Brandon Miller (lacrosse)

Brandon Miller (born May 4, 1979 in Orangeville, Ontario) is a former goaltender who most recently played for the Toronto Rock in the National Lacrosse League, and the Six Nations Chiefs and, formerly, the Brampton Excelsiors in the Ontario Lacrosse Association's Major Series. He has won four Mann Cups, two with each of the Chiefs and Excelsiors.

Brandon Miller
Born (1979-05-04) May 4, 1979
Orangeville, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanada
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight190 pounds (86 kg)
ShootsLeft
PositionGoaltender
NLL draft70th overall, 1999
Albany Attack
NLL team
Former teams
Toronto Rock
Philadelphia Wings
Chicago Shamrox
San Jose Stealth
Albany Attack
Pro career2001
Career highlights

4x Mann Cup Champion (2002, 2008, 2013, 2014)

2x NLL All-Star (2007, 2011)

2nd Team All-Pro (2013)

4x Harry Lumley Trophy (2002, 2007, 2008, 2014)

Mike Kelley Memorial Trophy (2014)

National Lacrosse League

Albany Attack/San Jose Stealth

Miller started his career in 2001 with the Albany Attack (renamed the San Jose Stealth after the team relocated to California). He spent the early part of his career backing up Rob Blasdell and Anthony Cosmo, before joining the Chicago Shamrox and earning a spot as their starting goaltender.

Chicago Shamrox

Chicago selected Miller first overall after San Jose left him unprotected in the 2006 expansion draft (when Chicago and the New York Titans joined the league).[1]

At the 2007 All-Star Game in Portland, Miller was named to the All-Star team for the first time, as a reserve for the East squad. He split time with Matt Roik, allowing eight goals on 34 shots to earn the win. He also assisted on one of the East team's 20 goals.[2]

Despite Miller's stalwart play in net - 557 saves, facing an average of 45.19 shots per game - the Shamrox scored the third-fewest goals in the league in 2007, and missed the playoffs with a 6-10 record.

Philadelphia Wings

Midway through the 2008 season with the Shamrox struggling, Miller was dealt to the Philadelphia Wings for Roik and defenseman Brad Self.[3]

In 2008, Philadelphia finished 10-6, and qualified as the fourth seed for the playoffs; the Shamrox finished 6-10, in last place in the East Division. The Wings took on the Buffalo Bandits in the first round of the playoffs, but were eliminated after a 14-12 loss. Miller replaced starting goaltender Rob Blasdell for the second half of the game, allowing five goals on 21 shots and picking up the loss.

Miller split time with Blasdell again in 2009, his first full season with Philadelphia. Miller played about 60 per cent of the team's minutes, registering an 11.90 GAA and 76.94% save percentage. He also contributed offensively, registered six points - including a goal on March 28, 2009, against the Colorado Mammoth.[4] The team, however, struggled, finishing the season 7-9 and missing the playoffs.

Philadelphia again missed the playoffs in 2010, finishing last in the East division with a 5-11 record. Miller earned the lion's share of the playing time (a career-high 885 minutes), and as a result, faced the most shots in the league (764) and made the second-most saves (581). Offensively, he contributed 9 assists, good for second in the league behind Cosmo's 13.

Miller had, perhaps, his best statistical season in 2011. He posted career bests with an 11.25 goals against average and .774 save percentage. The team was plagued by a lack of goal scoring, though, finishing with a league-worst 143 goals for, finishing 5-11, tied for last in the league. Miller was selected for the All-Star game for the second time in his career.

The Wings made the playoffs in 2012 and again in 2013, but, unfortunately, were knocked out in the first round both years. In 2013, Miller finished second in Goaltender of the Year voting, behind Rochester's Matt Vinc. He finished fifth in saves for the season, and crossed the 4000-save mark for his career, becoming the 10th goaltender to achieve the mark. He was also named Defensive Player of the Week three times during the season, and was named to the Second All-Pro Team.

Toronto Rock

On March 18, 2014, Miller was traded to the Toronto Rock for Kyle Belton, a conditional 2nd-round draft choice and a 4th-round draft choice in the 2014 NLL draft. The Rock finished the season 9-9 and qualified for the playoffs, but were eliminated in the first round.

