Mike Milbury

Michael James Milbury (born June 17, 1952 in Brighton, Massachusetts) is a former defenseman for the Boston Bruins. He later served as assistant general manager under Harry Sinden and head coach for Boston, as well as GM and coach for the New York Islanders.

Colgate University

Milbury played college ice hockey for Colgate University before signing a professional contract with the hometown Boston Bruins of the NHL in 1972/73. He managed to become a regular for the Bruins in the 1976 Stanley Cup playoffs and later represented the United States team at the inaugural 1976 Canada Cup.

Boston Bruins

Over eleven seasons, Milbury played 754 games as a short fused defenseman for the prestigious Bruins.

Shoe Beating

Milbury's most famous NHL moment did not take place on the ice but rather in the stands, on December 23, 1979, in a game against the Bruins rivals the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. As the 3d Period concluded, a mob of rowdy Bruins and Rangers formed behind the net against the end-boards. In the chaos of the moment a Rangers fan reached over the glass and stole the stick of Bruin: Terry O'Reilly. O'Reilly immediately climbed the glass into the stands and was followed by 5 fellow bruins, Milbury included. While O'Riley tackled the fan responsible for stealing his stick, Milbury was provoked by another fan and proceeded to climb over a row of seats to reach the individual. Milbury wrestled the fan to the ground and removed the man's shoe by force. He then beat the fan across the face with their own shoe. The footage of the bruins climbing the glass is shown on the TD Banknorth Garden scoreboard before homegames, but the clip ends before the dirty deed.

Post Retirement Hockey Involvement

He 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.

New York Islanders

He is a well-known figure in the National Hockey League for his controversial (and often quotable) style, as well as for his penchant for blockbuster trades. For these reasons, when he referred to himself as "Mad Mike" after trading away Roberto Luongo, the nickname has stuck ever since.

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 Zigmund Palffy because team owners no longer wanted to pay his multi-million dollar contract.

However, Milbury has also been criticized for the many decisions he made in which payroll or orders for 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 has traded away defensemen Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden, Bryan Berard, Eric Brewer, Darius Kasparaitis, and Bryan McCabe; goalies Roberto Luongo and Tommy Salo, as well as forwards Olli Jokinen, Todd Bertuzzi, Raffi Torres. Milbury has also come under fire for his draft day decisions such as choosing Rick DiPietro first overall in 2000 over Dany Heatley and Marian Gaborik; as well as his decision to include the 2001 second overall draft pick (Jason Spezza) as part of the Alexei Yashin trade.

Throughout Milbury's tenure as Islanders GM, fans chanted "Mike Must Go" when the team performed badly.

In June 2006 Milbury stepped down as Islanders GM to accept a position as Senior Vice President of Charles Wang's sports holdings. In an appearance on Mike and the Mad Dog, Wang did not challenge a suggestion from the hosts that he "fired" Milbury. Milbury resigned from his Senior VP job in May 2007. He said that he missed making hockey-related decisions and would be open to a hockey operations job in another organization.

Television Work

American networks NESN, NBC, and TSN in Canada hired Milbury as an analyst for the 07/08 season.

In July 2008 Milbury signed a 2 year contract with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Hockey Night in Canada.

Quotes

About agent Paul Kraus

Kraus was the agent for Islanders' star forward Zigmund Palffy. He and Milbury frequently butted heads.

• "I think the agent is a moron and way in over his head."
• "It's too bad he lives in the city. He's depriving some small village of a pretty good idiot."
• "We hope that Ziggy will come to his senses. We have no hope Paul Kraus will."

On Eric Brewer

• "The kid's playing like he's sniffing glue."

On Roberto Luongo

• "We're rolling the dice here a little bit. Roberto Luongo is going to be an excellent goaltender in this league. He is a class act and a kid I know we would have been happy to ride with. But hell, I've gotta send him off."

On himself

• "I'm a 1978 Toyota with 86,000 miles on it, rust spots, and a hole in the floorboard. But hey, I start every morning."
• "I'm trying not to be really annoyed. But you know me. That won't last long."
• "If we are not better immediately....and if we are not a playoff team in the near future then it's off with my damn head." (6/25/00)
• "It’s unbelievable that after more than 30 years in the game, pummeling a guy with his loafer will be my legacy. But I guess it's better than having no legacy at all."

References

Mike Milbury biography at Legends of Hockey (archived)