Mike Milbury

After being born on June 17, 1952, in Brighton, Mass., Michael "Mike" Milbury began his journey to a life filled with hockey. When he reached his teenage years, he was recruited out of Walpole High School to play hockey and football at Colgate University in central New York. As his high school days came to an end, Milbury accepted the offer from Colgate and decided to play hockey at the university, where he eventually earned a degree in urban sociology. Although the defenseman wasn't seen as having much of a chance at making it to the National Hockey League when he started his college career, he put in a lot of time and effort to improve every aspect of his game. His dedication began to show during his final two years at Colgate, earning him a tryout with the Boston Bruins upon his graduation. In 1974, Milbury played in five games with the Boston Braves, the Bruins' top farm team, before signing with the Bruins as a free agent on Nov. 5, 1974. He spent the next two seasons with the Rochester Americans, the Bruins' American Hockey League affiliate, and led the club in penalty minutes in both seasons. His grit and determination gained him a promotion to the Bruins late in the 1975-76 season, and he played in 11 of 12 Stanley Cup playoff games. When the playoffs ended, Milbury became a member of the United States team that participated in the inaugural 1976 Canada Cup. As he gained more experience, he led the Bruins to two consecutive appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1977 and 1978. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to hoist the cup above his head, as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Bruins both times. Milbury became a staple on the blue line for the Bruins, playing in 754 NHL regular season games and an additional 111 games in the Stanley Cup playoffs. In that time, he amassed 1,552 minutes in penalties, 49 goals, and 189 assists in the regular season, and four goals, 24 assists and 219 penalty minutes in his playoff career. Following his NHL career, Milbury became head coach of the Bruins' AHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners, in the summer of 1987. In his first year of coaching, the Mariners won the division title, and Milbury was named AHL Coach of the Year and The Hockey News' Minor Pro Coach of the Year. On May 16, 1989, he was promoted to head coach and assistant general manager of the Bruins, and he led the team to two consecutive division titles and 100-point seasons. In 1989-90, he was named Coach of the Year by the Hockey News and the Sporting News after leading the team to the Presidents' Trophy and a berth in the Stanley Cup Final. Following his stint with the Bruins, he became a studio commentator for ESPN before becoming the head coach of the New York Islanders in 1995 and becoming their general manager five months after landing the coaching job. As the general manager of Team USA at the 1995-96 World Championships, he led the team to a bronze medal, the first medal the U.S. had earned at the World Championships in 34 years. After serving as the general manager of the Islanders for 11 years, Milbury stepped down to take on the role of Senior Vice President of Charles B. Wang's sports properties. Milbury and his wife, Ginger, settled in Garden City, N.Y., and they have four sons and two daughters.