The 2015 season saw Miller split time with Nick Rose; Rose and Miller finished 3rd and 4th, respectively, in the league in Goals Against Average. The Rock finished with a league-best 14-4 record, and allowed the 3rd-fewest goals in the league. Miller was a finalist for the Goaltender of the Year Award and made his first trip to the finals, where the Rock were beaten 2 games to 0 in the Best-of-3 series by the Edmonton Rush.

In 2016, Miller became just the seventh NLL goalie to register 5,000 career regular season saves.

On September 25, 2018, Miller announced his retirement as a player. He will be joining the Toronto Rock coaching staff as goaltending coach [5]

Ontario Lacrosse Association

Orangeville Northmen

Miller and his brother Kyle Miller played Junior A lacrosse for the Orangeville Northmen.

In 2000, he shared the Dean McLeod Award - awarded to the MVP of the OLA Junior A playoffs - with Matt Vinc, as well as the Robert Melville Memorial Trophy - awarded to the Junior A league's outstanding goaltender - which he shared with teammate Kevin Samuel.[6]

Brampton Excelsiors

In the NLL's off-season, Miller competes in the Ontario Lacrosse Association's Major Series. Miller competed for the Brampton Excelsiors until 2011. He joined the team in 2001, helping them to a Mann Cup appearance, where they were beaten in seven games by the Coquitlam Adanacs.

In 2002, he teamed again with Bob Watson in goal, and this time helped Brampton to a Mann Cup win over the Victoria Shamrocks, again in seven games, their second Mann Cup in five years. They lost just one game in the MSL playoffs on the way to the championship game, sweeping the St. Catharines Athletics and defeating the Brooklin Redmen four games to one.

The Excelsiors made a third consecutive Mann Cup appearance in 2003, again against the Shamrocks, but were unable to repeat as champions, losing in five games.

From 2004 to 2007, Miller and the Excelsiors were defeated in the MSL finals by the Peterborough Lakers, twice in seven games and twice in six games.[7]

In 2008, the Excelsiors were finally able to overcome Peterborough, winning a decisive seventh game 7-2 at home in Brampton. They were easily able to overcome the New Westminster Salmonbellies in four games, although Miller saw no action as he backed up eventual Mann Cup MVP Anthony Cosmo.

While with the Excelsiors, he was a three-time recipient of the Harry Lumley Trophy - awarded to the goaltenders of the team that allowed the fewest goals in the regular season. In 2002, he shared the award with Bob Watson, and in 2007 and 2008, he and Cosmo received the award.[8]

Six Nations Chiefs

He joined the Chiefs via trade from the Brampton Excelsiors; he and Rory Smith joined Six Nations in exchange for Matt Vinc, Mike Accursi, Tim O'Brien, and a 2013 first round selection. Backing up, primarily, Orangeville native Evan Kirk, Miller has compiled a 3-1 record with a 9.05 GAA in 12 games over two seasons.

In 2013, the Chiefs represented the OLA in the Mann Cup, against the Victoria Shamrocks. Miller did not appear in the first two games, but replaced Kirk in the third game, with the series tied. Miller suffered the loss, but Six Nations stormed back to take the series in six games, with Miller in goal for all but 20 minutes.

Those 20 minutes occurred in Game 5 when Victoria asked officials to check Miller's equipment, which was deemed to be illegal, resulting in a minor penalty and a game misconduct. Kirk replaced him, but he, too, had his equipment deemed illegal, resulting in forward Colin Doyle settling into net for the final 11 minutes of the 11-7 win.[9]

Miller finished the series with a minuscule 4.45 GAA and .893 save percentage, ironically besting Shamrocks keeper Matt Vinc. The victory marked the first for the Chiefs since winning their third consecutive in 1996.

