Barry Melrose, the coach who led Wayne Gretzky's Los Angeles Kings to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance and later became ESPN's leading hockey analyst for nearly two decades, has died aged 70. His death was announced on Wednesday, prompting tributes from ESPN colleagues who described him as an irreplaceable figure in American hockey broadcasting. Melrose had stepped back from his ESPN role shortly before the 2023-24 NHL season began after disclosing he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

Melrose guided the Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals in his first season with the club, during Gretzky's fifth year in Los Angeles, before moving into television in 1994 and becoming a full-time ESPN fixture from 1996. Known for his mullet and bold pinstriped suits, he appeared regularly alongside Steve Levy and John Buccigross on SportsCenter and NHL coverage, and also had cameo acting roles in films including Mystery Alaska and Slap Shot 2. Before coaching, he played in the NHL for the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings between 1979 and 1986, and he later had a brief coaching stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2008-09.