NHL senior executive vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell was one of Millen’s best friends, their bond going back decades, to late coach Roger Neilson’s early 1970s hockey school in Peterborough, Ontario, and then as teammates with the 1978-79 Penguins, Millen’s rookie season.
“He was a good man, a throwback,” Campbell said of Millen on Monday. “As a broadcaster, he’d complain a little bit about some of Bob Cole’s goofy things and I’d tell him, ‘Suck it up, ‘Millsy,’ you’re working with a legend. You’re not going to appreciate him until five years after he’s gone,’ and he’d smile and say, ‘I know, I know.'”
There would be no five years, sadly, Millen having died in his sleep early Monday morning in a hospital north of Toronto not quite a year after the passing of Cole, who died April 24, 2024 at age 90.
Millen had experienced a few minor health issues since last fall but in recent days he had been given a clean bill of health; until late last month he had been an active member of the Calgary Flames broadcast team. The Flames were among many NHL teams, the League, NHL Alumni Association and others Monday to express their condolences on social media and beyond.
“Millsy would jump on a hotel piano after a Penguins team meeting and just start playing,” Campbell fondly reminisced of his versatile friend, speaking from Toronto as he monitored a handful of NHL games. “He learned it by ear. He was a talented guy.”
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