Quentin Miller is still getting used to being thousands of kilometres away from his home in Montreal but so far his move to British Columbia has been good to him.
In four games with the Chilliwack Chiefs the 20-year-old goaltender has yet to sample the sour taste of losing.
Miller was nearly flawless in net for the Chiefs Saturday night at Kopar Memorial Arena, stopping 23 of 24 shots in a 3-1 win over the Prince George Spruce Kings.
That’s four wins in four games and only six goals against, an impressive debut for the Montreal Canadiens fourth-round draft pick in 2023, who signed with Chilliwack in January after two seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Quebec Remparts and Rimouski Oceanic.
Miller also won Friday’s game against the Spruce Kings 6-4.
“It was a nice test to us to see how the guys react to the environment and just push through hard times and difficulties and the guys were great in front of me and it’s fun to play for a team like that,” said Miller.
“I think (the Spruce Kings) played very well this weekend, they’re a structured team, they bring pucks to the net and they’re hard to play against and I would say they’re pretty good.”
Miller was all set to be the go-to goalie for the Oceanic when they host the Memorial Cup in June but hurt his shoulder in the pre-season, an injury that required surgery. In that time, the Oceanic decided to go with two other goalies and gave up Miller’s 20-year-old spot. So he was looking for a team that wanted him and his agent found him a place in Chilliwack.
“That (Memorial Cup) was my goal and I trained so hard in the summer to live that and just play in the playoffs in the Q, but things happen and here I am with a good team,” said Miller.
“For a guy that’s been out for five months I’m happy with how it’s going,” he said. “It was preseason I popped out my shoulder so I got surgery at the start of the season and I’m trying to work as hard as I can to come back.”
Miller was hoping to face Spruce Kings goalie Charles-Edward Gravel in a meeting of undefeated BCHL goalies. Unfortunately Gravel got sick and was unavailable for either weekend game. The 20-year-old Gravel, a five-year QMJHL veteran, has gone 4-0 since signing with Prince George Feb. 2 and the two have played against each other.
“We’re 20 and places are limited in the Q, so for goalies, we just want to play,” said Miller. “It’s fun to just play games that matter. Being in the Memorial Cup, almost, and being here I just want to win and I’m very grateful.”
With their two wins in Prince George the Chiefs improved their Coastal Conference-leading record to 29-9-5-0.
The Spruce Kings (12-22-3-1) now have just 11 games left to get themselves into a playoff position, The Langley Rivermen, the team they’re trying to catch, had the night off Saturday and will be hosting the Surrey Eagles in an afternoon game Sunday. The Kings are four points behind Langley in the race for the eighth and final Coastal Conference playoff spot.
Chiefs left winger Arjun Bawa picked up two assists as the game’s first star Saturday. The 19-year-old from Richmond played 1 ½ seasons with the Prince George Cougars until he was dealt to Seattle last May. He now has three assists in five games since joining the Chiefs from the WHL Thunderbirds earlier this month.
Bawa’s line, with Connor Arsenault and Dustin Renas, looked sharp with their involvement in two of Chilliwack’s goals.
The teams were deadlocked 1-1 after 20 minutes.
Carter Hesselgrave struck first for the Kings while killing a penalty two minutes into the game when he stole the puck off the stick of Miller behind the Chiefs’ net and tucked it in before he could get back in his crease. It was the first career BCHL shorthanded goal for the former Cariboo Cougar from Quesnel.
The Chiefs took advantage of a Nick Metelkin giveaway at the blueline that sent them in 3-on-1 and Mateo Mrsic scored his team-leading 29th goal just before the intermission.
The Spruce Kings’ lack of production on the power play came back to bite them. They had sustained pressure with the extra skater but had difficulty getting quality shots on goal and that gave the visitors a lift. Chilliwack defenceman Lucas Sorace had just returned to the ice after sitting out a two-minute hooking penalty when he joined a wild scrum in front of the Spruce Kings net.
Kings goalie Ben Polhill lost his stick making the save on a point shot from Brandon Osbourne and Connor Arsenault came close to jamming in the loose puck while Polhill scrambled to cover up. The Kings’ clearing attempt was picked off and Sorace cruised in and wired a shot in off the goalpost for a 2-1 lead.
The Chief got the insurance they were looking for 11:43 into the third period when Bawa got the puck back to pointman Olivier Beaulieu and his shot from just inside the blueline ticked off the stick of Kings winger Kazumo Sasaki high into the net behind Polhill.
It was only second BCHL start for Polhill, an 18-year-old native of Cochrane, Alta., who signed with the Kings in January after 20 games in the SJHL with the Estevan Bruins. Polhill could have made the game-star list while limiting the second-highest scoring team in the league to three goals. He played his angles well, didn’t give up rebounds and made 24 saves. None of the three shots that beat him were weak ones.
Polhill gave the Kings a chance to win but they were not firing on all cylinders.
“They’re a first-place team and they move the puck well and honestly, tonight we had a bit of an off-night, we weren’t pushing as hard as we usually do and we’ll take it as a learning lesson and move forward,” said Hesselgrave.
“The power play is part of our game we struggled with tonight but nothing we can’t fix in practice. We had a great game (Friday) and one of the best parts of our team is being resilient, so being down 2-0 going into the third and having that comeback was huge for us. We all know we’re capable of coming back for any game and it’s good to have that.”
LOOSE PUCKS: The Spruce Kings start a three-game roadtrip Friday in Coquitlam and also visit Surrey on Saturday and Salmon Arm on Tuesday before returning to Prince George. They’ll be back at Kopar March 7-8 to face the Rivermen in a series that could determine who makes it into the playoffs… The Kings were also without injured defenceman Trent Ballentyne (concussion). The 20-year-old Tennessee State recruit took a forearm to the head from Chiefs left winger Connor Dick late in the second period of Friday’s game and did not return. The infraction went unpenalized. Kings GM Mike Hawes submitted the video to the league and the BCHL handed Dick a one-game suspension while acknowledging he should have been served a five-minute charging penalty and game misconduct… Kyle Anderson, the Spruce Kings’ executive director of business/director of business & communications, is the voice behind the mic for the team’s play-by-play broadcasts and on Saturday he broadcast his 500th BCHL game. Prior to joining the Spruce Kings in November 2017 Anderson worked as a game-day announcer for the Nanaimo Clippers (2011-13) and handled the play-by-play for the West Kelowna Warriors from 2014-16.
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