Greg Millen, a longtime NHL goaltender and hockey analyst, dies at 67
FILE - Edmonton Oilers' Wayne Gretzky (99) reaches out to handle the puck in front of St. Louis Blues' goalie Greg Millen (29) to set up a scoring attempt during the first period of NHL game played, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 1986 in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Oscar Waters,File)
FILE - Greg Millen talks with the media about his friendship with Bob Cole as he leaves Cole's memorial service at the St. Thomas Anglican Church in St. John's, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
FILE - Greg Millen talks with the media about his friendship with Bob Cole as he leaves Cole's memorial service at the St. Thomas Anglican Church in St. John's, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
FILE - Edmonton Oilers' Wayne Gretzky (99) reaches out to handle the puck in front of St. Louis Blues' goalie Greg Millen (29) to set up a scoring attempt during the first period of NHL game played, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 1986 in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Oscar Waters,File)
FILE - Greg Millen talks with the media about his friendship with Bob Cole as he leaves Cole's memorial service at the St. Thomas Anglican Church in St. John's, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
Greg Millen, a longtime NHL goaltender and hockey analyst, died on Monday. He was 67.
The NHL Alumni Association didn't provide a cause in announcing his death on social media.
Millen suited up in 14 NHL seasons with six different teams — the Pittsburgh Penguins, Hartford Whalers, St. Louis Blues, Quebec Nordiques, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings. He finished his career 215-284-89 with a 3.88 goals-against average. He also had 17 shutouts.
Advertisement
After his playing career, Millen immediately slid over into broadcasting. He was with the Ottawa Senators during their inaugural season in 1992-93.
Over his broadcasting career, Millen was part of CBC's 'Hockey Night in Canada' and the NHL on Sportsnet. He covered three Olympic Games, two World Cups of Hockey, 12 Stanley Cup finals and 12 NHL All-Star games.
'The Pittsburgh Penguins extend their heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of former Penguins goaltender and NHL broadcaster, Greg Millen,' the team wrote in a statement on social media. Millen was a sixth-round pick of the Penguins in 1977.
The Blues echoed those sentiments on social media. Millen spent parts of six seasons with St. Louis.
Advertisement
Chris Pronger, a Hall of Fame defenseman, posted on social media: 'Sad day learning of Greg Millen's passing. He was one of the first NHL players I got to interact with when I was in Peterborough. He was in between NHL jobs and wanted to get some shots. Generous with his time and talking about the game. Lost a great man today. RIP Millsy.'
In a statement, Sportsnet said Millen was a 'trusted and familiar voice in the homes of millions of Canadians for more than 30 years.' The network added: 'As both a player and broadcaster, Greg left an indelible mark on the sport, as well as everyone who had the pleasure to know him, watch him, and listen to him.'
___
AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
30 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Club World Cup: Jack Grealish left out of Man City squad
MIAMI (AP) — Jack Grealish has been left out of Manchester City's squad for the Club World Cup. City manager Pep Guardiola named a 27-man squad for the tournament, which kicks off in Miami on Saturday, with Grealish a notable omission. The England forward was a British record signing when he moved to City from Aston Villa for 100 million pounds ($139 million then) in 2021 and went on to help the club win three Premier League titles, the Champions League and a host of other trophies. But he has become an increasingly peripheral figure and made only seven league starts last season. The 29-year-old Grealish's absence from the Club World Cup will add to the growing expectation that he will leave during the offseason, with Guardiola embarking on a squad rebuild following the team's first trophyless season in eight years. City's squad includes four new players signed in time to take part in the month-long tournament in the United States: Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Marcus Bettinelli. In January, City also spent big to sign Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis as Guardiola began his overhaul of a squad that saw its dominance of English soccer broken by Liverpool last season. If Grealish goes, he is likely to be one of a number of players to move on. Kevin De Bruyne is leaving at the end of his contract this month and Kyle Walker is also likely to go after a loan move to AC Milan in January; as expected, neither player was in the squad. City's first match at the 32-team tournament is against Wydad Casablanca next Wednesday in Philadelphia. The other teams in the group are Juventus and Abu Dhabi's Al Ain. ___ James Robson is at ___
San Francisco Chronicle
30 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
49ers and Bryce Huff hope the pass rusher will be a perfect fit in San Francisco
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Bryce Huff went into the offseason expecting a trade after failing to produce in a new role in his one year in Philadelphia after signing a lucrative contract as a free agent. Ending up in San Francisco seems to be a perfect fit. After being a proverbial square peg in a round hole with the Eagles when he was used as a standup outside linebacker instead of a pass rusher off the edge, Huff has reunited with his former coach Robert Saleh in a scheme that caters to his strength of being able to get off the ball quickly and disrupt opposing quarterbacks. 'I learned a lot about myself throughout that experience,' Huff said Wednesday about his season with the Eagles. 'It just didn't work out at the end of the day. So you live and you learn. All I focus on is what I'm doing right now and that's being a 49er and doing everything I can to help this team win.' The Niners are counting on Huff to be able to do just that, believing that he can be the bookend speed rusher across from star Nick Bosa that the team has been seeking ever since a back injury sidelined Dee Ford after he helped the team reach the Super Bowl in 2019. Ford had 6 1/2 sacks in 11 games that season when Saleh was defensive coordinator but played only seven games the next two seasons because of the injuries, leaving a void in the defense that the 49ers believe Huff can fill. 