Dan HICKLING
MLNSportsZone.com
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. - Barry Melrose is a man of unique accomplishments.
As ESPN’s zoot-suited point man on hockey on the sadly-cancelled NHL Tonight show, Melrose single-handedly put the mullet on every hair dresser's hit list.
The ‘do,’ which became the talk of the talking heads of the ESPN boys’ club, has spawned many imitators, several beer commercials, and earned him a spot in something called the "Mullet Hall of Fame".
His most recent feat, and some here would say far more important, is his rescue of professional hockey for his adopted home of Glens Falls, New York.
Last season, when the local UHL squad, then known as the IceHawks, was teetering on the brink of collapse, Melrose, who has lived here since his days with the old AHL Red Wings, cobbled together a partnership and bailed out the franchise.
Talk about a civic gesture.
"I got into the team because I wanted to keep it in Glens Falls," he said during the recent UHL All-Star gathering hosted by his Adirondack Frostbite. "This is going to be my home forever. I think it's important for the town to have a team here, and for the Civic Center to be viable. That's why I did it."
How bad was the IceHawks situation before Melrose, and partners Steve Levy and Glenn Morrelli stepped in?
Bad enough that last year local sherriffs actually conducted a raid during a game, and confiscated over $10,000 in concession money to satisfy several unpaid local debts.
The IceHawks were in danger being the second UHL team to fold during the season, following the ill-fated Columbus Stars into the abyss.
Melrose said the first order of business was a simple one.
"Just surviving," he said. "Last year was all about survival. That's all we worried about. Most of the players had left by then, so we didn't have enough (quality) players to compete. But the guys worked hard. We promised that we would put a good team on the ice, this year, and change things. I think we have."
One key initial move was to replace coach Bryan Wells with an old Red Wings and L.A. Kings protégé, Marc Potvin. Potvin, who was out of hockey at time and selling aluminum siding, helped turn the club around, and has helped keep the Frostbite going in a neck-and-neck race with the Danbury Trashers in the race for the Eastern Division crown of the UHL.
"When I took over," Melrose said, "he was the first guy on my list. He played for me. I called him the day I bought the team, and a week later, he was coaching. He's the type of guy I want running our (hockey) organization. I always know that things will be handled properly."
Actually the timing for this couldn't have been much better.
With the NHL lockout underway, and his ESPN show shuttered, Melrose, who was also a great NHL coach and competitor in his own right, could get back to brass tacks hockey, right in his own back yard.
"The silver lining is that I get to be around hockey and watch hockey," he said. "I get to be around hockey people, and those are the people I love. That has been one of the (things) that has kept me sane. I'd like to get back to work, because my wife has seen way too much of me. And she lets me know that."
