Mike Milbury

Michael James Milbury (born June 17, 1952) is an American former professional ice hockey player and current sports announcer.

He played for twelve seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), all for the Boston Bruins.

Milbury was a three-year letterman at Colgate University from 1972 to 1974.

A defenseman who wore uniform number 7, he was the team's co-leader in assists with 19 in his junior year.

As a senior captain, he had his best season with the Red Raiders with 30 points (4 goals, 26 assists).

He also led the squad in penalty minutes in both campaigns with 68 in 1973 and 85 in 1974.

His totals in 76 games played were 6 goals, 55 assists, 61 points and 203 penalty minutes.

Immediately after the conclusion of his college hockey career, Milbury played in five games with the Boston Braves, the Bruins' top farm team, in 1974.

He signed with the Bruins as a free agent on November 5, 1974, and spent the next two campaigns with the Rochester Americans, the team's new American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate.

In both seasons he led the club in penalty minutes with 246 in 1975 and 199 in 1976, finishing fourth and third respectively in the AHL.

Milbury was promoted to the Bruins late in the 1975–76 season, playing in eleven of twelve Stanley Cup playoff matches.

Prior to the following NHL campaign, he was a member of the United States team at the inaugural 1976 Canada Cup, getting a goal and three assists in five contests.

In his first three full years with the Bruins, his heavily aggressive style of play was a perfect fit for the overachieving team coached by Don Cherry and featuring similar tough players such as Terry O'Reilly, John Wensink and Stan Jonathan.

He helped the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup Finals in 1977 and 1978.

He later served as assistant general manager under Harry Sinden and head coach for Boston, as well as general manager and head coach for the New York Islanders.

Milbury helped his team reach consecutive Stanley Cup Finals in 1977 and 1978, with Boston losing both times to the Montreal Canadiens in four and six games respectively.

In his twelve seasons as a defenseman for the Bruins, he appeared in the postseason eleven times.

Milbury gained notoriety for what occurred following a 4–3 Bruins victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on December 23, 1979.

During an on-ice fray between the players from both sides, a Rangers fan cut Stan Jonathan's face with a rolled-up program and grabbed his hockey stick.

Terry O'Reilly climbed over the Plexiglas and went into the stands in pursuit of the offender, followed by Peter McNab and other teammates.

Milbury, who had actually reached the visitors locker room when his teammates started going into the stands, raced back to join his colleagues in the brawl.

He caught the unruly spectator, removed one of his shoes and, while holding the heel end, slapped him hard once with the sole side before being restrained.

Subsequently, NHL president John Ziegler suspended O'Reilly for eight games and McNab and Milbury for six, with each being fined $500.

This incident also resulted in the installation of higher glass panels enclosing rinks in hockey arenas.

He accumulated more than 200 penalty minutes in 1981 (222) and 1983 (216) and surpassed 100 six other times.

He also served as the club's representative with the NHL Players' Association and was outspoken on several controversial issues, notably the role of Alan Eagleson.

Milbury became head coach of the Boston Bruins in the 1989–90 season, leading the team to the Presidents' Trophy and an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals.

He was named Executive of the Year by the Sporting News.

He was the head coach of the Wales Conference team at the 1991 All-Star Game, where he generated some controversy by including enforcer Chris Nilan and checker Brian Skrudland ahead of players such as Kirk Muller and Guy Lafleur.

However, Nilan and Skrudland both missed the game due to injury.

As a result of Milbury's controversial roster picks, the league's board of governors changed their policy so that future teams would be chosen by committee.

On March 30, 1994, Boston College Eagles announced that Mike Milbury would become the head coach of the hockey team, replacing Steve Cedorchuk.

However, Milbury abruptly left before coaching a game, citing "philosophical differences" with the school's athletics department in a press conference held on June 2, 1994.

BC eventually hired legendary coach Jerry York, then the head coach at Bowling Green University, to replace Milbury, while Milbury took work as a television analyst.

Milbury was hired as the Islanders' coach in 1995 and within three months became the general manager as well, but he turned the coaching duties over to Rick Bowness in January 1997.

During several of the years that Milbury served as Islanders GM, the team's ownership mandated that he operate the team on an austere budget.

In 1999, he was forced to trade star scorer Žigmund Pálffy because team owners no longer wanted to pay his multimillion-dollar contract.

However, Milbury has also been criticized for the many seemingly poor decisions he made in which payroll or orders from upper management were not factors.

Many young players and prospects that Milbury traded away went on to have distinguished careers, often eclipsing those of the players he received in return.

He served as a television color commentator and analyst for the NHL on NBC from 2007 to 2021.