Miller tops off milestone night with win. Whalers defeat Federals 7-1

Miller tops off milestone night with win.

Danbury, CT, 1/7/2012, Veteran Danbury forward Kelly Miller played in his 500^th professional game on Saturday night in Danbury Ice Arena. Miller’s big night was accompanied by strong play from his teammates as the Whalers took on the untested Delaware Federals. Led by rookie coach Dan Farrell and Bob LaChance, veteran of the WJC and the AHL and Swiss Leagues Delaware’s first game in Danbury would be a test for the new team. Coming into the contest the Whalers had a clear advantage, being healthy, coming off of a big win the night before, and playing at home in front of the rabid Danbury faithful.

 The 1^st Period began with some good back and forth action as both teams began the process of feeling out the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents. As the period went on the Whalers began to take an edge in the game as their play in the Federal’s zone grew more and more dominant, eventually forcing the Federals into sloppy play.                

Delaware’s Micheal Koelzer took a hooking penalty at 9:32 of the 1^st period, and after a great lead pass from Kelly Miller, Matt Moffat made a silky forehand to backhand breakaway move to score the first goal. Just about a minute later continued pressure by the Whalers rough and tumble line led to a great pass into the middle of the ice from Corey Fulton sprung rookie Carlo Ricci scoring his 4^th goal of the season in just 5 games. The Whalers continued to play physical and push the Federals back, until at 12:34 in the 1^st when the action boiled over into a rather one-sided fight between Danbury’s 6’6 Anthony Pisano taking on Delaware’s 6’0 Jack Goodenough. Pisano quickly finished the fight with one quick shot before falling on his opponent. The rest of the period was played mostly in Delaware’s zone and ended with a hooking penalty to Brian Jolliffe of the Federals.

Beginning the 2^nd Period on the power play, the Whalers started off strong, and almost immediately after the first penalty ended, the Whalers drew another one, this time on Kevin McCullough for interference. With quick tape to tape passing, the Whalers powerplay unit fed the puck to Chris Seifert who buried the puck in the side of the net, giving Danbury a 3-0 lead. The strong play would continue and throughout the period with the puck staying in Delaware’s zone for extended periods of time until at 11:41, Whalers Greg Holt scored from Moucha and Siefert to make the score 4-0. During the goal however, Martin Moucha was called for hooking, giving Delaware a quick power play. Coach Phil Esposito used the break to switch out Peter Vetri for the backup goalie Matt Trusz, giving his starter a well-deserved break. The break also worked out for the Federals as Bryan Mock quickly capitalized on from Bob LaChance to cut the Whalers lead to 3. Not to be outdone, the Whalers Matt Caranci won the faceoff at center ice, quickly feeding Carlo Ricci as he flew into the Delaware zone and made a beautiful pass to Devin Guy who buried the puck giving his team a 4 goal lead again. The remainder of the period was played end to end, and ended without further scoring, penalties, or any other shenanigans.

Sensing victory for their veteran teammate Miller, his linemates come out strong and dominated the 3^rd period. With Sean O’Malley on his right and Matt Moffat on his left, Kelly Miller’s line has been so key at winning faceoffs, playing hard, and producing in critical situations. This style of play has so impressed the fans and other teams that my colleague, Marco Cerino voice of the Whalers, has dubbed this group the mill or millstone line, because of the way that they consistently grind down the opposition. Early on into the 3^rd period Whalers’ Anthony Pisano took a double minor for unsportsmanlike conduct call, as well as a 10 minute misconduct penalty for dropping the gloves on an unwilling Federal’s player. Other than the brief fracas early, the rest of the period was played with a calm pace as the Whalers continued to dominate play, eventually scoring at 9:14 off of the stick of Sean O’Malley from Kelly Miller. In a game where the outcome was fairly certain, the only drama left in the tilt was whether or not Miller would get to celebrate a goal in his landmark game. A humble and quiet man, Miller fooled everyone when with literally 35 seconds left on the clock he came screaming down the ice and scored, cementing not only a 7-1 Whalers win, but also a memorable 500^th game for him. His goal prompted a roar from the crowd and a bench clearing celebration from his team, but even though the time had run off the clock this memorable game wasn’t over. On the decision of Coach Dan Farrell, the Federals remained on the ice after the game and lined up to shake hands with the Whalers, such as they do in both the playoffs and in all levels of youth hockey. This respectful and classy gesture from the Federals made the ending to this game fantastic, and I hope to see more such gestures in the league and hockey in general.

Article by Alec Kessler