The GM Career of Mike Milbury

Okay, let's look at his time with the Isles. I tried to be balanced with this, but there are a lot of missteps.
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[@danielsteigerwald26]

I would watch a 6 hour video of you talking about Milbury's awfulness.

[@islesncapsgr8ovie276]

Daniel Steigerwald me too

[@deadboyspoem2]

same

[@wooz9991]

That would be great

[@kinggoten]

yes please it would be pure gold

[@oilersridersbluejays]

6 hours wouldn’t cover it haha.

[@justaguy2648]

I now understand why my dad gets mad when ever milbury comes on the tv

[@mattwarner6390]

New York Nick this is why I can’t watch hockey on NBCSN

[@patch8376]

My reaction is more one of disbelief than anger. Disbelief as in "How is he on TV?" Seriously, are they afraid of him? Is that why they won't can him?

[@BernardGarcon]

@@mattwarner6390 Listening to Mike Milbury reduces a person's lifespan just though his idiocy alone

[@wormyfren8133]

My dad used to rant about how Millbury was intentionally destroying the Islanders, and I’m still not sure he was wrong

[@JBMc117]

RageDMX47 now that is funny lol

[@Ipavaiva]

Olli Jokinen is still the franchise leading scorer for Florida... I feel that should be pointed out as well here

[@juhomantynen4638]

Soon to be surpassed by Barkov, but still.

[@gutchmang2430]

Or Huberdeau ?

[@Killerbeast-hx5qp]

It’s now Jonathan Huberdeau

[@kai1x_]

i remember seeing that stat in some nhl lol.. glad to hear its been beat olli jokinen as leading scorer for any franchise should be a crime.

[@mgcgrozit]

@@kai1x_ why? Olli Jokinen was a great player when he was younger and a great guy in the locker room as well. If he were drafted by a team like Detroit in the earlier years, he would have been a star.

[@jarink1]

When you make a video about Milbury's analyst career, be sure to point out how often he says other GMs made bad trades or signings. I guess if anyone would know what those look like, it would be him.

[@dawnrisen3658]

He's a great GM candidate for the Edmonton Oilers. If any mad Oilers fan are mad, he can beat them up with a shoe.

[@Steve_Dangle]

He would be a good add for the Canucks

[@shawnwedekind9964]

He'd be a good fit in Ottawa i wonder if him and Malnyk are related lol

[@Phoenix-yc6pt]

😂😂😂😂😂.

[@wenzhaocai6340]

Canucks should have taken him over Benning.

[@randomonium3742]

So my guy gives away Jokinen, Luongo, Chara, Spezza, Redden, Bertuzzi, McCabe, and more, and passes on Heatley in under 5 years? Magical.

[@jaredgoodyear6542]

Dany Heatley was the best player on the draft board that year. He's no Mike Bossy, but he would have given them a nice scoring touch.

[@kidnamedbarzalislanders2498]

@@jaredgoodyear6542heatly or gaborik would have been suffice. Then u grab spezza next year. Keeping luongo and chara. Grab parise the next year and now the isles would be solid. Milbury was the most impatient Gm. Seemed like he cared more about headlines than winning. Heard a story at the 2000 nhl draft, when milbury announced he was drafting dipietro, I’m told Brian Burke called him a effn idiot. Haha

[@PD-nt3vt]

Makes Chiarelli look like a genius

[@jessiegandhi4340]

This is the short video of all of millbury mistakes a GM, that’s crazy

[@chrisgarry22]

I would watch a 10 hour video of the career of milbury. He makes snow look like Bill Torrey.

[@torontosportsfan1995]

Worst GM NHL in NHL History. Probably on the Oilers short list.

[@c71score]

Can't, never played for the Oilers.

[@JHockeyFan]

Doug MacLean was really bad as well.

[@wenzhaocai6340]

Definitely on Toronto's short list no doubt soon.

[@oilersridersbluejays]

That comment didn’t age well.