Following the 2014 season, Miller won his fourth Harry Lumley Trophy, sharing the award with Kirk. The Chiefs repeated as Mann Cup Champions, and Miller was awarded the Mike Kelley Memorial Trophy as the series MVP.[10]

Statistics

NLL

Reference:[11]

Brandon Miller Regular Season Playoffs
Season Team GP Min W L GA GAA Sv Sv % GP Min W L GA GAA Sv Sv %

2001 Albany Attack 2 59:30 0 1 14 14.12 38 0.731
2002 Albany Attack 16 25:31 1 0 7 16.46 10 0.588 2 0:00 0 0 0 0.00 0 0.000
2003 Albany Attack 15 113:22 0 2 21 11.11 71 0.772
2004 San Jose Stealth 14 363:09 4 3 73 12.06 186 0.718 1 16:23 0 0 6 21.97 9 0.600
2005 San Jose Stealth 3 103:34 0 1 18 10.43 59 0.766
2006 San Jose Stealth 6 256:51 0 4 49 11.45 150 0.754
2007 Chicago Shamrox 16 865:07 6 9 177 12.28 602 0.773
2008 Chicago Shamrox 7 228:49 1 2 65 17.04 157 0.707
2008 Philadelphia Wings 6 295:28 2 4 60 12.18 223 0.788 1 29:58 0 1 5 10.01 16 0.762
2009 Philadelphia Wings 13 569:39 6 4 113 11.90 377 0.769
2010 Philadelphia Wings 16 885:16 5 10 183 12.40 580 0.760
2011 Philadelphia Wings 15 853:33 5 10 160 11.25 549 0.774
2012 Philadelphia Wings 16 901:44 7 9 192 12.78 548 0.741 1 60:00 0 1 14 14.00 33 0.702
2013 Philadelphia Wings 15 831:49 7 8 168 12.12 556 0.768 1 60:00 0 1 10 10.00 28 0.737
2014 Philadelphia Wings 3 139:10 0 3 32 13.80 71 0.689
2014 Toronto Rock 4 234:43 3 1 35 8.95 171 0.830 1 60:00 0 1 15 15.00 42 0.737
2015 Toronto Rock 12 654:10 8 2 113 10.36 431 0.792 4 218:20 1 3 41 11.27 154 0.790
2016 Toronto Rock 8 364:31 0 6 84 13.83 223 0.726
2017 Toronto Rock 5 64:02 1 1 11 10.31 36 0.766 3 117:27 1 1 19 9.71 79 0.806
2018 Toronto Rock 5 54:49 0 1 11 12.04 35 0.761
2020 Philadelphia Wings 2 43:05 0 1 7 9.75 21 0.750
199 7,907:52 56 82 1,593 12.09 5,094 0.762 14 562:08 2 8 110 11.74 361 0.766
Career Total: 213 8,470:00 58 90 1,703 12.06 5,455 0.762

GPGames played;MinMinutes played;WWins;LLosses;GAGoals against;GAAGoals against average;SvNumber of saves;Sv %Save percentage;

Mann Cup

    Mann Cup  
SeasonTeamGPMinGASvGAASv %
2001Brampton6143267710.8574.76%
2002Brampton*210016749.5282.22%
2003Brampton27812519.2280.95%
2008Brampton*00000.0000.00%
2013Six Nations*4202151424.4589.31%
2014Six Nations*6377382176.0585.10%
Mann Cup Totals209001075617.1383.98%

* - Won Mann Cup

References

  1. "Miller Selected First By Chicago" http://nll.com/article.php?id=374
  2. "East Team Stats" http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/teamplayerstats.html?teamid=73569&seasonid=1708
  3. "Wings acquire forward AJ Shannon and Goaltender Brandon Miller" "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-03-06. Retrieved 2008-03-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Colorado-Philadelphia, March 28, 2009" http://www.nll.com/stats.php?ps=http://nll.stats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=795810 Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
  5. https://torontorock.com/2018/09/25/brandon-miller-retires-and-joins-rock-coaching-staff/
  6. "The Dean McLeod Award" http://www.ontariolacrosse.com/documents/content_1286.pdf%5B%5D
  7. "MSL History" http://www.majorserieslacrosse.net/mslhistory.html%5B%5D
  8. "The Harry Lumley Trophy" http://www.ontariolacrosse.com/documents/content_1273.pdf%5B%5D
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2013-09-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Miller MVP as Six Nations Repeats as Mann Cup Champions". Lacrosse Magazine. September 13, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-09-17. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
  11. "Player National Lacrosse League". NLL.com. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
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