As the 2023-24 NHL season kicked off last week, ESPN announced that longtime analyst Barry Melrose was stepping away from his role following a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.
Over the course of the past week, tributes to the former defenceman and head coach have poured in, including one from his former ESPN colleague Dan Patrick, who made the case that the 67-year-old Melrose should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
“I was trying to get the right time and maybe the right tone to bring up Barry Melrose’s condition,” Patrick said on Monday. “I want to do this publicly and I want no credit for it, but I want to put it out there publicly because I hope that somebody can tell somebody who can tell somebody: Barry Melrose should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame for his contributions for the game. He was a former player — didn’t play long. Then he was a coach and he’s been an analyst at ‘The Mothership.’
“I’ve never met a more professional person in my career at ESPN than Barry Melrose. He would drive over an hour every single day that he would come in, always in his suit, ready to go. Always. I never saw him in anything but a suit. But he was always willing — you needed him on radio, you needed him on ESPN News, whatever — you needed somebody to talk hockey and he was there.”
Patrick went on to explain the role that Melrose had in keeping NHL content visible on ESPN, especially after the network lost the league’s rights following the 2004-05 lockout.
“Barry Melrose and Steve Levy, those two were single handedly keeping hockey highlights in the rundown on Sportscenter. John Buccigross played a role as well. They were fighting hard for that sport,” Patrick said. “And it cannot be overstated Barry Melrose’s role. He was well liked. He did his homework. He cared passionately about it. I hope whatever time left he has, he’s still able to enjoy the sport, watch the sport, be proud of the sport for all the great things that he’s done.”
"Barry Melrose should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame for his contributions to the game… I've never met a more professional person in my career at ESPN than Barry Melrose."
-DP pic.twitter.com/Tg0TcEykDe
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) October 16, 2023
It would be tough to argue with Patrick’s case and to be honest, it’s pretty surprising that Melrose hasn’t already been enshrined in Toronto. While neither his playing nor coaching careers were Hall of Fame worthy, he’s been hockey’s preeminent analyst at the biggest sports network for nearly three decades.
Patrick’s point about Melrose’s efforts to keep hockey featured at ESPN even when the network lost the league’s rights is a strong one (even if one could question how successful those efforts ultimately were). Either way, considering Melrose’s current health, it would be nice to see Patrick’s mission become successful sooner rather than later.
“If there’s somebody out there affiliated with the Hockey Hall of Fame, I’d be more than happy to speak on his behalf,” Patrick said. “I fought hard for John Facenda to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, because that’s a contribution to the game. Barry Melrose deserves to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame.”
