Godspeed, Coach.

It always struck me as odd why Barry Melrose never got another coaching chance in the NHL after being fired by the Los Angeles Kings. Now, that is something I don't have to wonder about anymore, as the dapper Canandian will take over the Tampa Bay Lightning next season. Good for him. I wish him nothing but the best in his next endeavor. Why is that? Because the guy is fucking awesome. Read on.

Little known secret about the Fletchinator: I spent a good 18 months as a production assistant working at the Worldwide Leader in Sports, ESPN. If you are fortunate enough to hear me bitch about it now, you quickly realize that for the better part of that year and a half, I was displeased with my work/life balance and grew increasingly resentful towards my employer. To this day, I refuse to watch Sportscenter and any other studio show on the network, mainly out of spite. But, despite the many, many issues I have with how PAs are treated there, it wasn't all bad. For example: on a couple of occasions, I was lucky enough to put together "Barry's Best," a quick recap of the best goal, hit and save from that night's NHL action. Not only did this mean getting out of having to deal with a NBA game, it also presented me the opportunity to discuss hockey with one of the network's great treasures: Barry Melrose.

The dude is an absolute pro on camera and a pleasure to work with. As the first set of games were winding down, I would approach Barry and pick his brain on what he had seen so far. He would be located in the conference room, usually alone, with seven or eight different games on at once. Slightly intimidated at first, I approached with some trepidation. But "Coach" (that's what the PAs affectionately called him) was always welcoming and ready to hear what I had to offer. We would discuss the best plays of the night and come to a consensus on what would go into the Best; most of the time, I would defer to him, but on the off-chance that he missed something, he was willing to include one of my selections instead of his own. It was never about the facetime or the notoriety with Barry, it was about getting the best hockey into the show. Having to deal with the enlarged egos of former players and various talking heads most of the time, it was a refreshing change. He was, hands down, the best analyst across the entire network.

I could wax nostalgic about Barry's Best, but I'll save you the boredom of having to read through it. Let it just be said that ESPN is going to find it impossible to replace Barry and I'll be rooting for the Ning for as long as he presides over their bench.

So, let us raise a glass (or a beer mug) to Barry Melrose and celebrate some of his personal Barry's Best.

Video (and news of Barry's hiring) courtesy of Awful Announcing via ESPN.