06 Dec 2023, 00:00

Michael Russo Milbury, also famous as Mike Milbury, is an American former professional ice hockey player and currently a sports announcer and analyst, a coach, and a general manager.

After playing for 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, Milbury served as the team’s assistant general manager under Harry Sinden.

He also went on to become the head coach for Boston. Afterward, he served as the general manager and head coach for the New York Islanders.

Milbury served as a television color commentator and an analyst for NHL on NBC for 14 years, from 2007 to 2021. Still, following comments related to women, NBC Sports released him from his duties.

In a statement issued by NBC Sports, they said, “We are grateful to Mike for all of his contributions to our coverage for 14 years, but he will not be returning to our NHL announce team. We wish him well.”

We will discover more facts about Mike Milbury through this biography and try to find out more about him, from his career to his personal and social life. Let us start with some quick facts.

Quick Facts

Mike Milbury | Early Life, Family, and Education

Mike Milbury, the full name Michael Russo Milbury, was born on June 17, 1952, in Brighton, Massachusetts, USA. Not much is known about the parents of Mike Milbury, other than his father, Roy Milbury.

Likewise, Milbury was close to his father. Mike also has a sister named Kathy. Kathy has always followed his brother’s career with care and excitement, and certain interviews have shown that they share a great bond. 

Education

Before going undrafted and competing for the Boston Bruins, Michael was a three-year letterman from 1972 to 1974 for his college Colgate University, situated in Hamilton, New York.

He wore number 7 and played defense. In his junior year, Milbury was the co-leader for most assists for his team with 19.

Moreover, Milbury had the best season with his team, the Red Raiders, as a senior captain with 30 points (4 goals, 26 assists).

In both the 1973 and 1974 campaigns, he led the squad with 68 penalty minutes and 85 penalty minutes. He had 6 goals, 55 assists, 61 points, and 203 penalty minutes in the 76 games that he played.

Mike Milbury | Height and Weight

The former NHL legend, Michael Milbury, stands 6 feet 2 inches or 188 cm tall. He weighs around 93 kg or 205 lb.

Observations show that his hair is light brown while his eyes are light brown in color too. Milbury’s frame helped him handle physical contacts really well.

Other than that, he has a strong physique, which helped him with his defense too. As for his age, Milbury is 68-year-old right now.

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Mike Milbury | Ice Hockey Career

Boston Bruins

In 1974, Milbury played five games with the Bruins, Boston Braves’ top farm team, after the completion of his college hockey career.

Afterward, on November 5, 1974, he signed with the Boston Bruins as a free agent. His next two seasons were with the Bruins’ new American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rochester Americans.

Likewise, in these two seasons, 1975 and 1976, he led the club in penalty minutes with 246 and 199, finishing 4th in the AHL in the first and 3rd in the second.

Michael then played in eleven of the twelve Stanley Cup playoff games for the Bruins after his promotion to the late 1975-76 season.

After this, he scored a goal and three assists in five games for the United States team at Canada Cup 1976.

The next three seasons were Milbury’s first three full years with the team. Mike was known for his aggressive playing style and was a perfect fit with other team players with similar styles like Terry O’Reilly, John Wensink, and Stan Jonathan.

Similarly, with contributions in no small part by Milbury, the Bruins reached two successive Stanley Cup Finals.

In both these finals, in 1977 and 1978, the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Bruins in four and then six games.

Mike, playing as a defenseman, appeared in 11 postseasons in his 12 seasons with the Bruins. In 1981 and 1983, he had 222 and 216 penalty minutes and had more than 100 penalty minutes in the other six seasons.

He was the representative for his club with the NHL Players’ Association and was considered outspoken.

Mike Milbury and Alan Eagleson

Additionally, in the 80s, Mike Milbury was the first guy to stand up to Alan Eagleson. Back then, Alan was the head of the players’ union and was known as a bully. 

Alan would often have comments like “Listen you dumb ******, you’re a dum-dum. Just shut up.” 

For which, Milbury became the first one to stand and state matters as “Hey, don’t call me a dum-dum or ****** or I’ll come up there and put your head through the wall.”

You might be interested in buying Mike Milbury’s rookie cards. Click to follow!

Shoe Incident in the game against the Rangers

On December 23, 1979, Boston Bruins won the match against the Rangers by 4-3. The aftermath resulted in a huge fight between the players.

Besides that, an upset Rangers fan cut Bruins’ left-winger, Stan Jonathan’s face with a rolled-up program, and grabbed his hockey stick. 

Jonathan’s teammates quickly went into the stands to catch the perpetrator. At the time, Milbury was already in the locker room, but he ran back to catch the Rangers fan upon hearing the incident. 

Upon catching him, Milbury removed the fans’ shoes and slapped the guy once hard before being restrained. As a result of his actions, he was suspended for six games and fined $500. 

Nevertheless, this moment in the NHL is never forgotten, and it gained Mike a lot of attention from fans and media outlets. Although many might consider it an epic fail on his part, the NHL coach is very well known for his shoe incident.

Coaching Career

After being named the head coach in the 1989-90 season, Milbury led the Boston Bruins to the Presidents’ Trophy and a Stanley Cup Finals appearance. Sporting News then named him Executive of the Year.

At the 1991 All-Star Game, Milbury decided to include Chris Nilan as the enforcer and Brian Skrudland as the checker instead of players like Kirk Muller and Guy Lafleur.

But, both his selections were forced to miss the game due to injuries. However, this particular incident made the NHL’s board of governors change their policy, and they declared that the committee would choose the teams in the future.

