Mike Milbury hasn’t been on NHL coverage since this summer, when he stepped away after the fallout from his on-air comments about women. Now he’s officially done at NBC Sports; the network announced today that he won’t be back after 14 years of covering hockey.
NEW: Mike Milbury won’t be back as an NHL analyst for NBC Sports, @FOS has learned.
Statement from NBC Sports:
“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.”
— A.J. Perez (@byajperez) January 11, 2021
From our post in August:
On Friday, the NHL released a brief statement saying that the league “condemns the insensitive and insulting comment” made by NHL on NBC analyst Mike Milbury during Thursday night’s Islanders-Capitals game. This has now led to Milbury stepping away from NBC’s coverage for the remainder of this year’s playoffs.
…
Milbury made his comment near the end of the game on Thursday night. When talking about the NHL’s bubble and the focus players have on playing games, Milbury said, “it’s the perfect place. Not even any woman here to distract you.”
The NHL condemned the comments then:
A statement from the National Hockey League. pic.twitter.com/YCOTcoaK5l
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) August 21, 2020
They live on here, too:
It’s 2020, and yet… 🤯 pic.twitter.com/d74TMlhkkP
— Alison (@AlisonL) August 21, 2020
It’s not Milbury’s only issue, either:
Milbury praising a convicted domestic abuser Slava Voynov: “This guy was a special player, and an unfortunate incident left the Los Angeles Kings without a great defenseman.” https://t.co/b4FRHo5o69
— A.J. Perez (@byajperez) January 11, 2021
This news came today when NBC revealed their roster of analysts for their upcoming coverage of the ongoing season:
NBC’s NHL on-air broadcasters for this season. Mike Milbury will not return. pic.twitter.com/48zWeVXtNE
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) January 11, 2021
Mike Babc0ck is a new addition.
The writing was on the wall for Milbury for months now, but the official confirmation is the latest example that sports broadcasts are finally trying to excise casual misogyny. That’s certainly a welcome move.
