NHL Analyst Mike Milbury Joins "Hockey Night In Canada" Crew

Milbury Inks Deal To Be Part Of The CBC's "Hockey Night In Canada" Crew

The CBC has signed NHL analyst Mike Milbury to a two-year deal with an option year to appear on the net's "Hockey Night In Canada" after he "failed to reach a contract extension with TSN," according to William Houston of the GLOBE & MAIL. Milbury will appear on the "HNIC" pregame show and as part of the Hot Stove panel during the second intermission. He also will "write a weekly column for CBCSports.ca and do spots on the 'Hockey Night' satellite radio show." Milbury was offered "upward of $300,000 a year," from both the CBC and TSN, but he would have "been required to work three or four nights a week" at TSN, compared to just Saturday for "HNIC." Milbury has "developed into a top studio analyst, largely by mixing humour with hard-hitting commentary," and the deal "rates as ['HNIC's'] most important acquisition in years." He is the "second big hockey name to leave TSN in a little more than a month," as analyst Glenn Healy left the net in June to take a job with the NHLPA as Dir of Player Affairs. Milbury: "There's nothing bigger than 'Hockey Night' when it comes to doing hockey games" (GLOBE & MAIL, 7/22). The move reunites Milbury with the CBC's Don Cherry, who coached Milbury for three years with the Bruins (CBC.ca, 7/21).