The CBC’s “Hockey Night in Canada” has taken analyst Mike Milbury off the air "after he was charged with allegedly assaulting a 12 year-old boy who played against his son in a pee wee hockey game in Massachusetts,” according to Etan Vlessing of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The CBC.ca site offered a statement from Milbury's lawyer that “denied any assault took place and insisted the TV analyst stepped between the two boys as they had an altercation.” Milbury is also employed by NBC Sports and NESN, and NBC Sports in a statement Friday said that Milbury “will also remain off air for the near future” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 12/16). Milbury on Saturday in his first comments about the incident said that the player he pulled away from his son “verbally bullied and harangued Jake Milbury repeatedly on the ice” on Dec. 9. Milbury also said that he “never struck or assaulted the player, but did grab him by his uniform to cut short the on-ice scrum that he contends was a product of the persistent bullying his son faced.” Milbury: ‘‘No one was punched, kicked, or assaulted in any way. I know the ‘Mad Mike’ image that I have and all that. I love the game, I’m passionate about it, but I don’t smack kids around. I grabbed the other kid by the sweater to stop a fight and, yeah, I swore at him. That’s it. That’s what I did” (BOSTON.com, 12/17).