'He affects the quarterback,' coach Kyle Shanahan said. "When you talk about just getting off the ball and how fast he does it. He will be our best get off the ball guy we've had since Dee Ford. So in terms of that, it's good to beat tackles that way, but also widens tackles to help with the inside pass rush and things like that and he affects the quarterback.' The Niners got Huff on the cheap a year after he signed a $51.1 million, three-year deal with Philadelphia. San Francisco traded a conditional fifth-round pick last month for Huff and are on the hook for only $7.95 million of salary this season. Huff had his best success as a pro under Saleh with the New York Jets, He was initially as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and began to emerge as a key player after Saleh took over as head coach the following year and turned him from a linebacker into a defensive end. Huff put on about 20 pounds of muscle and began to show flashes quickly before breaking through with a 10-sack season in 2023 that led to the big free-agent contract. 'Speed off the edge,' Saleh said of Huff's biggest strength. 'I think highly of him as a pass rusher. Thought he was very productive, obviously, with the Jets. He wins at such a high rate. A lot of times we look at pass rushers, we look as sacks and sacks are important. They end drives. It's what ultimately gets these guys paid. But his disruption rate in getting the quarterback off the spot and the way he can do it now. ... He wins so quickly so often that coordinators have to account for his presence on the field.' Huff had 67 pressures on just 334 pass rush snaps in 2023 for the Jets, according to Pro Football Focus, as he became one of the most efficient pass rushers in the game. The Niners were in need of another pass rusher after cutting Leonard Floyd early in the offseason. They drafted Mykel Williams 11th overall in April but had no other defensive end who had a season with at least five sacks in the NFL. Yetur Gross-Matos is the only other edge rusher on the roster with extensive experience. Gross-Matos had four sacks last season in his first year with San Francisco. 'He's going to bring that speed demon off the edge, that's going require a running back or a chip opposite of Nick,' left tackle Trent Williams said. 'I think he adds that the kind of that Dee Ford effect that they had in '19 that took them to the Super Bowl. One of the reasons we had a really, really good defense for those couple years is having that guy who can actually make that quarterback step up by getting a good jump off the ball and being able to bend the edge.' ___
San Francisco Chronicle
30 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Club World Cup refs to wear eye-level cameras but it's what FIFA won't show that's most telling
MIAMI (AP) — Referees at the Club World Cup will wear eye-level cameras to finally allow fans to see exactly what the officials are looking at during a soccer match. Well... not quite. FIFA has announced the innovation will be implemented at its newly-expanded tournament, which kicks off in Miami on Saturday. But on closer inspection, the technology appears to be more about improving the experience for television viewers than improving the game. For instance, only 'non-controversial' images will be shown during the match. FIFA has not specified what that means, but don't look for goal-scoring incidents and potential red cards to be included. The camera will be attached to the referee's earpiece. 'It is a trial,' Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA referees committee, said Wednesday. "What will be the future? We will see. 'We have said that we want to, let's say, offer a new experience to TV viewers. We want to show something, let's say, entertaining. I don't think that we always need to think of the controversial or potentially controversial incidents on the field of play.' Footage will be checked before being broadcast, rather than shown live. FIFA says the refcam view could be used to show unique angles of goals scored and offer different perspectives of the game that normal cameras cannot see. But if restricted to that, it would appear to be a missed opportunity in a sport that is increasingly using advances in technology to improve the accuracy and transparency of decision-making. Another innovation at the Club World Cup — a month-long tournament staged in the United States and featuring 32 of the best soccer teams in the world — is to show footage being reviewed by VAR for the first time on big screens inside the stadium. In theory, the refcam would make referees more accountable for their decisions by allowing fans to see exactly what the official saw before making a call. But it is not even clear how much it would be used to help VAR. While Collina said all footage would be available to the VAR, he questioned how useful the refcam would be in such circumstances. 'Honestly, can you believe that a camera position just besides the referee's eyes can see something that the referee's eyes cannot see? Honestly, I think it's difficult to believe,' he said. FIFA, itself, has made clear where it believes the footage would be of most use, saying the test was designed to 'explore whether the new camera angle can improve the experience for those watching on television and online by showcasing the referee's perspective.' It added that the tests would be used to make guidelines for future use. 'Step by step' Collina said. "We need to do something new and the simpler the better." Time wasting FIFA also announced a clampdown on time wasting by goalkeepers at the Club World Cup. Previous rules specified keepers can't hold onto the ball for longer than six seconds, but Collina said that was frequently being flouted. The time limit has now been extended to eight seconds, but referees will be much stricter in enforcement. The referee will also count down from five seconds with their hand to indicate the time remaining. If a keeper holds onto the ball for longer than eight seconds, a corner kick will be awarded to the opposition, rather than an indirect free kick, which was the previous punishment. ___
