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.

By DANA HADDAD

Oct. 25, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SAN DIEGO — Veteran National Hockey League goaltender Greg Millen seemed to have blocked it out of his mind that he once played in the minor leagues.

He had to be reminded this week that, in 1977, he appeared in three International Hockey League games. Shown the evidence, Millen, who has been sent to the IHL Gulls by the New York Rangers, was incredulous.

Millen was sent to the Gulls on a conditioning assignment Oct. 17. His stay might only last two weeks, but he is not budging from his big-league lifestyle. He checked in at an exclusive hotel at La Jolla Cove and is cruising around town in a convertible sports car.

And 10 hours after the Peoria Rivermen rifled him for a 7-5 International Hockey League victory at the San Diego Sports Arena, Millen seemed more concerned about the weather than his hockey career. He squinted at the overcast sky Sunday morning and asked for the time.

It was 10:30 a.m.

“This is San Diego, where’s the sun?” said Millen.

His wife, Ann, was due to arrive on a 2:30 p.m. flight from Toronto and, after two weeks, Millen was anxious to see her and wanted everything to be perfect. The idea that it might stay cloudy all day was enough to raise the temperature of his Canadian blood.

“Don’t tell me that,” he said laughing. “It’s always supposed to be sunny here.”

Greg Millen doesn’t want to see clouds. His career has been covered with gray the past two years.

He had his most productive season in 1988-89, finishing 22-20-7 with a 3.38 goals-against average in 52 games with the St. Louis Blues, who were 33-35-12 but finished second in the Norris Division. Millen led the league with six shutouts and was 5-5 in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the Blues reached the division final series.

However, less than two months into the next season, he was traded to the last-place Quebec Nordiques. Since then, Millen has been with three different clubs, mostly in a back-up role. After appearing in only three games with the Chicago Blackhawks last season, he was dealt to the Rangers on Sept. 25.

He has no explanation for what has happened.

At 34, Millen acknowledges he might be near the end of the road, but he prefers to view it as long detour back to the NHL’s front lines.

And if that means that Ann--who met him on the junior hockey circuit and married him 11 years ago--must watch him face the Milwaukee Admirals instead of the Kings, what better place to be than in San Diego.

“This is uncharted water for both of us,” Millen said. “We’ve never been in the minors. But I’m sure she’ll enjoy the lifestyle when she’s here for the week.”

Millen, who has not yet played for the Rangers, settled down after a rocky start Wednesday night to preserve the Gulls’ 3-2 victory over Milwaukee. But as intent as he is upon resurrecting his career, Millen is perhaps more concerned these days with his family.

His oldest of three daughters, Allison, has attended three schools in three years. Two years ago, Ann was stricken with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome while Millen was going from St. Louis to Quebec to Chicago in the same season. When he spent most of the 1990-91 season out of uniform and watching from the press box, Millen grew closer to his girls.

“This is a hard year for my family,” he said. “We decided to leave them in Canada. They’ve been always with me. This is our first year apart as a family. This is the last year of my contract. It might be the last year of my career.

“I think there’s a time in your career when enough’s enough.”

His career numbers are respectable, and they are testimony to his longevity. The position of goalie tends to be a short-term vocation for those who grow weary of having rock-hard pucks launched toward them at 120 m.p.h.

Millen is 212-282-86 lifetime with a 3.88 average, even though he has played a good portion of his career with losing teams.

Coming to the minors, Millen said, is a blow to his ego. But he wouldn’t be here if he thought he was washed up. He is here because he believes the Rangers are going to give him another chance.

Those mixed emotions were evident in the Gulls’ 7-5 loss to Peoria on Saturday. Filled with anticipation, Millen was the first player to arrive at the Sports Arena, four hours before faceoff. By the second period, he was leaning against the post, staring through his mask toward the rafters. Peoria, leading 5-1, had taken advantage of his rustiness and a sluggish Gull defense.

“There was some apprehension, some hesitation,” he said. “There wasn’t the electricity, the excitement, the pressure. There was a lot of pride involved. There’s a lot of pride involved in even coming here.”

“That’s a darn good hockey team he faced,” Gull Coach Don Waddell said. “I think maybe he put a little too much pressure on himself. Goaltending is a tough business. If you don’t make saves on those first couple shots, it’s all psychological.”

“You can’t expect anybody to play well when you haven’t played for awhile,” said Peoria Coach Harold Snepsts, a former NHL defenseman who opposed Millen throughout his 16-year career. “When he was on, he was tough to beat. He really frustrated a lot of people.”

Two years ago, Millen was off to the best start of his career at 11-7-3 with a 2.24 average at St. Louis. It came as a shock when, on Dec. 13, 1989, he realized the Blues had been showcasing him for a trade to the Nordiques.

“I was devastated,” Millen said. “My family was just entrenched in St. Louis. We were involved with the community and we really enjoyed St. Louis an awful lot.”

When he got to Quebec, Millen told management he wouldn’t finish his career with a losing team. The Nordiques was to finish 12-61-7 in 1989-90.

By the end of the season, Millen was with the Blackhawks, preparing for the Stanley Cup playoffs. He went to Chicago with Michel Goulet in a March 5, 1990 trade. In 10 regular-season starts, he was 5-4-1 with a 3.34 average. He had similar numbers in the playoffs (5-6, 3.92), where the Blackhawks lost in the semifinals.

But disappointment arrived again in 1990-91. He became the forgotten man, playing only 58 minutes the entire season--the least of five Chicago goaltenders. Meanwhile, a youngster named Ed Belfour became one of the league’s best.

“Eddie answered the bell,” Millen said of Belfour, who was 43-19-7 with a 2.24 average for the Norris Division champions. “He probably had as good a year as I’d ever seen a goalie play in the NHL. It was a kick in the rear for me, a little bit demoralizing.

“But now I can relate much better to the role player and the young player being sent down to the minors. I know how they feel. Before, I was always a guy playing.

“I’ve worked through many things the last eight months. Retirement . . . I’ve had the opportunity to work through that for a year, where most guys get hit right in the face. I’m a very relaxed, positive person now. I love the game, I love being at the rink and this is a time when I’m going to cherish every minute.”

Since his arrival in San Diego, Millen has gravitated toward Gull player/coach Charlie Simmer, once a premier scorer in the NHL who understands what he is experiencing.

“Some of the best goalies in the league were names that you really didn’t notice,” Simmer said. “Greg’s played on a lot of bad teams. He’s seen a lot of rubber and he’s stopped a lot of quality shots, and he played hard enough to keep games close.

“The Rangers have a good club. If he can come up with a couple of big saves when he goes up, he’ll probably play. That’s what turns on teams. If they give him the opportunity, he could play well there.”

“I’ve been very lucky,” said Millen. “I’ve played 14 years in our league. I’m very proud of my longevity. I’m proud of what I’ve done and I’m also very thankful. I’ve seen a lot of guys come and go.

“I feel I’m as quick as I’ve ever been and my skills are as good as ever. My work ethic is better now. I’m on a bit of a mission right now.

“I want to prove some people wrong, and I think I’m going to do it.”