[@dragon-ir8te]

I've been waiting years for this video

[@b0nkert0ns7]

Milbury falling in love with DiPietro was the nail in the coffin. I actually liked DP and thought he was a quality goalie pre-injuries, but without that deal they keep Luongo and Jokinen, draft Gaborik instead of DP, and potentially decide against dealing for Yashin in favor of building a young core. At the time of the Yashin trade though Milbury was under a ton of pressure to make a big move. He buckled. The Peca deal could have been enough. Peca grooming Spezza while adding Chara to that blue-line of Jonsson, Aucoin, and Hamrlik could have yielded similar results in that 01-02 season while obviously setting themselves up much better for the future. Either way when I think about this stuff now it pisses me off, but I just tell myself we’re in a good place now and who knows how things would have played out if these deals didn’t happen. In Lou we trust. EDIT: btw Nilsson wasn’t a reach where they took him - Pierre just torched us because Parise had links to the Isles with his dad. Isles fans were pretty pumped about Nilsson though. Sometimes picks just don’t work out. If there’s anything to give Milbury a pass on it’s his draft history. He drafted some quality players. He just traded all of them away.

[@allsystemsgo8678]

It was so bizzare to draft dp because Milbury was trading all the young guys for vets to win now, but then drafts a goalie and decides to trade away his veteran goalie. You want to win now, but decide to get rid of your vets and go with an 18yr old? They got lucky and got Osgood on waivers. It was such a contradictory move. Plus, did he really think dipetro was going to be better then Luongo?! Apparently Mike thought dp was the next Ken Dryden, lol

[@richardprescott5939]

@@allsystemsgo8678 Actually, he thought DiPietro was going to be the next Brodeur. He handled the puck better than anybody and this was pre trapezoid. And DiPietro without injuries would have been the top American goalie. He was also GM when the fake owner bought the team. A lot of stuff going on. But he actually had righted the ship, had gotten Peca but trading for Yashin and giving him that money was awful. Once Peca was ruined by the Darcy Tucker cheap shot, they were toast.

[@ryno4516]

Btw this is the guy who went into the stands and hit that fan with the shoe...

[@TylerFeygin22]

Choked on my saliva laughing when you compared mikes new job to dwight

[@danielk09]

I loved playing Mariusz Czerkawski in NHL 96. He was one of 2 Polish guys in the league haha.

[@fuscinula]

With Komisarek?

[@danielk09]

@@fuscinula I was thinking of Maciej Oliwa lol

[@Carpy_On_Ice]

Millbury attempted to build a winner through trades, while everyone knows a sustainable winner is built through the draft.

[@adk46er5203]

No question. Trades and Free agency put can put you over the top. But drafting well and developing those players give you long term success.

[@klondikebar5545]

this should just be a video of a cow pooping

[@ryguy6577]

Lost the trade to get linden and lost the trade to move linden. Chiarelli tried to replicate it to a lesser extent by losing the trade for strome and losing the trade to move strome

[@maxlee6739]

Mike Milbury: *looking in the mirror* I’m about to end this man’s whole career

[@atreyuavenged1]

Good eye for drafting just never wanted to wait to develop said players or was always wanting a quick solution.

[@RH-lt7of]

Bertuzzi-Jokinen-Muller Gaborik/Heatley-Spezza-Palffy Torres-Connelly-Dumont Ruutu-Peca-Green/Pyatt Chara-Kasparitis McCabe-Burns Brewer-Redden Luongo Should've just not hired him in the first place

[@islesncapsgr8ovie276]

The islanders coulda been a dynasty in the late 90s to the mid 2000s with luongo, heatley/ gaborik spezza chara oli jokinen redden kaspiritis

[@GooseGumlizzard]

lol thats no dynasty give your head a shake

[@allsystemsgo8678]

I loved Kaspar, but he wasn't some dominant dman, plus he always injured

[@roimari]

that could have been pretty strong team core!

[@adk46er5203]

Dynasty is a strong word. But solid or very good may apply.

[@johnnythemachine6949]

They could've been a good Team with a shot at the cup

[@RobotWillie]

So pretty much he is the Mr. Bean of the NHL. In the Mr. Bean movie his job is revealed to be that he sits at an art museum studying the art because they don't think he is capable of doing any actual work but are also somehow obligated to keep him hired at the museum.

[@nikantropov3165]

The jokinen and luongo trade has to be one of the worst trades ever

[@carletonrutherford1799]

Did you see the Linden trade for Bertuzzi, McCabe, and the draft used to draft Ruutu? That one was bad.

