Barry Melrose meant a heck of a lot to a heck of a lot of people - he was the first analyst I worked with on NHL at ESPN and I hit the jackpot - he was incredibly kind, warm, giving, and made me feel like I truly belonged in a place that maybe didn’t want me to at times. “Head down, do the work…” Coach was a man of routine. Every In The Crease day would start with us smoking a cigar at his little secret cigar speakeasy in Bristol (seriously it was in like an industrial yard then he’d enter a code and a humidor and poker table would appear), Outback Steakhouse (he’d get the chicken, we’d share a bloomin’ onion), then head to studio and watch pucks. Sometimes we’d be waiting to tape until 3am. Tough then, but wonderful memories now. “Hey Arda… name me any player from Saskatchewan and I’ll tell you what town they’re from”. Barry somehow always knew… and if the answer was Kelvington then the convo changed to the summer baseball league 🙌🏽 some of my favorite memories were when Boomer was in there with us. He loved Barry (who didnt). They would recite the entire roster of the 1968 Montreal Canadiens (Boomer would listen to Habs radio broadcasts from Long Island). I will always have love in my heart for you, Barry. Thanks for all those late studio nights, those words of encouragement, all the Wendel Clark stories and putting up with me constantly bringing up that Gretzky should have been called for high sticking on Gilmour… I will smoke a cigar in your honor. God bless Barry Melrose and his contributions to hockey. He deserves to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame and deserved for it to happen while he was alive and able to enjoy it. I hope everyone in Heaven is loving the stories Coach is surely telling them, and they are laughing at the time ESPN organized a big bus and restaurant for a goodbye party for Barry when he took the coaching job with the Lightning but then a month of so later they booked the same bus and restaurant for a “welcome back” party. Thank you Coach. Thank you for your passion for the game, for keeping the flame alive in America all those years, and for being the best coach and teammate I could have asked for. Thank you for all of it ❤️