember back to the glory days of 2008-09, the beginning of Millan’s career at BU, a much more muddled goaltending situation was on head coach Jack Parker’s hands.

Three years ago minus one day, The Daily Free Press ran an article by Ben Seal with the opening line, “Two games into the season, it appears the Boston University men’s hockey team might have another goalie problem.”

For Terrier fans, goaltending was issue number one when it came to their men’s ice hockey team in 2008. The Terriers, then still in search of a consistent replacement for All-American net-minder John Curry, released underwhelming sophomore goalie Brett Bennett in May.

“We were not happy with the goaltending all year,” Parker said in an April interview. “We got by with what we got. Benny got better as the season progressed, but there was a lot of pressure on him when [senior goalie Karson] Gillespie went out. A whole bunch of things added up to the fact that it got better, but still wasn’t good enough.”

Tough words from the bench boss when it comes to goaltending. In recent history, Parker has saved those kinds of comments for the power play or defensive corps, but not for his net minder.

Funny how things change.

So, for an outside observer, the ‘goalie problem’ that Seal suggested after the Terriers’ opening weekend in 2008 probably sounds as if the new goalies were channeling their inner-Bennett as opposed to their inner-Curry.

Not so.

Instead, Seal was referring to the fact that Parker would have to choose between his two new freshman goalies, Millan and Rollheiser, both of whom had turned in excellent wins against ranked opponents over the course of their first weekend as Terriers.

For a team looking for the final piece of the puzzle after securing an electrifying and experienced group of forwards and defensemen – many of whom were in their final year at BU – getting some support from their goalie was a welcome result.

“They both showed they can play goalie and that helps us out a lot on defense,” senior co-captain Matt Gilroy said of Millan and Rollheiser. “Those two freshmen goalies came to play, and thank God they came to play.”

Terrier fans echoed the sentiment during the games. In a particularly memorable moment during a third period 2-on-1 rush by the then-No. 5 North Dakota Fighting Sioux, Millan followed the puck as it was passed to the slot at the last second, proceeding to snare a wicked wrister with his glove by reaching out at full extension and elevating his hand. Millan wound up on the ice after the save and Agganis Arena was in hysterics.

It’s not too often that the Dog Pound breaks away from their general ‘bow and cheer’ to salute an impressive save. That save, in Millan’s first collegiate game, remains the only time I have seen it happen. Terrier fans chanted ‘That was awesome’ before the next faceoff, clearly proud and excited for the possibilities that their new goalie presented.

It would be hard to argue against the idea that, on some level, Millan had won the starting job that night. Rollheiser turned in his own strong performance on Saturday, and Parker certainly was not going to make any premature decisions. Kieran and Rollie played as 1a and 1b for much of the regular season before Millan emerged as the primary goaltender, but if any Terrier fan had to choose which goalie they thought would be tying the career-wins record in October 2011 after that weekend in 2008, they all would have said Millan.

How could they not?

Following the game, Parker offered a cautious, “One snowflake doesn’t make a blizzard, but I thought he looked like a goalie,” when recognizing Millan. “He just stands there and you hit him. He’s never really flopping all over the place.”

Three years later, electrifying saves have lost some of their luster for the Terriers, simply because of the fact that Millan has been making them for so long. While fans have become used to the fact that strong goaltending is a given from night-to-night, different issues – like power play and defensive pressure – have taken the hot seat.

Well, Matt Gilroy is no longer patrolling the blue line for BU, and Jason Lawrence’s power play potency is long gone. While Millan completed the puzzle for the Terriers in 2008-09, it is now time for newer players to return the favor.

Next October, the Terriers could be in the same position they were in 2007, with goaltending as the biggest hole in the lineup. But, for at least one more year, with Millan between the pipes, Terrier fans can bow easy knowing that they are saluting one of the best to ever catch pucks at BU.

“He’s one of the best goalies to ever play here in a long line of really good goalies,” Parker said of Millan on Saturday, offering praise leagues beyond the ‘He looked like a goalie’ that he offered in 2008. “We’re tickled that he came back. There was talk that he might sign with Colorado. I think he’s really happy to be back and he’s looking forward to having a great senior year for us. He certainly got off on the right foot.”

No doubt about that.