Barry Melrose, one of the most recognizable faces in hockey broadcasting, died Wednesday at the age of 70. His wife, Cindy, confirmed the passing to ESPN, which broke the news to a hockey world that had not forgotten the man who spent decades shaping how fans understood the sport. Melrose had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2023, leading to his retirement from ESPN after nearly 30 years with the network. His death drew immediate tributes from across the NHL, the broadcasting world, and beyond.
What was Barry Melrose’s cause of death?
Barry Melrose died following a battle with Parkinson’s disease. The illness had already forced him out of public life two years earlier. When he announced his retirement in October 2023, he said: “I’ve had over 50 extraordinary years playing, coaching and analyzing the world’s greatest game, hockey. It’s now time to hang up my skates and focus on my health, my family, including my supportive wife Cindy, and whatever comes next.“ESPN did not formally confirm Parkinson’s disease as the official cause of death, but the timeline is clear. The diagnosis came just as the 2023-24 NHL season opened, and he never returned to the desk. When ESPN’s Steve Levy announced on the eve of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final that Melrose would not continue their long streak of covering the series together, it led many in the hockey community to suspect something was wrong. That suspicion turned out to be correct.Melrose was 67 when he got the diagnosis. He was gone at 70.
How did Barry Melrose build his legacy across playing, coaching and broadcasting?
Melrose finished his NHL playing career with 10 goals, 33 points, and 728 penalty minutes across 300 regular season games. He suited up for the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Detroit Red Wings. The stats tell you what kind of player he was: hard-nosed, physical, not there to fill up the scoresheet. What he was building, though, was something harder to quantify.As a coach, he took the Wayne Gretzky-led Kings to the precipice of their first Stanley Cup in 1993 in his first season guiding an NHL team. That run was stunning. Los Angeles lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games, but the Kings had never been there before, and Melrose had gotten them there in year one. He continued coaching the Kings for two more seasons, finishing both years out of the playoffs with losing records. Just 30 minutes after the Kings fired him in April 1995, Melrose was signed by ESPN to work as a studio analyst during the upcoming NHL playoffs. That timing says a lot about how the network saw him.His television career defined him to a new generation of fans. Known for his sense of humor, his mullet, and his fancy suits, Melrose became a star on ESPN, endearing himself to hockey fans everywhere. He had a way of making the game feel approachable without ever dumbing it down. When asked what he wanted viewers to take away from watching him, he told the Los Angeles Times in 1995: “When [people] watch me on TV, I want them to go, ‘Geez, I’d like to go for a beer with Barry Melrose and talk hockey. He seems like he’d be very interesting.'”NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman paid tribute after the news broke.ESPN’s John Buccigross wrote: “Barry was my best friend at ESPN. A big brother figure of rock solid values. I am shook to my core. Barry gave his life to hockey and some of his ESPN family, like me, learned of his shocking death today while at a hockey rink in Las Vegas preparing for the upcoming season. Chilling and fitting — the rink was Barry’s home. A more beloved ESPN institution there has not been. We love you, Barry. Forever.“
