from Matt Porter of the Boston Globe,

In his garden, he is “Mellow Mike.” He and his family, including nine grandchildren, will soon enjoy the annual summer yield of tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, green beans, arugula, oregano, and basil from his quiet Needham backyard. All 100 percent organically fed.

When the harvest arrives, he mused, “You know what you’re eating for a few weeks.”...

At the end of July, if all goes according to plan, the NBC hockey team will report to its Stamford, Conn., studio. Milbury expects the broadcast to emanate from there, with drastically reduced staffing and social distancing, though it’s possible they could travel for the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final. NESN commentator Andy Brickley said for as long as the league allows local coverage, he expects to broadcast from Watertown.

“It might be six games a day for the first couple weeks,” Milbury said. “It’ll be nonstop hockey, that’s for sure.”

He doesn’t expect the Bruins to be lagging behind.

“I was talking with [assistant coach] Joe Sacco, and he was saying how their practices are short, and the pace is so high. This group is really good in the gym. They know how to take care of themselves. That’s a big factor.”

Milbury, like his first NHL coach, Don Cherry, is not stingy with his opinions. He is the object of Internet snark, from his time running the “Fish Sticks” Islanders and the infamous MSG shoe incident. If you’re a longtime Bruins fan, you may remember him as a hard-nosed guy from Walpole (and Brighton) who went the whole way in a Spoked-B. In the early ’80s, he also was the lone dissenting voice among players in a battle with powerful agent/NHLPA head Alan Eagleson.

“Mike was never afraid to sell himself,” Rick Middleton said, noting Milbury was one of the first whistleblowers against the later-disgraced Eagleson. “Never afraid to step into an [expletive] storm, and never afraid to open his mouth, whether he could back it up or not.”

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