“Scoops! Scoops!”
I at all times knew once I was in the identical enviornment as Greg Millen.
That acquainted greeting would come echoing down a hallway someplace on the NHL circuit earlier than I’d even had the prospect to put eyes on him.
“What’s up, Scoops? What scoops are you engaged on immediately? What hassle are you stirring up now?”
The barrage of questions and accusations would arrive in speedy succession and inevitably be punctuated with a hearty chuckle. That was classic Millsey. Fast to ship a good-hearted needle and at all times with the final chuckle.
By that time, he’d already spent extra time behind a microphone than he did tending a aim crease on the earth’s greatest hockey league, however he by no means overpassed the participant’s viewpoint.
In the course of the years he labored as Sportsnet’s analyst on Toronto Maple Leafs video games, he by no means missed a possibility to tut-tut the beat reporters when he felt we had been pushing a storyline a bit too far or barking up the improper tree.
Whether or not it was myself, Jonas Siegel, Mike Zeisberger or any of the opposite reporters masking the group frequently, we at all times knew that Millsey was studying our work. He wasn’t shy about making it recognized. The person made positive he was extremely well-prepared each time he stepped into the sales space to name a recreation, though he in all probability would have bristled if I had characterised his vociferous consumption of the Toronto media in these days as precise analysis for the job.
You at all times knew when Millsey was working a recreation.
Not a lot by his booming baritone or a signature name on the printed, however the spilled espresso within the press field. The person completely beloved to tug a prank and seemingly by no means uninterested in his previous standby: sticking a pin within the backside of a paper espresso cup earlier than discovering a protected place to look at whereas an unsuspecting reporter fumbled round with a leaky subsequent pour.
That gag was cited by multiple Toronto-based media member on an “in memoriam” textual content chain that began up Monday evening after the NHL Alumni Affiliation introduced Millen had handed away all of the sudden at age 67.
His taking part in profession spanned greater than 600 video games over 14 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Hartford Whalers, St. Louis Blues, Quebec Nordiques, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Pink Wings in a league that bears little resemblance to the one which exists immediately. Millsey would typically inform tales concerning the perils of touring commercially in his period and delighted in declaring the assorted different creature comforts that had been unavailable to gamers within the Eighties.
He went on to occupy some of the coveted broadcast seats within the sport, working usually on “Hockey Night time in Canada” and incomes a spot alongside legendary play-by-play man Bob Cole — together with for Cole’s final recreation on the Bell Centre in Montreal on April 6, 2019.
Nevertheless, what I at all times appreciated most about Millsey was the actual fact he had so many pursuits past the sport he beloved. He spoke typically with colleagues about his rising household, which incorporates spouse Ann and youngsters Caroline, Emily, Allison and Charlie. He was passionate concerning the grasp’s diploma in management he earned from the College of Guelph in 2014, which led him to outdoors instructing and consulting work.
In recent times, our paths didn’t cross almost as steadily.
I haven’t been on the street as a lot as I as soon as was through the common season, whereas Millsey principally labored Calgary Flames broadcasts. When final we exchanged texts, we wished one another a Merry Christmas and I informed him that I missed listening to his common Leafs observations.
“Miss the crew as nicely however fortunately my new Calgary household is an effective group!!” he replied.
You’ll notice his use of the phrase household in that textual content. It’s how he handled his colleagues.
Which brings me to the opposite aspect of Millsey.
Early within the 2015-16 season, my mom Linda grew to become unexpectedly ailing and I took a go away from my job masking the Leafs beat to assist my household handle that state of affairs. My mother wound up combating for 2 months following a glioblastoma prognosis earlier than dying in January 2016. Her funeral was held in my hometown of Cobourg, Ont., on the outset of the NHL’s All-Star Weekend in Nashville, which prevented numerous colleagues from having the ability to attend.
In regards to the final individual I anticipated to see stroll via the doorways that morning was Millsey, however there he was. He made the 45-minute drive on his personal and got here to pay his respects regardless of by no means having met any members of my speedy household.
Except you’ve been via that type of loss your self, it may be obscure simply how significant his gesture was for me throughout an extremely tough time. It was huge. It blew me away.
And it breaks my coronary heart immediately to know that Millsey’s household is now navigating its personal crashing waves of grief and unhappiness after dropping him with out warning far too quickly.
Might they finally discover solace of their warmest recollections.
As a result of right here’s the factor about Greg Millen: Beneath the curmudgeonly veneer he sometimes adopted and that good-natured ribbing he at all times dished out was a person with a coronary heart of gold.
A person of nice integrity.
A person who at all times discovered his personal distinctive means of not letting colleagues lose sight of the truth that there are far more vital issues in life than the video games or the scoops.
(High pictures: Noah Graham and Graig Abel / Getty Photos)
