another D at the trade deadline failed, they called on McMillan. “One night they just said, ‘Here, play defense tonight,’” McMillan recalls. “I went
back to forward for a couple more games, then a guy got hurt and they stuck me back there in the middle of a game. They kept playing me there, and once that guy came back, I was still playing defense. They said, ‘We hope you’re okay with this. We think you’re the right piece back there.’” McMillan played about 20 regular season games back there through the end of the reg-
ular season and the tournament. And as if he wasn’t already used to shuffling quickly from forward to defense, he was asked to do it again when he played for Team Canada at the 2010 World Juniors in Saskatchewan. He was switched to the back end in the last period of the final preliminary game against Team USA and in the rematch in the gold medal game, which they would ultimately lose to the Americans in overtime. Despite the agoniz-
ing finish, McMillan had a great tourna- ment with four goals and four assists in the six games while playing on a line with the likes of Jordan Eberle (now playing for the Oilers) and Brayden Schenn (a
highly “He’s made the transition pretty easily,” says Chipchura. “He’s
a good two-way presence and he skates real well. He’s definitely contributed very well for us. He’s kind of proven he can play many different roles and positions.”
touted
prospect in the Kings organization). “We had a great
run, I had a good tour- nament and our line played really well
together,” McMillan says. “I really feel like that was the turning point for me. That’s real- ly where I learned how to play every night in a tight schedule and be a more consistent player and develop the work ethic that it takes to be here.” Just like in that tournament, McMillan has shown on this level he can chip in offen-
sively as well, and in timely fashion. He had three points in three games during a swing through Western Canada in February, all Ducks victories. And he punched in a rebound for the eventual game-winner during a huge win at home against Colorado at the end of the month that snapped a five-game skid. “That was for sure a huge goal,” McMillan says. “We were in a tough spot in the season and we really needed that win.” That versatility is a major reason McMillan has stuck in Anaheim since being brought
22 Ducks Digest
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