Monday, July 28, 2008

Matt Barnaby -- of All People -- to Replace Melrose at ESPN?

There hasn't been much serious talk regarding who will fill the shoes (and hair) of Barry Melrose at ESPN. Of course the blogosphere has been a buzz trying to guess and set odds for the whole thing, but there has yet to be much about who ESPN would be interviewing/hiring.

Consider the hat of Matthew Barnaby, former Sabre, Penguin, Lightning, Ranger, Avalanche, Star and Blackhawk (gotta love free agency), now in the ring.

At Going Five Hole, Sean reports that earlier this week on LCS hockey Barnaby confirmed that he is in talks with ESPN to fill the vacancy left by Melrose.

Barnaby, who makes the occasional appearance on TSN, noted he was going to meet with ESPN executives about the open position as lead NHL analyst with the WorldWide Leader. I did a poll over at Puck Daddy about who should replace Barry Melrose as the puck-talking head over at ESPN. While Barnaby wasn't included as one of the choices, he is an interesting option. He's definitely an out-spoken character with plenty of NHL experience, but I just don't see ESPN selecting him. It does baffle me why the need for a big NHL analyst on a network that barely covers the sport anyway.

So there you have it. The bloodthirsty villagers finally have a suspect. Discuss!

Posted by Kevin at 1:08 AM Labels: ,

7 comments:

  1. wrap around curlJuly 28, 2008 at 1:31 AM

    Obvious joke, but....

    That guy has been with more teams than Elisha Cuthbert.

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  2. VeryProudofYaJuly 28, 2008 at 4:07 AM

    He's charismatic and articulate, which is more than can be said for mister melrose. I love barry, but when half of your 30 second segment is tripping over words, you kinda suck at your job.

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  3. KyleJuly 28, 2008 at 5:29 PM

    Hell of a choice, and a nice guy too. He actually sent a goodbye email to Hockeybird when the Rangers traded him a few years back. Being a regular there I was touched.

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  4. FAUX RUMORSJuly 29, 2008 at 8:22 AM

    1) As a player he made the most of his limited talent. However, as the blog states, ESPN is hardly a bastion of hockey discussion anyway, so its not like this is going to be such a big deal. Here's hoping he does well.

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  5. titan saturnaeJuly 29, 2008 at 11:35 AM

    He would be a good choice.

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  6. nightflyJuly 29, 2008 at 2:13 PM

    Sometimes it's these sorts of guys who are better at analysis than the superstars. You need to be able to read the play and understand the players and their roles - it is not necessary to have the talent to fill any of those roles oneself. Otherwise how would so many non-jocks make excellent broadcasters?

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  7. PeteJuly 29, 2008 at 2:23 PM

    Just think about how they will be slobbering over Biron when he hangs em up.

    ReplyDelete

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