Mike Milbury Needs To Get Off Television (VIDEO)

Mike Milbury has been a respected yet polarizing mind in hockey for several years. He has been a player, coach, general manager and now television analyst for NHL on NBC. If these Stanley Cup playoffs have taught us anything it’s that people should stop giving Mike Milbury a microphone to speak into.

Corey Crawford is a very good goaltender and Tyler Johnson has enjoyed a coming-out party this playoffs. Johnson gave the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 lead in the second period on a goal Crawford would like to have back, to put it lightly. Mike Milbury did not put it so lightly as you’ll hear in this video from @_MarcusD_ on Twitter:

Really Mike? Ok then, if a bad goal gets you sent straight to hell we should discuss something that’s a lot worse than leaving a small gap on the near-side post for a talented player to find. What about openly suggesting that a player should be taken out of a game?

Mike Milbury did that too. Back in the Western Conference Final, Milbury was discussing Anaheim Ducks star forward Corey Perry when the Orange County Register quoted Milbury about his strategy to hurt Perry in a “painful and permanent way” if lined up against him.

That’s a serious statement to make and Perry took it as one. After a comment like that I don’t believe Milbury should have been allowed to continue on television. It’s one thing to make statements that go against the grain or rile up a team or fan base.

It’s a completely different issue when you have an analyst like Mike Milbury, or anyone else, making statements that basically advocate for intentionally injuring a player. To follow that up with, at best, a personal attack on Crawford for a misplayed goal shows me Milbury is not being held accountable for his actions.

Current and former players talk about “integrity of the game” in the context of rule changes, point system modifications, the shootout and several other things. Athletes have a code, a set of unwritten and unspoken rules drawing lines that you don’t cross.

Is it going to take Mike Milbury offering a player bounty during the Stanley Cup Final to get NBC to wake up? It’s your job to be critical on television and Crawford’s error is fair to judge harshly. But this was over the line and digs up old issues from a few weeks ago with Perry that were never dealt with.

Mike Milbury has a history of absurd comments, so the network knew exactly what they were getting into. I wonder what the last line to cross at NBC is if suggesting players being taken out of games isn’t enough to deserve a suspension.

I’m sure it will be all over the news when it happens. As far as I’m concerned, it already did. If Mike Milbury wants to stay in hockey, he should get another role within a team. One that doesn’t involve public speaking.

Continued comments like this don’t enhance the viewing experience. They do exactly the opposite. Different is not always good and on this path, different will get dangerous for the network. It’s time for Mike Milbury to get off television.

More from Puck Prose

Home/Chicago Blackhawks