ESPN analyst and longtime NHL player and coach Barry Melrose talks Predators, Garth Brooks and ESPN’s hockey coverage with The Post’s Justin Terranova.
Q: What is the biggest reason the Predators are in the Stanley Cup finals?
A: Pekka Rinne, I’d give him the Conn Smythe right now. I can hardly remember a bad goal, much less a bad period. He’s the reason they are in the finals, and they shouldn’t apologize for the fact that they have a great goaltender. They’re a very interesting club. They have a lot of character, not a lot of experience, but guys are kicking it up right now and playing the best hockey they ever played.
Q: Did the P.K. Subban trade change the team?
A: Subban is a great player. They obviously traded a very popular player in Shea Weber and got back a very popular one. Big shot from the point, very fun to watch, moves the puck very well. He’s been a great fit in Nashville. Their defense is the best defense in hockey, but no one knows about them because they are in Nashville.
Q: Is the Predators being in the finals good for the NHL?
A: They are one of the most entertaining teams to watch in the NHL. They have some great young players. Nashville needs to be seen more. Hopefully, they’ll be on more national TV next season with NBC because of the fact they are so much fun to watch. People are going to see the city as so much fun people are going to start going to Nashville as a destination to watch NHL games. I’ve been to Nashville many times. I do a lot of stuff for the Garth Brooks Foundation and a lot of those events are held there, so I’ve spent a lot of time there and fell in love with it.
Q: How did you meet Garth?
A: Harold Reynolds got me involved. When Garth started out it was with baseball, and when they started reaching out to the NHL, Harold came to me and said, “You have to get involved with this. You know everybody and you’d be a great fit.” That was 12 years ago, and I brought Steve Levy in and we’ve been doing a lot of Garth’s functions for a long, long time.
Q: Do you take pride in being ESPN’s flag-bearer for hockey coverage and how do you think the network covers the sport?
A: A lot of pride in it, very much so. I just finished five hits in the morning show, and I’ve done it every day since the playoffs started. We’ve had hockey on our air and coverage every day since April 11. We’ve done a good job this year, obviously you’d love to do more and sit down and talk hockey for half an hour, but we don’t have the package. We own the rights to basketball, so obviously that’s going to get a lot more of the coverage.