- John Buccigross called Barry Melrose “my best friend at ESPN” in a tribute posted Wednesday night
- Steve Levy, Linda Cohn and Lil Wayne were among those who shared their own memories of the late analyst
- Read below for the full wave of reaction to Melrose’s death at 70
John Buccigross learned his best friend at ESPN had died while he was standing inside a hockey rink.
Buccigross posted a tribute to Barry Melrose late Wednesday, hours after word spread that the former Los Angeles Kings coach and 27-year ESPN analyst had died at 70. The two sat across from each other for nearly three decades, going back to the NHL 2Night days.
He wrote about where the news found him, and what it did to him:
“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.”
Steve Levy, who called hockey alongside Melrose for most of those same years, chose to raise a glass instead.
“For more than 30 years Barry was the unquestioned face and voice of hockey in the United States. He was a man of the people, a family man, a part of my family. Tonight, I’ll toast to the kid from Kelvington who made it big but never forgot his roots. Now he can drink all the Bud Lights, smoke all the cigars and play all the rounds of golf he wants to. Barry Melrose was the best of us.”
Linda Cohn called him “our beloved Coach forever” and said talking hockey with Melrose was the best part of her night at ESPN.
The reaction ran well past the hockey world. Lil Wayne posted his own message Thursday morning, and he named Buccigross, Levy and Cohn in it:
“Just saw the news abt the Legend Barry Melrose and I literally can’t stop the fkn tears rn and I be damn if I try to, you’re worth them all sir may you rest peacefully and may God bless your family and friends with your memories forever.”
Gary Bettman confirmed the death in a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter, writing that Melrose never failed to boost your love of the game of hockey. ESPN’s own statement leaned on the same idea, calling him a foundational part of its hockey coverage.
Melrose had been off television since 2023, when a Parkinson’s diagnosis ended his run. He coached Wayne Gretzky’s Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final and spent the rest of his working life explaining the sport to an American audience that mostly met it through him. Our full look back at his career is here.
Every tribute Wednesday night circled the same two things, the loud suits and the decency underneath them. Buccigross put it plainest. We love you, Barry. Forever.
