After Easy Decision, Milan Is Back As Ice Flyers Captain And Quest For Title 

By Bill Vilona, Ice Flyers Correspondent

Garrett Milan was somewhere in Northern Alberta, Canada, working a summer job in mid-June with his father, when text messages popped into his phone from Ice Flyers teammates. 

He learned former head coach Rod Aldoff wasn’t returning. 

And Gary Graham, who was the Ice Flyers coach when Milan was playing collegiate hockey a decade earlier, was going to be the new man behind the bench.

“I really thought Rod was coming back, so it was a surprise to me,” Milan said. “I didn’t have any previous connection with Gary, but I talked to players who played for him and got a good representation.

“And then talking on the phone with him, I could tell he obviously has great energy, which I liked a lot, and his number one goal is to bring a championship back to the (Pensacola) beach. Once I talked with him, it was an easy decision.”

Milan quickly then told Graham to count him in. 

That return-to-championship quest begins Saturday night when the 32-year-old Milan begins his sixth season with the Ice Flyers and pulls on the captain’s jersey to lead teammates against the Birmingham Bulls on opening night at the Pensacola Bay Center.

Milan can’t wait to begin another Southern Professional Hockey League season in Pensacola again. 

“I’ve been here for a while now and that’s a big reason why I come back,” said Milan, who grew up in Whistler, British Columbia and played college hockey at St. Cloud (Minnesota) State, an NCAA Division I program. 

“The fans are great here,” Milan said. “They are respectful to us and give us great support.  We are getting four to six thousand fans here every night and it’s one of best crowds every night.”

Saturday night will be Milan’s 207th game with the Ice Flyers, making him one of the longest tenured players in team history. Ironically, on Feb. 3, 2023, in a game against the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs, Milan became the Ice Flyers’ all-time points leader by registering his 207th point that night. 

But after the club’s quick playoff exit last April, Milan was uncertain of his future. He is coming off a 2022-23 season where he was a first-team, All-SPHL selection, after finishing second in the league in points (69), assists (43), power-play goals (12) and third in the league in goals (26).  

He led the SPHL in power-play points (34) and power-play assists (22). 

But the phone conversations with Graham were convincing. And Milan exited from a practice earlier this week sounding fully charged and set to make a difference. 

“I’m not getting any younger,” he said, laughing. “But I thought I still had a good season last year and it’s not like hockey is pushing me out by any means. 

“So, it was a family decision and a decision by myself. I’m still eager and have that fire in myself. I still want to come back and win a championship. Obviously, that’s the main goal coming back here.”  

In knowing Graham led the Ice Flyers to their first SPHL President’s Cup title in 2013, then in talking with him, it made Milan’s career decision an easy one. 

“Gary told me (in summer) of some guys who were coming back and some guys he planned to bring in,” Milan said. “And he wants to win. You want that competitive fire in your coach as well. 

“Rod was the same way, but I had coaches in my past that were going through the motions, and if you won or lost, it was kind of a situation where they’re still doing their job and getting paid. Gary was not like that. He was fired up to come back here and build that championship team.”

During these preseason practices, Milan has stressed to newcomers the importance of getting off to a strong start. And how October and November games mean as much as late-season and playoff run games. 

“We try to tell everyone coming in, little mistakes in games, you don’t think they might mean a lot in the first five games of the season, but if you lose two of those games it can mean a couple seeds (positions) in the playoffs and in the playoffs, it comes down to one goal games.”

This will be a return season as team captain. Milan said he doesn’t let that aspect change how he prepares, practices, or plays. 

“I am wearing the C, but there are a lot of good guys in the locker room,” he said. “You want to be a voice when you need to be. I try to let my work ethic on the ice speak for itself. 

“You can’t tell someone to do something if you are not doing it yourself. You have to have that work ethic from the start. I think Gary did a great job bringing in those quality guys.”

The Ice Flyers’ roster right now will remain fluid and potentially evolving as the ECHL and other minor league levels begin seasons as well. 

While Milan would have preferred the Ice Flyers’ exhibition game last Friday was not cut short due to an ice surface issue, he looks at the bigger perspective. 

“I felt bad for guys who wanted more of a look for the team and didn’t get that,” he said. “But that’s the nature of the game sometimes. But the way to look at it is that we did have exhibition game and a lot of (SPHL) teams did not. 

“We got one period in at least and a lot of teams didn’t get that practice. It was good for us to get the legs going. I think we were trending in the right direction later in that first period. 

“Obviously exhibition games are good to get all the kinks out from the summer. (On Saturday) it will be good to see all the fans in the arena again and the atmosphere again. You get the jitters again. 

“You are still going to get the nerves. I still get the nerves, I still get excited for opening night.”

That passion, that desire to embrace all that hockey brings, is why Milan returned as Ice Flyers captain.