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Mike Milbury is not returning to NBC

By Ian Oland

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January 11, 2021 12:42 pm

Mike Milbury was removed from NBC’s coverage of the 2020 playoffs after a terrible observation he made about women and NHL Bubble Life during a Capitals-Islanders game. Now, it’s official, he is not returning.

Monday morning, NBC announced its on-air talent for the 2020-21 season and Milbury was not on the list of analysts.

NBC acknowledged his firing in a comment to AJ Perez.

“We are grateful to Mike for all of his contributions to our coverage for 14 years, but he will not be returning to our NHL announce team. We wish him well.”

NBC’s on-air teams will also be without Hall of Fame announcer Mike Emrick who announced his retirement over the offseason. Kenny Albert will take Emrick’s place as the lead play-by-play commentator. Other news includes the return of Capitals radio announcer, John Walton, who will continue calling national games on TV sporadically for the network. NBC also announced a problematic hire in Mike Babcock as an in-studio host.

Here is NBC’s full roster of talent for the NHL’s 2020-21 season.

Milbury had been with NBC since the 2007-08 season – a 12-year run that felt more like 200. Milbury consistently made controversial comments during his tenure (think of him as the US’s Don Cherry), and was especially critical of Alex Ovechkin early in his career. While he was in the bubble for the 2020 playoffs, he went too far.

  • On August 4, Milbury said Jake Muzzin was faking an injury to draw a whistle. Instead, the Leafs defenseman was stretchered off the ice and taken to a hospital in what turned out to be one of the scariest injuries in recent NHL history.
  • After a five-overtime game between the Lightning and Blue Jackets was widely acclaimed by fans on August 11, Milbury tweeted that the league should go to 3-on-3 overtime to quicken up playoff games. According to Wikipedia, Milbury’s perspective was widely panned inspiring USA Today to opine that Milbury’s comments “encapsulated what [he] has been like during the Stanley Cup Playoffs: Out of touch, ill prepared, and an absolute embarrassment.”
  • Milbury criticized Tuukka Rask on August 15 for opting out of the bubble for a family emergency involving his young daughter. Milbury said of Rask that “(Nobody’s) simply opted to leave the bubble just because they didn’t want to be here and they needed to be with their family.” Weeks earlier, Milbury questioned the goalie’s committment to hockey after he talked about changing his newborn daughter’s diapers in an interview.
  • During a Capitals/Islanders game on August 20, Milbury said the bubble was good for isolating teams because there were “not even any women here to disrupt your concentration.”

The NHL condemned Milbury’s comment the next day and NBC moved forward without him.

More from NBC:

NBC SPORTS ANNOUNCES NHL GAME AND STUDIO COMMENTATORS FOR 2020-21 SEASON

STAMFORD, Conn. – Jan. 11, 2021 – NBC Sports has announced its team of more than 20 game and studio commentators for its coverage of the 2020-21 NHL regular season, which begins Wednesday on NBCSN with a tripleheader headlined by the defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning against the Chicago Blackhawks. As a result of approximately 100 regular-season games in four months combined with COVID protocols, NBC Sports will use a deep roster of game and studio commentators in a variety of different combinations, with some occasionally calling games from remote locations.

GAME COMMENTATORS

NBC Sports will utilize nearly 15 play-by-play commentators and analysts throughout the 2020-21 season. Kenny Albert, Brendan Burke and John Forslund will headline the group of play-by-play commentators. Eddie Olczyk, Brian Boucher, Pierre McGuire and AJ Mleczko will lead NBC Sports’ game analyst team, all appearing on the season’s opening night Wednesday Night Hockey tripleheader. U.S. Olympic gold medalist Kendall Coyne Schofield, who has appeared numerous times on NBC Sports’ NHL coverage, will take on a recurring role as a game analyst this season.

In addition, many analysts, such as Olczyk, Anson Carter, and Keith Jones, will contribute to both game and studio coverage during the year. In some instances, game commentary will originate from remote locations, including NBC Sports’ International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT HOCKEY TRIPLEHEADER SEASON OPENING NIGHT DETAILS

The 2020-21 NHL season begins on NBC Sports’ Wednesday Night Hockey tripleheader on Jan. 13 on NBCSN.

STUDIO COMMENTATORS

Kathryn Tappen and Liam McHugh return as the hosts for NBC Sports’ NHL studio coverage alongside analysts Jones, Carter and three-time Stanley Cup champion Patrick Sharp. In addition, Stanley Cup-winning head coach Mike Babcock and 13-year NHL veterans Ryan Callahan and Dominic Moore will contribute to studio coverage during the season.

NHL insiders Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger also reprise their roles for the 2020-21 season, appearing during studio coverage on Wednesday Night Hockey.

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