Some Terrible News

From the first time I saw Barry Melrose standing behind a bench in the NHL, I felt like he'd be entertaining. Melrose didn't look like other coaches when he broke into the NHL in 1992-93 with the Los Angeles Kings. He sported a mullet, he was much younger than most coaches, and he seemed to have a fiery temper if the mood struck him right. That combination made for some fun nights as a fan because the Kings were a pretty good team in that 1993 season with the likes of Gretzky, Robitaille, and Kurri doing a lot of damage on the scoresheets. Melrose fit that "Los Angeles" persona of being young, powerful, and had enough swagger to back it up just like his team played. In saying that, hearing that he's stepping away from the game for medical reasons today makes remembering that first time I saw him with the Kings hit home a little harder.

If you didn't hear, ESPN analyst and former NHL head coach Barry Melrose has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and has made the decision to retire as a broadcaster. Parkinson's disease is an awful disease that affects the nervous system and can cause involuntary movements, but may also affect people by causing stiffness or slowing of movement, slurred speech, and the loss of automatic movements like blinking or swinging one's arms when walking. There is currently no cure for the disease, but the onset can be slowed with medication and treatments.

You might be asking why I'm so troubled by this medical situation for Melrose, and it's because I struggle to understand why good people who work hard and make others smile are affected by something like Parkinson's disease while truly evil people in this world somehow avoid debilitating diseases. I'm very aware of the "life isn't fair" saying, but this is one of those times where I needed it to be.

I had the honour and pleasure of speaking with Barry Melrose on The Hockey Show back on August 16, 2018 about his involvement with a 2018 zombie slasher movie called Ahockalypse where a team of hockey players and their friends battle zombies. It's definitely in the horror-comedy, B-movie genre, but Melrose was a good sport about giving me the skinny on the fun he had working and filming this movie in Austin and Minneapolis. He even chatted about the show off the call and wished us luck with the show's success!

Did Melrose have to do that? Absolutely not. He was doing media all day for the film, and he could have just said "thanks" and moved on. Instead, he took a genuine interest in how the radio show was going by asking a few questions before giving us his best wishes. Did I expect that? No, not in the slightest. Did I hope for it? Of course. It's always nice when a major figure in hockey circles wants to know how long we've been doing the show and who some of the past guests were. Maybe he was just fishing for names to compare his against, but he did sound generally interested in the answers I gave so I'm going to give him every benefit of the doubt because he was kind, he was polite, and he seemed to care.

Would he remember talking to me five years ago? I doubt it, but it doesn't mean our interaction didn't have an influence on me. That's why hearing the news today of his diagnosis sucks. My experience in speaking with Barry Melrose is my own and it may differ from others, but I'm also not going to wish harm on him or his family who now have to deal with this diagnosis. In my view, Barry Melrose is a good man, and terrible news and diagnoses like this shouldn't land in the lap of good people.

He may never read this, but I'm hoping Barry Melrose can live comfortably for decades before there's any significant onset of symptoms. He's a passionate man who loves the game of hockey, his family, and his friends. Not one person I know has ever spoken and not one publication I've read have ever written a negative word about Melrose, so having him retire from the game altogether at the age of 67 seems unnecessarily cruel when he was so good on ESPN's broadcasts at making hockey sounds so easy.

For a man who gave me a few minutes of his incredible life, I will always hold him in the highest honour. Tonight, I wish him and his family nothing but the best and for a long, happy, and as fulfilling as possible retirement as he moves into this next chapter while facing a battle against an unrelenting opponent in Parkinson's disease. If he brings same fire he brought as an NHL coach to this battle, Parkinson's is in for one helluva fight!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!