Bruins Fans Will Love Which Player Former Enforcer Jay Miller Feared Most

BOSTON — Former Boston Bruins tough guy Jay Miller spent the majority of his NHL career dropping the gloves and mixing it up with the opposing teams’ enforcers.

Of all the skaters he ever tussled with, there was one he feared and never wanted to grapple with.

“There’s only two people I fear in this life. Honest to God. My brother Mark, 14 months younger than me, a Navy SEAL who was a complete animal,” Miller said. “And Cam (Neely). Cam had that eye, that distinction of his face that you did not want to go near.

“He was fiercely competitive, but he was fiercely scary. And I’m telling (you) scary. He had a left hand that was bar none better than anybody I have ever seen. Thank God we never fought each other. (…) I’ll tell you that kid, he was a sick mother. Honest to God.”

I never knew another tough guy. I didn’t want to see them because I wanted to knock their block out.

Former Bruins enforcer Jay Miller

Miller did love mixing it up on the ice — especially when the Bruins would faceoff against the Montreal Canadiens. In the three and a half seasons Miller suited up for the Bruins, he was mainly known for his many fights with Chris Nilan and John Kordic.

“It was an exciting time in my life, and I always enjoyed playing the Canadiens,” Miller told reporters prior to the Bruins game on Saturday. “I knew I had a combatant with Chris Nilan, John Kordic.”

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In 216 games for Boston, Miller served 858 penalty minutes with a career-high 304 minutes in the 1987-88 season.

Miller not only battled Nilan and Kordic, but he also went toe-to-toe many times against Philadelphia Flyers brawler Dave Brown. Ironically, the two have never met.

“I never knew another tough guy,” Miller explained. “I didn’t want to see them because I wanted to knock their block out.”

He added: “My job was to make sure that I took them down. And honestly, it might be, some people might say that’s kind of a strange thing to say, but I never wanted to lose, and it wasn’t because of me. It was the 18 guys next to me, coaches and fans.”

After 40 years, Miller and Brown are finally going to meet when the Boston Bruins Alumni travel to Philadelphia this weekend to take on the Flyers Alumni. The Flyers are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their 1974 Stanley Cup victory over the Bruins during their Hall of Fame Weekend.