Barry Melrose, the former NHL player, coach and longtime ESPN hockey analyst, has died at 70 on Wednesday, confirmed NHL. Melrose played more than 300 NHL games before coaching the Los Angeles Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final. He later became one of ESPN’s most recognizable hockey broadcasters and won an Emmy Award. Melrose retired from ESPN in 2023 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. While Parkinson’s was the major health condition publicly associated with his final years, a specific cause of death has not been publicly confirmed as per multiple media reports.
Melrose built a long and varied career in professional hockey, first as a defenseman and later as a coach who reached the sport’s biggest stage. Born July 15, 1956, in Kelvington, Melrose entered the NHL after the Montreal Canadiens selected him 36th overall in the second round of the 1976 NHL Draft. Before reaching the NHL, he spent three seasons with Cincinnati in the World Hockey Association from 1976 to 1979.
