Milbury has an opinion when he's at the mike

He has held a variety of jobs in the National Hockey League, from player to coach to assistant general manager to general manager, and now Mike Milbury is making a living - and waves - behind the microphone.

Never shy with an opinion, Milbury has ruffled a few feathers with his recent comments on NESN and NBC. He said the fallout from his candor goes with the territory.

"I've been spanked for a couple of things that I've said and I've had to back off," he said. "Everybody's got a boss, right? Most of the time I say what I say because I mean it and because I might find it amusing or I might find it interesting.

"I am not trying to appeal to anybody. I'm just trying to be myself most of the time. It sometimes gets me into trouble, sometimes fairly and sometimes not."

One of those incidents he believes he was unfairly criticized for was during a NESN broadcast between periods of the Bruins-Flyers game Feb. 4. Milbury, who drafted Tim Connolly fifth overall in 1999 while he was GM of the Islanders, only to trade him to the Sabres, was commenting on Connolly's play during a highlight segment from around the league, and called him a "self-centered little dink."

"The Connolly thing - anybody who watched it saw that I said what a great play he made and what a great player he's been and if he's not injured, what a contribution he can make, especially if he's not acting like a self-centered dink," said Milbury. "Hopefully, he's come a long way but I know him as somebody who had some growing pains in terms of maturing into a professional athlete.

"I've seen it firsthand and I'm sure they've seen it firsthand in Buffalo. It was really a light tap in the middle of a bunch of rose petals. The light tap got the bigger play. There are no mulligans in this business."

Earlier this season, he got into a heated on-air battle with fellow NBC broadcaster Pierre McGuire over whether fighting should remain in the NHL. Milbury believes it has an important role and McGuire disagrees.

"I really do believe that we've, in many ways, taken some of the battle out of the game, and to use my new phrase, 'wimpified' it," said Milbury. "I think there is room for it on a limited, spontaneous basis."

Milbury's on-air term was "pansification," which generated criticism from gay rights groups.

"That's been banned on the continent," said Milbury. "It wasn't intended as anything other than the softening of the standard. But I'd been using it for over a year before finally some other passionate person decided they didn't like it. It wasn't like it was a secret. There were a lot of issues on that one. Without going into too much detail, politics was clearly in the air."

Milbury was a quote machine with the Bruins. In 1994, Joe Juneau suffered a cracked jaw for the third time in 3 1/2 months, this time from a hit by Dallas Stars defenseman Mark Tinordi. Juneau wanted the Bruins to send the videotape to the NHL for supplemental discipline.

"I don't buy it at all [that Tinordi aimed for Juneau's jaw]," said Milbury, then the Bruins' assistant GM. "Joe skates bent over and he uses a very short stick. I won't ask the league to review the tape. I'd be more inclined to ask Dallas if Tinordi is available."

During the 1991 conference finals between the Bruins and Penguins, Milbury - in his last year as coach of the Bruins - got into a war of words with the late Bob Johnson, who was coaching Pittsburgh and talked of his seven-point plan for beating the Bruins. Milbury, ticked off because Penguins defenseman Ulf Samuelsson - a longtime Bruins nemesis - leveled star Cam Neely, took a page out of "The Gamesmanship Handbook."

"As for Bob Johnson and his seven-point plan, one of his points has been to make sure to take as many cheap shots at key players as possible," he said. "The Professor of Hockey - as he so often projects himself to be - is also subtly a professor of goonism."

These days, Milbury is juggling his time between NESN's broadcast of Bruins games and taping "The Instigators," working at NBC, and working for CBC in Canada.

"There are different producers and directors and different creative ideas that go into any of the broadcasts I do," he said. "Each set of circumstances is a little bit different. NBC and CBC and NESN all do a pretty good job of accomplishing what they set out to do, which is cover a hockey game.

"When I work for NESN, it is a little different because we are working for the home team, basically. People might disagree but I don't think I'm quite as cutting as I might be. I'm not really neutral on NESN broadcasts. I do want them to do well because I think it makes for a better broadcast. Obviously, I have a long affiliation with the team."

He works with NESN broadcasters Andy Brickley and Jack Edwards on "The Instigators," which debates NHL topics of the week and airs Thursday nights.

"I think it's great we're doing a show in Boston that's talking hockey because it's been a long time coming," Milbury said. "Hockey went through a dormant period and now it's back.

"As to the logistics, like any new show there were some growing pains. I think all three of us are starting to feel more comfortable with each other and with the format of the show. It's a better show today than it was a couple of months ago."

As for this season's much-improved edition of the Bruins, Milbury has high hopes. He was very much a part the last time the Black and Gold were contenders. He was the coach when the Bruins went to the Stanley Cup finals, in 1990, and was assistant GM the last time the Bruins went to the conference finals, in 1992.

"I see the East as wide open," he said. "Will [the Bruins] go a long way? Maybe, maybe not. Buffalo plays a different style than the Bruins and that matchup doesn't work well for me if I'm the Bruins. I'd rather not see Buffalo in the first round. Pittsburgh just made a coaching change and they have two of the greatest players on the planet and they have to be considered dangerous. Washington has [Alex] Ovechkin. A lot depends on where the matchups fall.

"They could, no question. But they're new to this party and it's going to be different when they get there. If they have home ice and are the top seed in the conference, it's a different level of play and there are a lot of factors. I don't think there's any doubt they've resurrected interest in the sport."

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.