Andrew Marchand fires away at ESPN lead studio hockey analyst Barry Melrose. The 45-year-old Melrose has worked in Bristol full-time since 1996.
Before that, Melrose coached the Kings from ’92-95. In his rookie year, he led the Los Angeles to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
Q: You interviewed with Glen Sather before Ron Low got the Ranger coaching job in 2000, are you a candidate now?
A: “When Glen hired Ron Low, I thought I had a really good chance of getting the job then. If I wasn’t the right man for the job then, why would I be now?”
Q: How much do you miss coaching?
A: “I’m not dying every time there is a coaching job opening. I do miss coaching. I’m nuts. It’s like hitting your finger with a hammer. Once you stop it feels better. But if the right circumstances came up, I would consider it. The minute you start coaching, you think why am I doing this?”
Q: What are the similarities between coaching and broadcasting?
A: “Nothing. Once you’ve coached you can do anything. At the end of the show you can’t be booed.”
Q: How much do you miss the competition?
A: “That’s what is not there. You can’t get that unless you are in the fight. At the end of the night you can have the greatest broadcast but you didn’t win or lose.
Q: In your gut, do you think you’ll coach again?
A: “Probably not. I’ve been away a long time. People probably wonder if I want to coach badly enough. [To show them, I’d probably have to go the minors.] I would if I didn’t like what I was doing.”