[@b0nkert0ns7]

I’m an Islander fan who likes the Fishsticks logo AND was old enough to see it on the ice. Then again I was a kid at the time and a stupid one at that.

[@thpisland2423]

Mike Milbury for THG Hall of Fame

[@jakermon1014]

Shannon has that classic "oh boy " look all video long.

[@mitchellskene8176]

"The video would be so obsessively long, nobody would watch it" umm you kidding me? I'd watch it

[@alkumhcounseling8634]

that #15 pick also overlooked Shea Weber, Loui Eriksson, and several others who weren't stars but who played at least a solid decade in tne show.

[@Tbons551]

I'm sure there are fans of the channel (I'm one of them) who would love to see you go further in depth on careers such as Mike's and if you felt it was to long of a video to do several parts

[@11DNA11]

Thanks a ton for this vid Shannon! I was the guy who instigated this video with Carbomb :D

[@redheads604]

Mike is a shoe-in for the worst GM ever in hockey history.

[@222333aaaaaa]

No pun intended

[@samson2848]

Underrated comment...hahaha

[@11DNA11]

Chiarelli gave him a run for his money though :D

[@adk46er5203]

ilikeredheads - Good point LOL!

[@ambriellemason5925]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@torskasoren90]

Can't wait for part 3!

[@jamesgentry13]

So do the Islanders celebrate DiPietro day like New York Mets celebrate Bobby Bonila day?

[@Ohhelmno]

It’s so funny that had Mike Milbury just stuck to his gut and drafted and allowed these players to develop rather than trying to take shortcuts and sign and trade everyone, he could’ve been like a legendary GM. It’s pretty clear he or his scouts know talent when they see it, they just didn’t want to wait to see them accomplish their potential… it’s insane, and it really seems like he just drafted these guys as bargaining chips and doesn’t really see them as prospects per se but chips to move on the table to get who he really wants. What a shame for Islanders fans.

[@PhilTeoli]

Awesome video as always. Love the way you analyze things. Better than anything on tv.

[@reignofrock]

Was waiting for this. You came through ma man!

[@ianmillerdevilsfan1223]

I'm so early it's not even in HD yet!

[@shawnwedekind9964]

I really hope ( trying to choke down a laugh) that he's a better analyst then GM

[@Bighoss1101]

How has the NHL not hired this man as an analyst or commentator yet!? Been watching for about 5 months now and will continue to watch keep up the good work.

[@kcb5150]

He wasn't a bad talent evaluator, he just had financial chaos going on around him and was just trying to save money and maybe catch lightning in a bottle more than a few times. Craig Patrick is an example of a gm that did his job properly with the business of his team being in free fall.

[@gocanuckurself1]

I love how Linden and Bertuzzi ended up being teammates in Vancouver after being traded for each other hahaha

[@Waders27]

The time John Spano was the owner of the Islanders coming next?

[@jasonfire3434]

A THG Worst Owner series would be awesome. Spano, Melnyk, Bill Wirtz, Ballard...

[@Andyanddiana467]

My dad hated how he destroyed the Islanders....and he, like me, was a RANGER fan. That's how bad Milbury was.

[@johnfederice8935]

Lot of effort in this video. Great work!

[@JohnnyBuschi]

I worked at the Nassau Coliseum for over 13 years. When Milbury was fired he became one of my "bosses" but it just seemed like a decorative title. He did tell me this joke during a work meeting. "Ever heard of an Australian kiss? It's like a French kiss but down under."

[@Rometiklan]

Milbury was a strange combination of a person who was both good and bad for the game of hockey. The game always needs colourful personalities and there's no denying Mike was colourful...but his time as a GM kept an Islanders team in perpetual chaos for over a decade and in some ways, the team is still dealing with Milbury's mess.

[@1bert719]

When you consider the team they could've had it's heartbreaking. The late 90's early noughties Islanders could've been scary good. Even guys like Tommy Salo had solid careers free of Milbury. His drafting of Dipietro was predicated by Rick's puck handling. Fine if you don't already have Luongo.

[@vaultsuit]

And then NHL throws in the trapezoid for good measure...

[@JustBob-sw4rf]

Great stuff, thanks for all the effort it took to put this one together. A Mike Keenan (spit) career video would be a another interesting one.

[@c71score]

I'm pretty sure he did one for his coaching.

