The Toronto Maple Leafs are mourning Barry Melrose, a former teammate and later a familiar enemy, after his death Wednesday at 70 following a three-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Melrose spent three seasons in Toronto and the club remembered him in a statement as a “hard-nosed defenceman” who played 173 of his 300 NHL games with the Maple Leafs and later “informed and entertained hockey fans all over the world.” He was originally from Kelvington, Sask., and became one of the most recognizable hockey voices in the United States after his playing days ended.
His time in Toronto began in 1980-81, when he arrived mid-season after a stop with the Winnipeg Jets. Over three seasons with the Leafs, he collected 420 penalty minutes and skated at different points with Börje Salming and Darryl Sittler before later playing under Punch Imlach.
A decade later, Melrose was back at Maple Leaf Gardens, only this time as the opponent. In his first season as an NHL head coach, the 36-year-old led Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille and the Los Angeles Kings through the 1993 Stanley Cup Final run, but Toronto stood in the way first.
The Campbell Conference Final went seven games and ended with Gretzky’s winner in Game 7 at the Gardens, wiping out Toronto’s chance at an all-Canadian Final against Montreal. The series also featured Marty McSorley’s hit on Doug Gilmour and the fight that followed, a sequence Melrose later said “won us the series.”
Los Angeles then lost to the Canadiens in five games.
That was Melrose’s last major run behind an NHL bench, but it was only the start of the career that made him a household name. From 1996 until his 2023 retirement, he was ESPN’s hockey voice, becoming the sport’s face for countless American viewers. He covered All-Star Games, playoffs and Stanley Cup Finals, and even when ESPN did not have NHL rights, he kept turning up on SportsCenter and selling the game.
Around the league, Melrose was remembered as a one-of-one personality. Gretzky said he was “ bigger than any team.” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Melrose “ cut an unmistakable figure ” and spent decades helping grow the sport in the United States.
Melrose briefly returned to coaching in 2008 for a 16-game stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning, then stepped away again. He later left broadcasting for good after his Parkinson’s diagnosis, saying he wanted to focus on his health and his family, wife Cindy and sons Tyrell and Adrien.
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