THE MILBURY FILES

Michael James Milbury was born on June 17, 1952, in Brighton, Massachusetts and was raised in nearby Walpole. He attended Colgate University on a football scholarship, and he graduated with an urban sociology degree. Soon after, he spent three years in the AHL.

In 1976, he joined the Boston Bruins in the last three games of the season and impressed the Bruins management so greatly in the playoffs that he was aked to stay. After almost ten years as a rugged and reliable defenseman, Mike retired on May 6, 1985 to become the Bruins assistant coach. But in that ensuing year, Mike was forced to come out of retirement when injuries nearly wiped out the Bruins's defense corps. He made such an impact that he stayed on as a player throughout the 1986-87 season.



After that, he retired for good, and he was named head coach of the AHL Maine Mariners. That year, his team was the division champion, and he was named the AHL Coach of the Year.

He stayed with the Mariners until he was named head coach of the Boston Bruins. As with the Mariners, Mike made an immediate impact with the team, taking them all the way to the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals. Subsequently, he was named Coach of the Year by both The Sporting News and The Hockey News. He remained head coach for another two years before he decided to quit and concentrate on his assistant general manager duties.



He later tried to pursue a College job, but that fell through after about two months. During the 1994 NHL lockout and ensuing shortened 1995 season, Mike worked as an analyst for ESPN.

Then, on July 5, 1995, Mike was named the head coach of the skidding New York Islanders. On December 12, 1995, the role of general manager was added to his duties. Despite his noticeable influence on the team, they still did not fare any better, and Mike was replaced behind the bench by Rick Bowness on January23, 1997.



Mike spent the remainder of the 1996-97 season and most of the 1997-98 season as the Islanders GM only. But when the Isles seemed to be only getting worse and worse, Mike fired Rick Bowness on March 11, 1998, and assumed the role of coach for the remainder of the season.

Mike's original plan was to find a new coach, but the new owner's were so impressed by him that they urged him to stay as both coach and general manager. It seemed to be working out until the Isles went on an 11-game losing streak, and Mike decided to once again step down as coach and remain GM only.

Mike also served as general manager for the United States National Team for the World Championships in 1996 and 1997.

MIKE'S STATS

AS BRUINS PLAYER:

REGULAR SEASON: 754 games played; 49 goals; 189 assists; 238 points; 1552 penalty minutes
PLAYOFFS: 86 games played; 4 goals; 24 assists; 28 points; 218 penalty minutes

AS MARINERS COACH:

REGULAR SEASON: 44 wins; 29 losses; 7 ties
PLAYOFFS: 32 wins; 40 losses; 8 ties

AS BRUINS COACH:

REGULAR SEASON: 90 wins; 49 losses; 21 ties
PLAYOFFS: 23 wins; 17 losses

AS ISLANDERS COACH:

REGULAR SEASON: 57 wins; 111 losses; 24 ties