[@JustBob-sw4rf]

@@c71score Thanks, I'll have to check.

[@SarahMaywalt]

Honestly, I really liked the jersey where they combined the Fisherman colors with the real logo like the banner on your wall there.

[@MarquisdeSuave]

Great video, subbed.

[@raheemgaines3518]

Shannon this is a classic!

[@alyssinwilliams4570]

I would absolutely watch an extended length video on Milbury, and Im sure a lot of people would!

[@patch8376]

Milbury GMd a franchise like he was playing an old EA NHL video game but unfortunately couldn't hit the reset button or begin a franchise anew.

[@ryanbranigan231]

I highly recommend the mike & the mad dog radio show segment where they interview the man himself. The full segment is on KZbin, I'll post the link under it for all interested.

[@ryanbranigan231]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmnUqIWkqseMjLs

[@bluemoon95]

Ryan Branigan I watched the video yesterday & I was lol at Milbury trying to explain himself.

[@TheeRustBucket]

So now that we are in lockdown, can we get a video of every trade Milbury lost?

[@wormyfren8133]

This is torturous but somehow also really entertaining as an Islander fan. I can’t help but laugh at how our team employed the worst executive in the history of not just the NHL, but arguably in all of the 4 major North American leagues for as long as they did. Utterly mind-boggling.

[@trevmac8362]

Yet as a Canadien's fan your team once had debatingly the best one at one time - Torre - Weird

[@Phished123]

"Spezza would've been a Star. for the Islanders" strong play there Shannon!

[@isaacwest276]

I love Milbury because it makes me feel so much better as an Oilers fan who's young enough to just barely miss our (short) glory days in the late '00s but old enough to... well... experience the decade of darkness.

[@johnnythemachine6949]

With selecting Nokelainen in 2004 he passed on Travis Zajac, Cory Schneider and Mike Green and with Picking O'Marra in 2005 he passed on Martin Hanzal, Tuukka Rask, T.J. Oshie, Andrew Cogliano and Matt Niskanen. Until they picked again in the 2nd Round James Neal, Marc-Édouard Vlasic and Paul Stastny were also gone

[@ericbrewerguitar1499]

11 years of this though, good lord...

[@CJEstradaMartinez]

As a Maple Leafs fan, I witnessed seven years of moronic moves by Gerry McNamara. However, I feel your pain.

[@JayLewisNYR1994]

That 2003 draft Rangers drafted Hugh Jessiman who never played for the Rangers

[@jsbachguitar1]

Any stock footage of a tire fire will suffice

[@user-sw9rj6hj4z]

In 1997-98, Pillsbury fired the coach and took over himself, coincidentally as Ziggy Palffy, their best player, was returning from injury. That coach he fired... Rick Bowness, who 22 years later is in the semi-finals with Dallas.

[@ClemmyHunter]

Hey shannon, no mention of the '91 Wales conference all star team he selected ??? That was bad

[@jurishaggard]

Great work. Would be nice to hear Milbury defend any of his trades/ drafts without just calling everyone idiots and blustering.

[@safertobeanonymous2224]

The only thing worse then Isles grabbing Nielsen? That the Oilers were so listed that Nielsen was drafted that they traded down to avoid getting Getzlaf or Parise errrrr to select Poiliot…… 😭😭😭 I almost throw the remote through the TV!

[@carletonrutherford1799]

The damage Mike Milbury did to the Islander's organization took near 15 years to recover from.

[@deadboyspoem2]

that was quite interesting

[@MrLuridan]

At the time, I was hoping Laviollette was going to coach the B's...

[@maxpowr90]

Shannon, did you know that Milbury got his start in broadcasting at NESN with Kathryn Tappen? Tappen was at the time married to Bruins player Jay Leach and look what she parlayed her career into.

[@senorsoupe]

Wasn't the quote about Milbury "Somewhere out there, there is a village in search of an idiot"

[@Jelsick]

I think I saw that Islanders logo on a box of fish sticks.

[@BoyNamedSue4]

A redraft of the 03 class would make a great video

[@strongbeach123]

I enjoyed this.

[@johnmack3497]

Never forget the Brooklyn Fishsticks

[@kylejohansen689]

The Islanders could have had a team with Redden, Kasparaitis, Bertuzzi, McCabe, Luongo, Jokinen, Chara, Spezza, and Gaborik/Heatley. Unbelievable.

