Former Red Wings defenceman Barry Melrose dies aged 70
The former Detroit player, Adirondack coach and longtime ESPN analyst was remembered across three chapters of a career spanning the ice, the bench and the broadcast studio.
Barry Melrose, the former Detroit Red Wings defenceman and longtime ESPN hockey analyst, has died aged 70. His wife, Cindy, confirmed his death to ESPN, according to the network’s report.
Melrose played 35 NHL games for Detroit across the 1983–84 and 1985–86 seasons. His first stint with the club coincided with the beginning of Steve Yzerman’s NHL career, as Detroit returned to the playoffs in 1983–84 after a six-year absence.
His connection to the Red Wings organisation continued after his playing career. Melrose coached and managed the club’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Adirondack Red Wings, to the 1992 Calder Cup.
The Adirondack championship roster included future NHL players Keith Primeau, Mike Sillinger, Sheldon Kennedy, Martin Lapointe and Bob Boughner. Melrose had also led the Medicine Hat Tigers to a Memorial Cup title.
He later coached the Los Angeles Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final before joining ESPN as a hockey analyst in 1996. Melrose retired from the network in 2023 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
