Monday, June 18, 2007

 

WTF: Boston Ruins Want Mike Milbury?

by Jes
My future Hallowe'en costume


After canning Dave "Adolf" Lewis like chicken soup, the Bruins have narrowed down the list of candidates to take over the hopeless job of coaching the Bruins back into the playoffs ...

From the Boston Globe (via Mirtle):
Ex-Bruin Mike Milbury and former New Jersey Devils coach Claude Julien, considered the leading candidates on Chiarelli's short list, were most recently employed by playoff clubs. In contrast, the 2006-07 Bruins stumbled to a 13th-place finish in the Eastern Conference and will require a significant overhaul to make a postseason push.

Yesterday, Chiarelli confirmed that he has interviewed Milbury, whose last position was vice president of sports properties for the Islanders. New York made a late-season push to qualify for a first-round showdown with the Buffalo Sabres.


Yeah, I did a double-take when I saw the name of MIKE MILBURY leap out of the screen and try to swipe my afternoon tea.

Mad Mike? The same guy that destroyed the Isles franchise and ensured their continual suckiness for over a decade?

Well, looking back on his coaching record, it's a real mixed bag:

Season Team GM W L T .PCT PLAYOFF RECORD
-------------------------------------------------
1989-90 Boston 80 46 25 9 .631 Lost in Finals

1990-91 Boston 80 44 24 12 .625 Lost in round 3

1995-96 NYI 82 22 50 10 .329 Out of Playoffs

1996-97 NYI 45 13 23 9 .389 --

1997-98 NYI 19 8 9 2 .474 Out of Playoffs

--------------------------------------------------

When Milbury first started coaching, he was behind the bench of a very talented Boston Bruins squad that had Ray Bourque, Cam Neely, Craig Janney, and Bob Carpenter. The Bruins were good, but Milbury lead them to a Finals appearance and a semi-finals appearance in the face of stronger competition.

Fast forward to his Isles days, when he put himself as a coach out of desperation. Each time, Milbury clearly did little but lose, thanks to the fact he helped build such an awful squad.

(As a note, how can a team with Tommy Salo, Tommy Soderstrom, Eric Fichaud, and Jamie McLennan as goaltenders expect to win anything?)

Boston obviously hopes that bringing back a familiar name will somehow fill the stands.

Right.

Bruins fans want 2 things
1. Jeremy Jacobs' head on a lance
2. Wins

How many Bruins fans will remember Milbury with utter fondness? When you hear or see that name, all you can think about is failure, and how much the guy fux0red things up on the Island.

Julien? He did a great job with the Devils and had a good track record that is RECENT! Milbury? He hasn't coached much in the "New NHL", and his best success came at a time when a GAA of under 3 was god-like.

Let's hope, for Bruins fans' sake, that Boston doesn't make the wrong decision.

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Comments:
I had the same reaction... WTF are they thinking?

Thankfully, (well, I guess what do I care... probably be more entertaining if he did get the job)... but it looks like Claude Julien's been hired on as the new coach.

It's too bad, actually.
 
More likely, Mildew is looking for a hockey job. So he calls Jacobs, who publicly circulates the notion that Mad Mike is in contention for the Bruins job. He's in play, in other words. It'll be up to some other idiot organization to actually hire him. Dale Tallon's probably on a short leash in Chicago by now.
 
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