[@shaedonshergill3162]

CanadianJock’s video on this made me realize how crap he was

[@FrankieHresko]

Dumont wasn't traded to Nashville.. he was traded to Chicago for Dmitry Nabokov.. He would play for Nashville in later years though where he became top forward

[@MEBEMVP]

FYI You forgot to add Dipietro's signing bonus. But since the White House stepped in and told Milbury the Statue of Liberty could not be added as a signing bonus regardless of how great Dipietro was going to be...

[@edwardofgreene]

As a Blues fan I very much want to hang on to first place in the Central. (Avs not making that easy, and can damn well take first.) I like the thought of Colorado and Dallas beating each other up in the first round. Not that facing Nashville, Winnipeg, or Minnesota in the first would be easy. They wouldn't be, and first round upsets are very possible. But I still want Dallas and Colorado beating each other up in the first round!!

[@johnkidd1226]

Senior Vice President gets issued with a box of pencils, a pencil sharpener and a doodle pad.

[@bulwyf2572]

As someone that is an Islanders fan this guy was a nightmare. I mean a complete nightmare.

[@Steve-wo7gt]

Rather than the Fisherman, I always thought it would be cool to keep the NY with the Hockey Stick and the Puck and have a stylized lighthouse be the "I" in Islanders.

[@illmuskyhunter3313]

The fisherman logo is by far better than the regular one

[@moshameem99]

The best thing that Mike Millbury ever accomplished was beating that Rangers fan with his own shoe. Other than that, his managerial career should become a Netflix series documentary.

[@adk46er5203]

They used to chant 'Jump Mike Jump' at the coliseum. He was so stupid. You could hear it when he talked. He had no logic or plan. He was basically one of the Hansen brothers as a GM. Remember he did jump into the stands and beat someone with their shoe at MSG.

[@adamsmith2758]

Can I comment on the fashion side of things? These hats look SO much better than the flat bills... just my opinion :)

[@222333aaaaaa]

Yea. Flat bills for middle-aged white dudes is just a bad look

[@mariovaccarella6854]

Even though Injuries Cut Short A Likely Brilliant Career Capability, Rick DiPietro Goalie For Life Contract was A Doozy

[@mariovaccarella6854]

I believe that The Islanders Are Still Paying On DiPietro Contract Buyout to date.

[@HistoricWrath]

Do a video on John Spano!

[@tbraysfan2008]

Note: Mike Milbury traded a draft pick in 2003 (?) to the Chicago Blackhawks for Andre Karpotsev (RIP) who was underachieving and bad work ethic in Chicago; he became a punchline for Pat Foley’s tirade. That draft pick the Blackhawks invested on was defenseman Nikolas Hljamarsson. Hljamarsson was part of the Blackhawks 3 SC championships in 2010s.

[@chrisbliss7]

We need the analyst breakdown

[@crackcorn0404]

I remember when Alex Steen had his best year. Millbury said that he wouldn't keep it up because players don't just become 30 goal scorers. Apparently this dude has no foresight and doesn't think players can improve and grow. No wonder he traded away all that young talent.

[@gocanuckurself1]

29 minutes until the Canucks game starts. This 26 minute video will pass that time nicely.

[@BrendanP]

23:27 Good point

[@Branden2050]

Curious would it really be an issue to give up Luongo if RDP stayed healthy and never got that career ending injury?

[@ekenpwn]

Shannon, you should also have pointed out that Mike Milbury passed on Henrik Lundqvist in the 2000 draft

[@NYFanatic]

The Islanders already had Roberto Luongo and they were dumber to get rid of him. I would've drafted Dany Heatley. The year before they missed out on Henrik Zetteberg and Radim Vrbatta. 2003 he could've selected Brent Burns, Zach Parise, Patrice Bergeron or Corey Perry. And Peter Laviolette was on his way to becoming Al Arbour 2.0!! Maybe not 4 cups in a row, but at least 2 cups.

[@MrChillyZ]

Ohhh mommma.....the motherload of all videos

[@christianokolski9701]

Shannon seems visibly angry at around the 19-minute mark. Remarkable he kept his composure that long 😂