Jeff MacMillan (born March 30, 1979) is a Canadian
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
player. He played 4 games in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
for the
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...
during the
2003–04 season. The rest of his career, which started in 1999, was mainly spent in the minor leagues and then in
senior
Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to:
* Senior (name), a surname ...
leagues.
Career
MacMillan began his career in 1996, icing for the junior team the
Oshawa Generals
The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...
in the
OHL. MacMillan stayed with the Generals for three years, making almost 170 appearances in that time. His solid defensive play combined with a reasonable offensive output for a defenceman meant that in the 1999
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
entry draft, MacMillan was drafted in the seventh round by the
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...
.
MacMillan was sent to play for the
Fort Wayne Komets
The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team, which currently plays in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In all of North American professional hockey, only the Orig ...
in the
UHL, where he played just seven games before being moved to the
Michigan K-Wings
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular state in the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are ...
, a Dallas Stars affiliate team playing in the
IHL. In the K-Wings' last season as a Stars affiliate, MacMillan featured in 53 games.
Due to the Stars ending their association with the K-Wings, MacMillan was then farmed to the
Utah Grizzlies
The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah.
Franchise history
The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Stars i ...
again in the IHL. He would stay in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
for the next four seasons, and remained playing for the Grizzlies when they changed league to play at the higher
AHL standard. MacMillan was a cornerstone of the Grizzlies team, and featured in over 300 games during his stay there.
MacMillan's hard work and natural defensive qualities meant that during the 2003–04 season he also featured for the Dallas Stars themselves, and played four regular season games in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
. The following season, MacMillan was again relegated back down to the
AHL, this time playing for the
Hartford Wolf Pack
The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the PeoplesBank Arena. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. ...
. In his one season playing for Hartford he was again a key player, playing 71 times and clocking up 136 penalty minutes. MacMillan would play one more season in the
AHL in 2005/06, for the
Syracuse Crunch
The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team based in Syracuse, New York. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning. They play in they home games at the Upstate Medical Univer ...
.
For the 2006/07 season, MacMillan decided to play in Europe and signed for the
Vienna Capitals
The Vienna Capitals are an Austrian professional ice hockey team that participate in the ICE Hockey League. Founded in 2001, the Capitals play their home games in Vienna, Austria, at Steffl Arena. In the 2004–05 season, the Capitals claimed ...
in the Austrian national league, but did not stay for the whole season, signing for the
Phoenix RoadRunners of the
ECHL
The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...
back in North America, where he also featured in the ECHL playoffs. MacMillan again decided to play in Europe the following year, and in the summer of 2007, along with Capital team-mate
Scott Fankhouser
Scott A. Fankhouser (born July 1, 1975) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 23 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Atlanta Thrashers between 1999 and 2001. The rest of his career, which lasted from ...
, agreed to sign for the
Manchester Phoenix
Manchester Phoenix were a semi professional ice hockey team from Greater Manchester, England. The club was formed in 2003 as a result of the efforts of supporters group ''Friends of Manchester Ice Hockey'' to bring top-level ice hockey back to M ...
, a team playing in the
EIHL
The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to internationally as the British Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague, it is the highest level ...
, the top tier of British club ice hockey, where he was also appointed alternate captain by player/coach
Tony Hand
Anthony Hand MBE (born 15 August 1967) is a Scottish former ice hockey player and coach. He was the first British player to be drafted by an NHL team when he was picked by the Edmonton Oilers in 1986.
Nicknamed ''Two point Tony'', he holds seve ...
.
MacMillan proved to be a solid, physical defender for the Phoenix but struggled to find form, suffering a number of injuries through the season. The Manchester defence was notably unreliable during the 2007/08 season and at the end of the season, head coach Hand made the decision to re-model the entire defence, releasing MacMillan. MacMillan and Fankhouser would again choose to sign for the same club, agreeing to play for the
Bloomington Prairie Thunder
The Bloomington PrairieThunder were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Bloomington, Illinois. They were a member of the Central Hockey League in the Turner Conference. The team was originally a member of the United Hockey League (later ...
of the
United Hockey League
The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the Unite ...
, an announcement made in July 2008.
Since his professional days, MacMillan has split his time between the
Durham Thundercats
The Durham Thundercats, originally the Durham 72's, are a senior ice hockey, hockey team based out of Durham, Ontario, Durham, Ontario, Canada. The Thundercats are members of the Ontario Elite Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association and Hoc ...
of the
WOAA Senior AA Hockey League
The Ontario Elite Hockey League is a Canadian senior ice hockey league governed by the Ontario Hockey Association and Hockey Canada. The league operates in Southwestern Ontario. As of the 2024–25 season, the champion of the OEHL will be elig ...
and the
Dundas Real McCoys
The Dundas Real McCoys are a Canadian senior ice hockey team based in Dundas, Ontario. They play in the Ontario Hockey Association's Allan Cup Hockey.
The Real McCoys have won four National Championships, winning the 1986 Hardy Cup as Canadian ...
of
Allan Cup Hockey
Allan Cup Hockey (ACH), also known as the OHA Senior “AAA” Hockey League, is a senior ice hockey league with three teams in Southern Ontario. The league was founded in 1990 as the Southwestern Senior "A" Hockey League. It is governed by th ...
. He won the
Allan Cup
The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the senior ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. It was most recently won by the Wentworth Gryphins ...
with Real McCoys in 2014.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macmillan, Jeff
1979 births
Living people
Bloomington PrairieThunder players
Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in England
Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States
Canadian ice hockey defencemen
Dallas Stars draft picks
Dallas Stars players
Fort Wayne Komets players
Hartford Wolf Pack players
Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000) players
Manchester Phoenix players
Oshawa Generals players
Phoenix RoadRunners players
Syracuse Crunch players
Utah Grizzlies (AHL) players
Utah Grizzlies (IHL) players