FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried hoped to be US president someday, says ex-girlfriend/hedge-fund CEO

• October 11, 2023

By KEN SWEET and LARRY NEUMEISTER

NEW YORK — Caroline Ellison, the tech executive who ran Sam Bankman-Fried ‘s hedge fund while sometimes dating him, testified Tuesday that he directed her to commit crimes before his cryptocurrency empire collapsed last November. She also revealed that her former boss thought he might be U.S. president someday.

With Bankman-Fried watching from his courtroom seat, Ellison, 28, said at the New York City trial that she committed fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering with Bankman-Fried and others as they stole from customers and investors in FTX, a company Bankman-Fried started, and lenders to his hedge fund, Alameda Research.

“He directed me to commit these crimes,” she said of Bankman-Fried.

Repeatedly, Ellison made clear that Bankman-Fried was behind the biggest financial moves in his companies, to the point that bitcoins he created were sometimes called “Sam’s coins.”

She described him as “very ambitious” and envisioning eventually leading huge companies and using his money influentially, especially in politics.

He even thought there was a 5% chance he’d become president someday, Ellison said.

“When you say president, what are you referring to?” asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon.

“Of the United States,” Ellison answered.

Shortly after Ellison’s highly anticipated turn on the witness stand began, she was asked to identify Bankman-Fried in the courtroom. The bespectacled Ellison stood and scanned the courtroom for a long minute, at first unable to spot him, before gesturing his way with a flip of her hand and saying he was “over there wearing a suit.”

The appearance of Bankman-Fried, who sat with his lawyers, has changed dramatically recently as he has lost weight and trimmed his well-known wild coif into a tightly cropped look more traditional among financial professionals.

Bankman-Fried, 31, could face decades in prison if he is convicted of charges lodged against him when he was brought to the United States from the Bahamas last December. He has pleaded not guilty.

Bankman-Fried was one of the world’s wealthiest people on paper, with an estimated net worth of $32 billion, when his cryptocurrency businesses collapsed as investors and customers sought to empty their accounts last November. Bankruptcy proceedings followed as prosecutors alleged that stolen funds were used to fund his businesses, make donations and contribute to political campaigns in the hopes of influencing cryptocurrency regulation in Washington.

Ellison testified under a cooperation deal that could win her leniency at sentencing. It could also be pivotal when the jury decides Bankman-Fried’s fate on the seven counts he faces.

Bankman-Fried has been jailed since August, when Judge Lewis A. Kaplan concluded he’d tried to influence Ellison and other potential trial witnesses and could no longer be trusted to await trial under a $250 million bond and confinement to his parent’s Palo Alto, California, home.

As Ellison testified, several of her friends or online fans were in attendance. In an overflow courtroom where spectators could watch on a television monitor, some of them, smiles on their faces, rushed toward a screen to see her up close.

Ellison, a Stanford University graduate who majored in math, met Bankman-Fried while working as an intern at the investment firm Jane Street before joining his company soon after he formed Alameda Research in 2017.

She said she discovered that the company was “in much worse shape than I realized,” a place suffering large losses with lenders pulling out a lot of their money and over half the staff quitting.

Ellison said she asked Bankman-Fried why he had not warned her and he “apologized and he said that he hadn’t known how to tell me.”

Ellison seemed composed throughout the testimony, even when it touched on her romantic relationship with Bankman-Fried. By fall 2018, soon after she joined Alameda, “we started sleeping together on and off,” she said. By summer 2020, they were in a romantic relationship that they kept secret, she added.

By summer 2021, they had broken up, but they resumed the relationship in fall 2021, letting people know this time, before splitting for good in spring 2022, she said.

Eventually, Bankman-Fried installed Ellison as chief executive at Alameda, where she was paid $200,000 in salary. Her biggest bonus of $20 million came in 2021.

Ellison said Bankman-Fried set up systems that enabled Alameda to withdrawal unlimited sums of money from FTX accounts and he “directed us to take FTX money to repay our loans.”

She said Alameda eventually withdrew up to $14 billion from FTX, although some was paid back.

Some money, she said, went to political donations, including $35 million funneled through one political operative to Republican candidates and another $10 million that Bankman-Fried steered to President Joe Biden, money that she said Bankman-Fried thought bought him a measure of influence and recognition.

Ellison’s testimony immediately followed testimony over three days from Gary Wang, an FTX cofounder and another key figure in Bankman-Fried’s inner circle. He also testified under a plea agreement with prosecutors that he was directed by the defendant to set up software loopholes that allowed Alameda to drain FTX accounts of unlimited funds.

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​ Orange County Register 

Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton ‘fighting for her life’ with rare form of pneumonia

• October 11, 2023

Brian Niemietz | New York Daily News

Gold medal-winning gymnast Mary Lou Retton is in the ICU, where she’s fighting for her life, her daughter McKenna Kelley said on Tuesday.

