An institution in the world of sports is hanging up his skates. On Tuesday afternoon, ESPN announced that longtime hockey analyst Barry Melrose, who turned 67 earlier this year, would leave the network after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. One of his colleagues at the network, John Buccigross, posted the news to his Twitter account, along with a video that highlighted Melrose’s one-of-a-kind personality and his love for the sport.
NEWS:
Barry Melrose has Parkinson's disease and is stepping away from our ESPN family to spend more time with his. I've worked with Barry at ESPN for over a quarter century. Cold beers and hearty laughs in smokey cigar bars. A razor sharp wit, he was always early & looked like a… pic.twitter.com/gjjSAEuG2s— BucciOT.Com (@Buccigross) October 10, 2023
After a professional career that spanned more than a decade and included NHL stints with the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Detroit Red Wings, Melrose moved into the coaching ranks, where he spent time with both the Los Angeles Kings and, for a brief spell in 2008, the Tampa Bay Lightning. During his first year at the helm of the Kings in 1992-93, Melrose helped the team make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, where Los Angeles would ultimately fall in five games to the Montreal Canadiens.
He’s perhaps most well-known for his tenure as an analyst with the Worldwide Leader in Sports. Melrose joined ESPN in 1996 and has been a mainstay in the network’s coverage of the sport for decades. The news of Melrose’s departure from the network comes on the day that the NHL will drop the puck on the 2023-24 regular season.
