Mike Milbury
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Michael James Milbury (born 17 June, 1952 in Brighton, Massachusetts, USA) is a former defenseman for the Boston Bruins, and former coach for Boston and the New York Islanders. He was also General Manager of the Islanders.
As a defenseman on the Bruins, Milbury is well known for an incident in which he went into the stands and beat a fan with a shoe. On Dec 23, 1979, in a game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, Milbury followed his teammates into the stands for a brawl and ended up with a shoe in hand. He used the shoe to beat a Ranger fan.
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 (including deals involving Roberto Luongo and Alexei Yashin). For these reasons he often goes by the nickname "Mad Mike."
The list of top players Milbury has traded away includes top defenseman Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden, Bryan Berard, Eric Brewer, Darius Kasparaitis, and Bryan McCabe. He's also sent away top goalie Roberto Luongo and Tommy Salo. He's also sent away top players on offense including Olli Jokinen, Todd Bertuzzi, Zigmund Palffy, and Raffi Torres. Milbury has also come under fire for his draft day decisions such as choosing Rick DiPietro over Dany Heatley, and trading away the pick which became Jason Spezza. This has led to many "Mike Must Go" chants at Nassau Coliseum as the Islanders have failed to win a playoff series during Milbury's ten year tenure.
On January 12, 2006, it was announced that Milbury would be stepping down as Islanders GM to accept a position as Senior Vice-President of Charles Wang's sports holdings -- the Islanders, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and New York Dragons. Contrary to public opinion, Milbury was NOT involved in the search for his successor, Neil Smith.
Quotes
About agent Paul Kraus
Paul Kraus was the agent for the 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
- "The kid's playing like he's sniffing glue."
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)
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