ESPN honors longtime analyst Barry Melrose with touching tribute as 2026-27 NHL season opens

· Yahoo Sports

Before the new NHL season kicked off on Tuesday, ESPN took a minute to remember its iconic hockey analyst. 

The network released a touching tribute to Melrose ahead of opening night, just weeks after he died following a years-long battle with Parkinson’s disease. 

Visit tr-sport.bond for more information.

Melrosse was perhaps the most recognizable hockey broadcaster in the country. But before he joined ESPN, where he was for nearly three decades, Melrose spent seven seasons in the NHL. He played for the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings as a defenseman, and picked up an incredible 728 penalty minutes in his 300 career games. 

Melrose briefly served as a head coach in the league, too. He most notably led Wayne Gretzky during the Los Angeles Kings’ run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1993, and finished with an 84-108-29 record. 

He joined ESPN full time in 1996 and quickly became a fixture in the sport, thanks in part to his trademark slicked-back hair and goatee. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2023, and stepped away from ESPN at the time as a result of his diagnosis. He died on Sept. 9 at 70.

"From the flowing locks of his distinctive mullet to the flared lapels of his trademark long suit coats, Barry Melrose cut an unmistakable figure whenever you were fortunate enough to run into him at a rink or catch him on your television screen," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement, in part, when Melrose died. "You were even more fortunate if you engaged him in conversation or listened to his analysis, because he never failed to boost your love of the game of hockey.”

The NHL season opens with five games on Tuesday.

Read full story at source