Boston College

Mike Milbury took over as the head coach of Boston College after Steve Cedorchuk’s term, and this news was made public on March 30, 1994.

Mike then, in a press conference, on June 2, 1994, mentioned that there were some “philosophical differences” between him and the college’s athletics department. 

Moreover, Milbury then declared that he was leaving the job without coaching in a single game.

Legendary coach Jerry York, who was at that time, the head coach of Bowling Green University, was hired as the head coach by Boston College after this incident. Mike Milbury went on to take up a job as a television analyst.

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New York Islanders

In 1995, after his hiring as the head coach of the New York Islanders and becoming their general manager within three months, too, in January 1997, Mike Milbury turned the coaching duties over to Rick Bowness.

Through his tenure, Milbury was told to run the operations as the team’s general manager on a strict budget.

Milbury has been criticized for his poor decisions. However, many of the young players he traded had great and better careers than the ones he received.

He traded away players, including defensemen Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden, Bryan Berard, Eric Brewer, Darius Kasparaitis, and Bryan McCabe; goaltenders Roberto Luongo and Tommy salo; and forwards Olli Jokinen, Todd Bertuzzi, Tim Connolly, Jean-Pierre Dumont, and Raffi Torres. Michael has also been credited with some poor draft-day decisions.

Milbury then accepted a post as the senior vice president of Charles Wang’s sports holdings, stepping down as the New York Islanders general manager in June 2006.

In May 2007, he resigned from the post, saying that he missed making hockey-related decisions and was open to organizations offering him jobs related to hockey operations.

Television Work

For the 2007-08 season, Milbury worked as a studio analyst for American networks NESN, NBC, and Versus. He was even hired by the Canadian network TSN.

In addition to this, he was also hired to serve as the studio analyst for the Boston Bruins. Michael has also participated in the broadcast of the famous Winter Classic.

Milbury then signed a two-year contract with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Hockey Night in Canada in July 2008.

With Kenny Albert and Emmy-Award winner Pierre McGuire, a reporter for “Inside-the-Glass,” Milbury was a color commentator for “NHL on NBC” telecasts the Boston Bruins.

In 2017, while he was working, a Nashville Predator fan yelled at him to “Get The F*** Out of Nashville.” 

After working with NBC Sports for 14 years, Milbury was released from his duties following a particular comment regarding women 2021. He worked alongside many hockey players like Keith Jones while working on NBC. 

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Mike Milbury | Relationships, Wife, and Children

There is not much known about Milbury’s relationships, but it has been reported that he has been married twice. His first wife was Debbie, but the couple split up later on.

Milbury is currently married to Ginger Milbury. The former NHL star has six children, including daughters Alison Milbury and Caitlin Milbury, and sons Jack Patrick Milbury, Luke Milbury, Jake Milbury, and Owen Milbury.

Since Mike is not too active on social media either, it has been hard for sources to find out much more about his personal life.

Mike Milbury | Net Worth and Income

Milbury’s primary income sources have been his ice hockey career, coaching career, terms as general manager, and his broadcasting and work as an analyst. His most recent notable work has been his 14 years with NBC Sports broadcasting the NHL.

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He worked with NBC Sports from 2007 to 2021 before he was released for one of his comments. As of 2023, Milbury’s estimated net worth is approximately $6 million.

Mike Milbury | Social Media Presence 

Michael does not have a strong social media presence and manages only his Twitter profile with 16.1 thousand followers.

Looking at his handle, it is evident that he is mostly involved with his broadcasting career and following the NHL’s current scenarios.

He predominantly writes about the NHL and his feelings about the things happening around the world. He also posts about his grandkids and has mentioned that he is a fan of Andre’s wrestling legend, the Giant.

Check out Milke Milbury’s commentating with Don Cherry. Click to follow!

Mike Milbury | FAQs (Common Queries)

Does Mike Milbury still play Ice Hockey? Is Mike Milbury in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

No, Mike Milbury does not play Ice Hockey. He retired in 1983.

Well, Mike Milbury was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame on Saturday in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Has Mike Milbury done any weight loss therapy?

As far as our knowledge, the coach has not done any weight loss therapy. Furthermore, his weight loss seems natural. 

Does John Scott want Mike Milbury to play him in a movie?

Yes, the Canadian ice hockey player John Scott wants Mike Milbury to play him in a movie. During an interview, when asked about it, he said, “Mike Milbury, I guess. That’d be perfect. [But he would] have to lose some weight.”

What are the teams coached by Mike Milbury? What are his coaching record and career statistic?

The teams coached by Mike Milbury are Boston Bruins, Boston College, and New York Islanders. 

Well, his coaching record stands with 146 wins, 160 losses, and 45 ties.

As for his career statistic, Mike has played a total of 754 games. Among it, he has had 49 goals, 189 assists, and 239 points. 

Who was Mike Milbury’s first wife?

Mike Milbury’s first wife was Debbie Milbury. After their divorce, the hockey player married Ginger Milbury.

What happened between Mike Milbury and Sidney Crosby?

In 2012, Mike made some very inappropriate comments about NHL player Sidney Crosby. He called Crosby “a punk,” “little goody two shoes,” and commented on “his 35th concussion.”

As a result of his comment, he immediately received a lot of backlashes. Although he issued an apology and acknowledged what he said was wrong, fans and Crosby’s representatives were not satisfied with it. 

Not to mention, there was even a petition to have him removed from his job due to his constant rude and mean behavior and comments. 

Who replaced Mike Milbury on NBC?

The broadcaster’s place was taken by Patrick Sharp, who will start alongside Kathryn Tappen and Liam McHugh.

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