Barry Melrose should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Should have been inducted while he was still alive.

Melrose passed away Wednesday. He was 70.

Melrose was a great man. I’ll eulogize him as such a bit later in this space.

But first, let’s stick to his Hall of Fame credentials.

Melrose built hockey. He brought it to life.

He did it in America, never an easy task.

He did it on ESPN, an outlet that has too often treated hockey like it smells bad.

He did it with class, style, knowledge and humor.

You knew who Melrose was. Remembered what he said. Just like Don Cherry in Canada, who should also be in the Hall of Fame.

It’s a Hall of “Fame.” Men like Melrose and Cherry have that element. Otherwise, it’s just a hall of stats.

Yonge Street in Toronto has a ton of players enshrined who scored 500 goals, even more, but you’d be hard-pressed to remember any of those goals.

Whether or not they should be thus honored is a different debate. A lot were mere longevity farmers.

Melrose meant more to hockey than most of them did.

That’s apropos, because hockey meant everything to Melrose.

He was a lifer. A player and coach before he found his greatest calling on-camera and behind a microphone.

Don’t ignore Melrose’s pre-media days, though. Melrose coached Los Angeles and Wayne Gretzky to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final.

He played in the rebel World Hockey Association and loved it when you brought that up. He was a Cincinnati Stinger for three seasons.

Hockey is a community. Melrose was one of us. No pedestal for Melrose.

Nobody ever said a bad word. Melrose was revered, but in a showbiz, let’s-have-a-laugh sort of way.

And what a laugh. It spread like wildfire. You could hear it in the next time zone.

I’m going to miss that laugh.

I’m going to miss that wardrobe. Always dressed to the nines.

I’m going to miss that mullet.

Melrose epitomized hockey’s version of cool.

Melrose was a guest on my radio program, and he always had time for me when our paths crossed.

Melrose was my friend, and a friend who was always available. All I had to do was turn on the TV.

I’m going to miss that most of all.