Pod Excl: Barry Melrose

0:00Well, well, well, well. If it isn't the guy who said there's a baby race going down on C.J.O.B., well, I gotta get my four-year-old in there and take the prize and look at you now. Well, well, well, well. If it wasn't the guy who when I came in, I said, you hear about the baby race? Didn't you want to put yours in and he said, I just send him checks. And I was like, wow, in this day and age, they need a father. The least you can do is win me that one K.J.O.B. The father figure. The least you can do is win me that one K and pay me back. I just had my people send out the checks. I'm gonna, I'll touch base them when they're adults. I don't have time for this. I'm on jets that knew no. Time to get a job, Junior. I'm gonna, I ain't helping you out anymore. There was fun in the baby race because I live in South St.Vatel and I dropped our, well, we dropped our five-year-old off at grade one. And it's amazing how life, like all of my friends, kids are in university or out of university.

1:02I've got some friends who just dropped the kid off at Dowl-Hosey for the third, his third year or dropped the kid off here. And I remember a good friend of mine, Sue, Sumayers from high school in junior high and stuff. When we were having Thomas send me a note and said, congratulations, that's awesome. And I'm like, oh, I don't even know, these are friends from high school. So you touch base maybe on their birthdays and that's it. Right. I just dropped my daughter off at McGill for her first year, you are F'd. Yeah. But so we were talking about this today just how, you know, emotional it is and stuff that it goes, look, there's been million songs about it. Your grandparents, your parents tell you about it, but how time flies. Time has flowing by from the fact that I didn't, I thought at 48 years old, this might kill me to be the greatest thing that's ever happened to me to the point of our, my stepson is in high school now and my youngest is in grade one and what I'm going on and

2:03all about this round is just how time flies. Oh, yeah. Like it just, it, it, and you put your head down and how Anderson was saying this to me the other day is like, I can't imagine you kids, the guys with kids and how you do it and stuff because he's never, I'm being an older dad. I think being an older dad actually saved me because I think if I was, you know, trying to further my career to the point where it's at or doing other things that I wouldn't, you know, I'd be like torn and stuff. I'm not torn at all. I love every minute of it. But my point is is like the Kenny Chesney song, don't blink. It goes by and I can't believe it's grade one and how's like, As I had to go, you know what? It's weird. It's like anything when it's too much, you just put your head down and go. Yeah. And all of a sudden, he's in grade one and all of a sudden, he's in high school. And I think a lot of parents are feeling that way and stuff. So, and he was all giving me the peace sign. I'll see you after school. You know, I'm a little bit out. And he's just so, and then it's funny. But it's just how time flies. And then, you know, it brought me back around and around about way to what we're going to talk about today and just how time flies and time goes by.

3:04And they just, you know, and then we think of athletes that are going, how can you not be loyal? How can you not be this? But the shortest thing in life has to be a pro sports career. It's safe for the ones who are fortunate enough to get 10 years out of it. If you get 10 years out of it, they're the ones who are going times flying. Like, I don't have too much time left here. Yeah, I know it's crazy. I don't mean that I'll be here in March. It'll be five years. So, I remember starting here and just make it. You're a little guy being a little guy, right? And it's crazy how he's in grade one. But yeah, like when it comes to those players and you get to pass 10 years in your career, it's almost like, man, I don't even mean who can. You just think they're going to be there forever. Yeah. Like, what could happen? I could get an injury, neck season, all of a sudden, my career's done. It's like in a blink of an eye. And it's shocking mostly because there are probably sports reporters. But when somebody announces a retiring, I'm like, what, why? But yeah, you're like, I guess it's time. Yeah. Like, it's just, you know, like Kutraoff. I mean, eventually he's going to retire. Conor McDavid's 10 years in, 12 years in or something like that.

4:05Like, it just, it just feels like they'll always be there. And then it's coming, right? And you're just like, what? Yeah, how did that when did that happen? And that brings us to some sad news that came out yesterday. And Barry Melrose passed away, started his career as NHL career with the Winnipeg Jets, longtime NHL coach, longtime analyst for ESPN. And he was kind of like the, you know, obviously we didn't get ESPN Sports Center up here in Canada. But every time we would go down to the States and there'd be a hockey segment, you see the slick back hair, Barry Melrose, looking absolutely fantastic. Like Mollett? Great suit. And it's just sad to lose a voice like that. And the guy who was able to convey the message of hockey to so many people across the States. And even I saw a little Wayne, a tribute tweet about Barry Melrose saying how sad he was that he's gone. So he also represents how ESPN and the US had viewed hockey, right? Like so the suits were outstanding, but it was kind of the American version of the Don Cherry suit.

5:06But the slick back hair, the Mollett, the fast rock and roll, like that was hockey to Americans. To be honest with you, like I always thought, you know, from the 80s on, it was college hockey. That's how they thought of it. But Barry was, it was interesting. I never met Barry. I watched him a ton and he's kind of, and the greatest thing I can say about him as a broadcaster is how he transitioned from that nobody watches hockey. We got one guy that talks it. He's got slick back hair. Looks like Al Pacino. He's got a Mollett and some suits to where he transitioned into, you know, being a part of what it is now, where it's actually the legitimate superstar sitting down and talking about the game and a little flash here and all that. So yeah, it's sad news and time flies because like I just, it seemed like yesterday I heard he was ill and then, but that was a couple of years ago, right? Like so. But he really transitioned a lot of it, especially in the Americans and because I'm not being, you know, mean or anything. But he was one of the only voices in the US that talked hockey, that cared about hockey

6:09that got a platform to be it. And then he was entertaining on top of it as well. So yeah, and a hockey guy, right? Like the old adage of chewing in and out hockey guy, I'm sure he had other avenues. I'm sure he could have done probably some movies at sometimes in cameos and rock star stuff like in he stuck with it because he loved the game. So it is a sad day. Yeah. And one, one in a HL championship as a head coach with Adirond back at 91, 92 was a kid, was a king's coach for three seasons. And then I remember the, when he took over for Tampa, kind of away, oh, no, I'm just feeling like, whoa, Barry Melrose is going to be behind the bench now. This is going to be awesome. And now I mean, it was only for a couple games at the end of the year and they didn't do great Tampa Bay just stunk at that point. Yeah, it's just really sad. Great legend for the great game, great ambassador. And you could really tie that kind of boom that we've been seeing in American hockey over these past few years, brought to Barry Melrose, just pretty more attention to it. I agree.

7:09The best way I can say this because it's hard to say hockey in any country isn't cool. Like it's a tough sport. It's physical. Anybody, like I love watching the NFL players mic'd up on the glass going, whoa, like, wow. So it, but it wasn't cool in America, right? Baseball was football was basketball. The NBA was taking over when he was talking about hockey and things like that. So I, he made it cool. He made it acceptable. And what I mean by that, not acceptable, there's a ton of hockey fans there, but he made it cool. Like he made it like this is all right. This is, this is something we want to be a part of, ie little Wayne, Wayne and to how cool it was. So again, it's a sad day and don't blink.