Barry Melrose, NHL player, coach and ESPN analyst, dies at 70
Melrose’s wife, Cindy, confirmed his death to ESPN after he stepped away from the network following a 2023 Parkinson’s disease diagnosis.
Barry Melrose, the former NHL player, coach and longtime ESPN hockey analyst, has died aged 70, his wife Cindy confirmed to ESPN.
Melrose was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2023 and stepped away from ESPN at the time. The supplied report does not independently establish the cause of death.
He played 300 NHL games for the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings before moving into coaching.
Melrose led the Los Angeles Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final and later briefly coached the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2009.
He became a prominent hockey analyst during a tenure with ESPN that the supplied accounts place at nearly three decades. Those accounts differ on whether he joined the network in 1994 or 1996.
