Mad Mike Milbury often slings sexist cliches like "hit 'em with your purse." (Photo by Mary Altaffer/AP)

At some point, Mike Milbury is going to have to come to terms with the 21st Century. His future employment as a hockey opinionist on television may depend on it, but the contemporary world is obviously not one in which he is comfortable or happy.

For a few years, since he left the employ of Charles Wang and the Islanders — we won’t bother rehashing his many questionable moves as Isles GM other than to say they were how he picked up, and even embraced, his nickname “Mad Mike” — Milbury has done triple duty as a studio voice on Hockey Night in Canada, NESN and NBC/Versus/NBC Sports Network. It’s a passionate voice, that’s for sure, and hockey is a passionate game. On the surface, it seems like a good match.

Milbury’s problem is that his passions too often go unchecked. He clearly has trouble controlling himself when the camera is on and the mic is live, and he says things that reveal thoughts that really don’t do his image much good. He may not care about that, but he’s also a spokesman for the networks who employ him and the sport he’s worked in for pretty much his entire career. In those capacities, he is not exactly a shining representative.

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It's cold, the sightlines are awful and it costs a fortune, but there's nowhere a true fan would rather be. (Will Schneekloth/ZUMAPRESS.com)

Why is the Winter Classic such a huge success for the National Hockey League and why is it likely to continue being so? Let me count the ways:

First, this event becomes an oversized demonstration of devotion to the home team during the holiday season of celebration — and everybody likes a celebration. If you are a fan of the Flyers, you wanted to be in the Phillies’ ballpark for this game.

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Isn’t that video above terrific? On Wednesday night, Tampa Bay’s 1-3-1 defense against Philadelphia forced Mike Milbury to storm off the set in Versus’s studio during the second intermission, and that’s reason enough for us to nominate the Lightning’s Guy Boucher as not just NHL Coach of Year, but also for the The George Foster Peabody Award for distinguished and meritorious public service to television.

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(Jeff Carter (left) and Mike Richards had productive but stormy tenures in Philadelphia. (Photo by Vincent Muzik/Icon SMI)

The Flyers moved to drastically change the face of their team on Thursday by trading two of their core players, captain Mike Richards and winger/center Jeff Carter in separate deals. By doing so, they cleared cap space to sign goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to a fat, long-term contract. In the process, they dealt the Blue Jackets a center in Carter who will finally give Columbus a strong linemate for Rick Nash. And the Kings get a leader and experienced center in Richards who can anchor a second line behind Anze Kopitar and give LA the depth in the middle to challenge some of their more successful Western Conference rivals, like the Canucks who have Henrik Sedin and Ryan Kesler as their top two centers.

Here are the deals: First, Philly sent Carter — who has scored 36, 33 and 46 goals in his last three seasons — to Columbus in exchange for 21-year-old Jakub Voracek, a highly-skilled (although not especially physical) right wing, plus their first round (8th overall) and third round draft picks.

Carter has 11-years remaining on a contract that freed up over $5.272 million for the Flyers, who acquired the rights to the 31-year-old Bryzgalov two weeks ago from the Coyotes in hopes of solving their decades-long problem in goal.

For the Blue Jackets, who had the cap room for Carter, it’s a chance to get someone to partner with Nash, their captain and top scorer who has lacked an impact center for his entire eight-year career in Columbus. Carter was a center prior to joining the Flyers, but often played right wing on a line with Richards. He prefers center, however, and this could be exactly what Nash and the Blue Jackets need to energize their team and fan base.

The eighth overall pick in this year’s draft could give the Flyers a very good NHL prospect depending on who is picked prior to them drafting in that spot.

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As bad habits make life hard for the Flyers, the annual questions about their goaltending have arisen. (Scott Levy/NHLI via Getty Images)

With ice packs the size of cantaloupes strapped to each knee, Chris Pronger ambled from the trainer’s room across the Madison Square Garden hallway and into the dressing room area to meet the press. This wouldn’t be one of his sarcastic, smirk-inducing encounters, not after a 7-0 obliteration by the Rangers, the turning point of which was the opening faceoff.

It was the Flyers’ fourth straight loss, their longest skid of the season. They’ve only managed to grab five of a possible 16 points in their last eight games, and since the All-Star break have lost more than they’ve won. This does not read like the record of a potential Stanley Cup finalist.
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