Kudos to the NHL for putting together an August/Fall tournament that has been executed to near perfection. I say near perfection because while the NHL hasn’t had any positive COVID tests in a month and have put on a great show, the verbal delivery of the game is a problem. This has been a problem for some time. In an age where teams are laying people off, somehow a guy like Mike Milbury is still allowed to give his opinion. The league has a Mike Milbury problem.
Thomas Drance sounded off on the Mike Milbury problem, and others in an interview with TSN, and it is worth the listen:
Went off on Mensa members – Edwards, Milbury, DeAngelo – showing their asses today. Hockey deserves better, especially now, from the folks with megaphones: https://t.co/U73RO4FhWh
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) August 15, 2020
Everything Drance says here is right on the nose. Milbury has been a problem for this league for the better part of a decade now. Yet the league continually trots him out there as an “expert analyst.”
His most recent “expert analysis” was that Tuukka Rask’s decision to leave the bubble due to personal and health concerns was selfish. That Boston would have issues managing it, and Boston already didn’t like him to begin with.
Mike Milbury on Tuukka Rask: “Nobodies simply opted to leave the bubble just because they didn’t want to be here and they needed to be with their family. I would’ve not have done it, the rest of the league’s players have not done it.” #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/6Hc2tnuHVk
— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) August 15, 2020
The latter part is 100% false, as I can’t name one Bruins fan that dislikes Rask. And yes, people will not like his decision, but they will respect it. These are different times and these are different playoffs. To insinuate that a man putting his family first is selfish is flat out irresponsible.
But this isn’t the first time with Mike Milbury, and that exacerbates the issue. He’s supposed to be there to give a “classic” look at the game, yet I can’t find anyone that actually likes his opinions. I can’t find anyone that gets excited that he’s calling a game or is an analyst in the booth. Not only does Milbury not add value, there’s a solid argument that he detracts from the quality of the game.
The “expert” part of his resume is also questionable. Sure he’s been around hockey for his career, but this is a man that single-handedly destroyed the Islanders and set them back 15 years. This is a man most famous for attacking a fan in the stands with his shoe. He doesn’t even try to hide his bias against certain teams either. All in all, he’s just terrible.
If the NHL wants to be more than just a niche sport, then they need to fix their on-ice production crew. That begins with ending the Mike Milbury problem. It’s long overdue.
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