Milley, Norm

Unfortunately they don't award points in the standings for improvement.

PRO-3
SPR-2

Karri Ramo stopped 23 of 26 shots faced in the loss. David Spina led the Falcons with 1 goal and 1 assist while veteran Eric Healey notched 2 assists. Doug O'Brien scored the other Falcons goal and Daniel Corso had an individual helper. Obviously the Falcons were much more competitive tonight than last weekend when they were shellacked 7-2 by Providence, but the team is still in desperate need of wins.

Randy Rowe returned to the lineup tonight for Springfield. Justin Keller and Norm Milley remain out.

First Period
SPR Spina, (4) (Corso, Healey), 11:07 (PP)
PRO Trevelyan, (12) (Pelletier), 14:25

Second Period
PRO Krejci, (8) (Stastny, Versteeg), 0:22 (PP)
PRO Allen, (4) (Krejci), 12:31 (PP)

Third Period
SPR O'Brien, (2) (Spina, Healey), 18:04

Game sheet from TheAHL.com.

The Falcons have also announced that they have returned winger Zbynek Hrdel to Johnstown of the ECHL. Hrdel was recalled from the Chiefs when a rash of injuries hit the Falcons with Justin Keller out with a high ankle sprain, Randy Rowe out with a bad lower back and Norm Milley shelved with a broken jaw. The move likely signals that Keller or Rowe will be returning this week as Milley is projected to be out 2-4 weeks.

There were several very worthy candidates for this month's award, so this was probably the most difficult decision to make in the short history of the Prospect of the Month honor. Four Lightning prospects, two of them overage players, had strong months posting point a game or better paces: Dane Crowley (10 GP, 2-8-10, 24 PIM, +3), Chris Lawrence, (12 GP, 5-7-12, 25 PIM, +5), Eric Healey, (15 GP, 7-11-18, 38 PIM, +3), and Norm Milley, (15 GP, 9-6-15, 42 PIM, +2). Each of these players could've easily won the award, but December was the month of the goaltender in the Lightning prospect system. So without further adieu, this month's winner is...

Steve Stirling's got to coach up these young men to win some of these one goal games. BIN-4 SPR-3 Sean Burke stopped 30 of 34 in the loss. Eric Healey had a goal and an assist for Falcons and [url=blair-jones]Blair Jones[/url] and [url=norm-milley]Norm Milley[/url] each had a pair of assists. Zdenek Blatny and Andy Delmore had Springfield's other goals while [url=justin-keller]Justin Keller[/url] had an individual helper. Game sheet from [url=http://stats.theahl.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1002299]TheAHL.com[/url].

[b]Name: Norm Milley Position: Right Wing Shoots: Left Height: 6.00 Weight: 195 lbs Born: 2/14/80 Acquired: Signed as a Free Agent on 8/18/05[/b] [b]Junior Career[/b] Norm Milley is a product of the Sudbury Wolves OHL major junior team. As a rookie in 1996-97 he scored 30 goals and 62 points in 61 games for Sudbury at age 16. The following year he scored 33 goals and 74 points in 62 games for the Wolves and at season's end was named the 48th best skater in North America by the NHL Central Scouting Service. In the June draft he was selected in 2nd round, 47th overall by the Buffalo Sabres. 1998-1999 was Milley's career year in junior in which he scored 52 goals and 120 points in 68 games. The following year he would post another 100 point season with 52 goals and 112 points in 68 games. [b]Professional Career[/b] In the summer of 2000, Milley signed with the Buffalo Sabres and spent his rookie professional season with their affiliate, the Rochester Americans of the AHL scoring 20 goals and 47 points in 77 games. The next year he had 20 goals and 38 points in 74 games for the Americans earning 5 games in the NHL with Buffalo in which he notched 1 assist. In 2002-2003 he played in 67 games for Rochester with 16 goals and 48 points and also saw 8 games with the Sabres in which he had 2 assists. In 2003-2004 he had 18 goals and 37 points in 77 games and had a strong postseason with 7 goals and 13 points in 16 playoff games in Rochester. He also got another brief call up to Buffalo, this time a 2 game stint in which he was scoreless. The lockout season of 2004-2005 would be Milley's final in the Sabres organization. After scoring 12 goals and 33 points in 72 games he was cut loose by Buffalo and signed with the Lightning in the Fall of 2005. He was placed with the Lightning's affiliate in Springfield where he had 19 goals and 48 points in 52 games, tying his career best professional point total largely on the team's second line with rookie center Ryan Vesce. At midseason he was recalled to Tampa Bay where he played 14 games and scored his first NHL goal. In total he had 2 goals and 3 points before being returned to the Falcons for the duration of the season. [b]Talent Analysis[/b] [i]Pros: Milley is an extremely crafty player who anticipates the play well and has a knack of finding the dead spots in an opposing team's defensive zone coverage. Although not overly physical, his hockey smarts make him a pest in all three zones, and he was one of the Falcons' best players on the power play this past season. Cons: Milley's size makes him a less than ideal NHL checking liner and his skating is a step slow for hockey's top level. Despite the monster numbers he put up in junior, Milley has never been a natural finisher as a pro and he failed to convert many point blank opportunities in his time in Tampa.[/i] [b]Future[/b] If he returns to the Lightning organization, Milley should fill the role he did last season as one of the Falcons key offensive leaders and a potential checking line callup in the event of injuries in Tampa. Unfortunately for Milley, in terms of his NHL ambitions, should he stay in the Lightning organization he may find himself on the losing side of competition for those callups with bigger, faster and younger prospects like [url=nick-tarnasky]Nick Tarnasky.[/url] [i]Statistics Courtesy [url=http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=25968]hockeydb.com[/url] Profile Created 6/1/06 by Pete Choquette[/i]