Barry Melrose, NHL Coach and ESPN Hockey Icon, Dies at 70

Barry Melrose died Wednesday at seventy. The news arrived while colleagues were preparing for the season at a hockey rink in Las Vegas—fitting, one of them said, because the rink was always Melrose's home.

He had left ESPN in 2023 after a Parkinson's diagnosis, stepping away from the network where he had spent twenty-seven years as one of hockey's most recognizable voices. In his retirement statement, Melrose spoke of more than five decades in the game—playing, coaching, analyzing—and said it was time to focus on his health and family, particularly his wife Cindy. He was born July 15, 1956, in Kelvington, Saskatchewan, and drafted by Montreal in the second round of 1976. His NHL playing career spanned from October 1979, when he debuted with Winnipeg, through February 1986, accumulating three hundred games across the Jets, Maple Leafs, and Red Wings.

But Melrose's mark on hockey came through coaching and broadcasting. In 1987, he began coaching Medicine Hat in the Western Hockey League and won a Memorial Cup. He moved to the American Hockey League's Adirondack team and captured the Calder Cup in 1992. The following season, at thirty-six, he took over the Los Angeles Kings. In his first year, with Wayne Gretzky leading the roster alongside Rob Blake, Kelly Hrudey, and Luc Robitaille, Melrose guided the Kings to a 39-35-10 record and third place in the Smythe Division. They beat Calgary in six games, Vancouver in six, and Toronto in seven before losing to Patrick Roy and Montreal in five games in the Stanley Cup Final. It was the closest he would come to a championship as a coach. He remained with the Kings for two more seasons, missing the playoffs both times.

In 1996, Melrose joined ESPN as a hockey analyst. He became a fixture on broadcasts covering All-Star Games, playoff series, and Finals, working regularly alongside Steve Levy and John Buccigross. His appeal was immediate and durable. The mullet—that flowing, distinctive cut—and the flared-lapel suits became his trademark. But what drew people in was his enthusiasm and knowledge. Wayne Gretzky, who had played for him in Los Angeles, recorded a video when Melrose announced his diagnosis. "For decades, he's been suiting up—and I mean suiting up—for the game, for the sport, for hockey," Gretzky said. "Hockey is more than a game, it's a community—a finely tuned orchestra—and Barry was our conductor."

In 2008, Melrose left ESPN to coach the Tampa Bay Lightning but was fired after sixteen games with a 5-7-4 record. He returned to the network and remained there until his retirement. John Buccigross, who worked alongside him for years, called him a best friend and a big brother figure. "Barry gave his life to hockey," Buccigross wrote on X the day Melrose died. "A more beloved ESPN institution there has not been."

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman released a statement describing Melrose as a hockey original who had boosted the sport's popularity across the United States. "From the flowing locks of his distinctive mullet to the flared lapels of his trademark long suit coats, Barry Melrose cut an unmistakable figure," Bettman said. Luc Robitaille, now the Los Angeles Kings president and a former teammate, called him a beacon for the sport and credited him with playing an important role in growing hockey's popularity in America. Steve Levy said Melrose had been the unquestioned face and voice of hockey in the United States for more than thirty years—a man of the people who never forgot his roots in Kelvington.

Melrose is survived by his wife Cindy and their sons Tyrell and Adrien.