51黑料

Former Blues goaltender Greg Millen, who died this week at the age of 67, is best known in the STL as one-half of the goaltending tandem on the 1986 Final Four squad.

He and Rick Wamsley manned the nets as that Jacques Demers-coached team went on its unlikely run to the Western Conference Final. The Blues came this close to getting past the Calgary Flames and playing for the Stanley Cup.

Millen came from the Hartford Whalers in a trade for star netminder Mike Liut. That was just one of the many unpopular deals general manager Ron Caron engineered to meet owner Harry Ornest鈥檚 cost-cutting mandate.

Millsey was quite the character, so he fit right in with Bernie Federko, Brian Sutter, Mark Hunter, Doug 鈥淜iller鈥� Gilmour, Rob Ramage, Ron 鈥淔locky Hockey鈥� Flockhart and the rest.

Longtime NHL coach and executive Doug MacLean discovered this when he broke into the NHL as a assistant coach for the Blues in 1986-87.

"I got more tips on coaching from Millsey than you could ever imagine," MacLean told Sportsnet with a smile. "And you know what, they were lifelong tips to be quite honest because he broke me in.

"I remember the first day of fitness training, he comes over and said, 'Oh great, another college guy, that's all we need here in 51黑料.' So that was my introduction to Millsey. And we became great friends."

Tipsheet鈥檚 personal memories of Millsey included his pranks and his constant chirping with teammates. He was old school all the way, dismayed by players drinking protein shakes instead of traditional postgame beer.

In turn, teammates ribbed him over his physique, loudly comparing him to overweight pedestrians they rolled past on their bus.

Millen was a keen observer who enjoyed parrying with reporters. That trait, and his sharp wit, made him a natural candidate to move into broadcasting.

And as an analyst, he moved to the top of profession in Canada.聽

Through the decades he became a thoughtful friend to many. And they all had Millsey stories.

“We did a playoff series one year and one night between games in 51黑料, Greg knew some guy who had a band that was playing not far from our hotel," broadcaster Dick Irvin Jr. told . “We walked down there and Greg sat in on the drums for a couple of songs. I didn't know until that very minute that one of the things he did was play the drums.”

Writing for The Athletic, Chris Johnston remembered Millen:

His playing career spanned more than 600 games over 14 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Hartford Whalers, 51黑料 Blues, Quebec Nordiques, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings in a league that bears little resemblance to the one that exists today. Millsey would often tell stories about the perils of traveling commercially in his era and delighted in pointing out the various other creature comforts that were unavailable to players in the 1980s.

He went on to occupy one of the most coveted broadcast seats in the sport, working regularly on 鈥淗ockey Night in Canada鈥� and earning a spot alongside legendary play-by-play man Bob Cole 鈥� including for Cole鈥檚 last game at the Bell Centre in Montreal on April 6, 2019.

However, what I always appreciated most about Millsey was the fact he had so many interests beyond the game he loved. He spoke often with colleagues about his growing family, which includes wife Ann and children Caroline, Emily, Allison and Charlie. He was passionate about the master鈥檚 degree in leadership he earned from the University of Guelph in 2014, which led him to outside teaching and consulting work.

Sportsnet鈥檚 Ron MacLean offered this:

Ann gave birth to their first child during a blizzard years ago when Greg was an NHL goalie for the Hartford Whalers. Ann gave birth at 2 a.m. on a Saturday 鈥� another good sign, as Greg would become a Saturday staple on聽Hockey Night in Canada聽鈥� and later that day Greg鈥檚 Whalers were scheduled to play the Islanders on Long Island. Despite not getting to bed until 3 a.m., Greg jumped in a car with assistant GM Bob Crocker at 6 a.m. to get back to the team 鈥� but the drive that would normally take two and a half hours required six hours because of a snowstorm.

Greg thought, 鈥淣o biggie, I won't be asked to play,鈥� but he was wrong about that. Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and the Islanders faced him that night and Greg ended up being the first star in an unlikely tie game.

The next day, he beat Toronto.

Greg always maintained that that was the day he realized goaltending was all mental. Before that, he used to need to walk the hotel hallways for hours after losses. He needed hours to get set, and just as many hours to unwind. But that weekend changed him.

Fatherhood and fight gave him a new mission. He no longer fixated on goals against or wins, he became a student of leadership.

RIP Millsey.

Here is what folks have been writing about the NHL:

Neil Paine, : “This is the oldest playoff roster in the league, trying to win the first titles for two of the game's greatest players (Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl) in a hockey-obsessed market, not having won a Cup since 1990, and coming fresh off a Game 7 loss in the Finals last season. Add in that the Oilers need to work out contract extensions soon for McDavid and Evan Bouchard, and Edmonton is the model of a franchise that's at the peak of its contending era. If not this season, when will they finally win one?”

Adam Proteau, The Hockey News: 鈥淭he defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers are resting some veteran players despite falling behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers, which lost their last five games, are six points behind the Atlantic Division-leading聽Maple Leafs聽and four behind the聽Lightning. The聽Ottawa Senators, which sit in the first wild-card spot, are only two points behind Florida. This has all led to the suggestion that the Panthers would be better off sinking in the Atlantic to set up a first-round series with the Maple Leafs instead of facing the Lightning, which won Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021 and improved from last season. From this writer鈥檚 perspective, we think that鈥檚 inaccurate and disrespectful to a聽Maple Leafs team聽currently sitting second in the Eastern Conference and fifth in the NHL. Yes, the Maple Leafs have a pattern of early exits in the playoffs. A similar thing can be said about聽the Colorado Avalanche, which didn鈥檛 make it out of the second round in 10 post-seasons between 2002-03 and 2020-21 before they won a Cup in 2021-22. The Leafs, meanwhile, are at 11 straight post-seasons without a Conference final appearance. Eventually, many teams figure out how to win in the post-season. This year's Leafs could well be one of those teams.鈥�

Elliotte Friedman, Sportsnet: 鈥淒oesn鈥檛 take much to feel the energy in Montreal when the team is making a late-season playoff charge, but downtown was absolutely electrified by Ivan Demidov鈥檚 shocking signing. It鈥檚 a massive 鈥榃鈥� for the Canadiens, particularly since multiple sources felt as recently as Monday that it was unlikely to happen this season. It鈥檚 a reminder about two things when it comes to KHL negotiations. First, what鈥檚 true now might not be true in 15 minutes and, second, NHL teams don鈥檛 like to say anything is done until it is absolutely, positively 100 per cent done. A few people were asking about Demidov鈥檚 $525,000 Conn Smythe Trophy bonus for this spring. Washington agreed to something similar with Ryan Leonard, at $275,000. When players sign this late in a season, bonuses that can鈥檛 be achieved are wiped out. By including the 鈥楥onn Carrot,鈥� teams allow a player to make more in years two and three of their entry-level deals.鈥�

Megaphone

鈥淭o have those two guys back is huge for our team, emotionally and just on the ice what they can give us. We know it鈥檚 not going to be something where they come back and it鈥檚 not going to be a cakewalk; we鈥檝e still got to be tense and still play with that jam.鈥�

Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno, on the return of Kirill Kaprisov and Joel Eriksson Ek.