DHL Dan CXLV - Mike Milbury Speaks Up

Don't you just hate it when a sports columnist seemingly boils your life down to the most regrettable thing you've ever said?

Picked-up pieces while sending a birthday card to Mick Jagger, who turns 78 on Monday . . .

▪ Hockey was good to Mike Milbury, and Mike Milbury was good for hockey. He played for Walpole High, Colgate, and 12 seasons with the Bruins before becoming head coach of the Black and Gold, taking them to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season behind the bench. He later coached and ran the New York Islanders, then enjoyed a long career of hockey broadcast analysis, where his candor and wit made him a must-listen every year, especially at playoff time.

And then it all went away with nine words uttered last August in the NHL playoff bubble in Toronto when Milbury was on the air with fellow analyst Brian Boucher.

Boucher was discussing life in the bubble during an Islanders-Capitals broadcast, concluding that the no-fan, no-family bubble was a perfect place for teammate bonding and good competition, when Milbury added, “Not even any women here to disrupt your concentration.”

I had mentioned my conversation with Shank earlier this week in a previous post. While we were cordial and all that, I started wondering about his general character during the conversation, thinking that maybe he says something revealing one way or the other. I asked him about his perceived vindictive nature and he dismissed it (weakly, in my opinion) as 'it's just sports'. His attitude in this column, which can in part be rightly described as dredging up the past, leads me back to my earlier opinions of him, few are which are positive. At least Shank lets him defend himself, but I still think there's an element of scumbaggery here, which I suppose is just part of the territory. Doesn't mean I have to like it or agree with it, though.