McVersatile
r In a season with many strange twists, Rockets’ Brandon McMillan finds himself in the middle of fray.
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r Normally a forward, the 18-year-old draftee of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks has been playing on defence in recent days. And, that’s a trend we’ll see more of as the season winds along.
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r “To be honest, we’re probably going to use
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r “And, he’s a very intelligent player who thinks the game well. He understands what we’re doing back there.”
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r The decision to relocate McMillan has a two-pronged benefit from a Rockets’ perspective, the proverbial stone that killed two birds.
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r First off, the acquisitions of Mikael Backlund and Ian Duval at the trade deadline gives the team more than enough quality forwards, assuming all remain healthy. And, the anticipated return of Kyle St. Denis – out over 3 months thanks to a broken scaphoid bone in his wrist – will only add to the crowding up front.
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r Secondly, the Rockets have 5 blue-liners who are just 17-years of age. Certainly, the dose of experience, even if most of it came as a forward, that McMillan brings can only help. In fact, the scuttlebutt had Rockets’ GM and President Bruce Hamilton on the look-out for veteran defensive help at the trade deadline but was unwilling to meet the rising price tag.
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r Teams will try to exploit the Rockets’ perceived weak spot by overloading the strong side on the fore-check, hoping for turnovers and scoring chances. A good example was during the first period of
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r For his part,
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r “I love it,” he said last week. “It’s a chance to learn a new position and I’m enjoying it. I’m happy to move back and help out the team when they need me.”
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r Naturally, McMillan’s biggest challenge is acclimating himself to the demands of the position when he doesn’t have the puck.
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r “It didn’t take me too long to feel comfortable back there,” says Brandon, who played defence off and on during his minor hockey days in Delta. “The toughest part is adjusting to the speed of the players when they’re coming down the ice.”
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r “You have to make sure you keep the right gap and don’t give them too much room to manoeuvre. You’re trying to take away time and space, but you can’t be too gung ho or they’ll get by you.”
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r Meanwhile, St. Denis is expected to make his return this Friday when the Rockets host Everett. At that time, the McMillan experiment might become the norm for the rest of the season. But, Huska's not forgetting the benefits he brings as a forward.
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r "Again, Brandon's got that great speed and he's very hard for the opposition to contain. As a coach, you really like having that versatility in a player. He's been a reliable player wherever he's played. It's nice having that luxury."
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r "The coaches have told me to be ready to move to defence anytime," says McMillan. "They said it might happen during a game even. But, for the most part, they'll try to give me as much notice as possible."
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r "But, whether they tell me the day of the game or during it, I need to be ready to step up."
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