On a fundraising page asking for prayers and donations, Kelley revealed that the 55-year-old tumbler has been in the hospital for over a week with a “very rare form of pneumonia.”

“She is not able to breathe on her own,” Kelley shared on Spotfund. “Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all details. However, I will disclose that she not insured. … ANYTHING, absolutely anything, would be so helpful for my family and my mom. Thank y’all so very much!”

Retton earned five medals and superstar status in 1984 with an unforgettable performance at the Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles. Her fame resulted in multiple endorsement deals including one from Wheaties, which made her the first female athlete to appear on the cover of the cereal’s famous orange box. She can currently be seen in commercials for Colonial Penn Life Insurance.

The West Virginia native also used her celebrity status to support the candidacy of former President Ronald Reagan and later appeared at the Republican National Convention in Madison Square Garden in 2004.

Retton also appeared on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2018. She was the fifth person to be eliminated in the reality TV competition, but said participating on the show had “been the best time of [her] life.”

By the start of Tuesday evening, the fundraising page promoted by Retton’s daughter, who’s also a former gymnast, had raised more than $12,000.

©2023 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

Austin Ekeler’s return from injury could boost Chargers’ ground game

• October 10, 2023

COSTA MESA — Running back Austin Ekeler said Tuesday he could have played in the Chargers’ victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct. 1 if it was the last game of the season and he could push his badly sprained ankle beyond what he considered tolerable pain. But it wasn’t, so he didn’t.

He also said he could have played if the Chargers had a game this past Sunday. But they didn’t, so he didn’t.

So, does he expect to play Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys?

Definitely.

“It’s a prime-time game,” he said. “We’ve got the world watching us.”

The Chargers went back to work on Bonus Tuesday, after a much-needed bye week. Their break came earlier than usual, but it also came at the right time for Ekeler, who injured his ankle in their season-opening loss to the Miami Dolphins and sat out their next three games.

Now, he’s sound and ready to rejoin a backfield that could use all his many talents when the Chargers take the field to face the Cowboys for Monday Night Football at SoFi Stadium. Ekeler ran for 117 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries as the Chargers rushed for 234 yards as a team against Miami.

The Chargers’ ground game hasn’t been the same without Ekeler. The Chargers rushed for 61 yards in their loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 2. They rushed for 30 yards in their victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 3. They rushed for 155 yards in their victory over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 4.

Joshua Kelley has had games of 39, 12 and 65 yards in Ekeler’s absence after opening the season with 91 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries against a Miami defense that seemed perfectly content to allow the Chargers to run and run and run some more.

No question, the Chargers need a balanced running and passing game Monday.

“I feel good, man, feel really good,” Ekeler said after practicing fully with his teammates for the first time since he was injured in the second half of their 36-34 loss to the Dolphins. “The bye week, some people don’t want an early bye week, but for me, it worked out as far as the timing.”

Ekeler, the NFL’s leader with 18 touchdowns in the 2022 season and 20 during 2021, worked out on his own during the bye week and suffered no setbacks. He said he pushed it and his ankle held up just fine, as it did on Tuesday. After a day off on Wednesday, the Chargers will practice again Thursday.

“The bye was probably a blessing for me,” he said.

Ekeler said he felt “disconnected” from his teammates and “something was lost” while he was sidelined, unable to aid them during a loss to the Titans and victories over the Vikings and Raiders. He missed the competition, the battles won and lost during games decided by narrow margins.

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The Chargers lost to the Titans, 27-24 in overtime, before logging a 28-24 victory over the Vikings and a 24-17 win against the Raiders to even their record at 2-2 going into the bye week.

“That’s why I was pushing to get back as soon as I could,” Ekeler said. “It’s tough (sitting out with an injury). It’s tough. Yeah, you can see it on the tape, but going out there and physically doing it, it’s such a different skill. To see what you see in the film room and actually go out there and apply it and do it full speed and do it full-time is what separates people, right?

“We can all look at it and see it on the board and say, ‘OK, this is the read. This is what you need to do.’ But when it’s full speed (on the field), can you make the right adjustments, use the right technique, and what do you have afterwards to continue to, you know, separate yourself?”

ROSTER MOVES

The Chargers signed defensive lineman Christopher Hinton and added center Cameron Tom and defensive back Mark Webb to the practice squad. Hinton was with the Chargers to start the season and he played five games with them last season. Tom was most recently with the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad. Webb was a seventh-round pick of the Chargers in 2021.

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers happy with spacing, want to continue to ‘love and live in the paint’

• October 10, 2023

EL SEGUNDO — Lakers coach Darvin Ham had a list of things he wanted to see the team improve on or change from last season entering this preseason.

Among them: the team’s spacing, which is already noticeably different.

The Lakers are using five-out spacing – when every offensive player is starting a play outside the 3-point line – significantly more often than last season when they used more four-out, one-in spacing.

With the caveat that it’s been just two preseason games, the adjustment has appeared to help. The Lakers have scored at least 29 points in five of the six quarters when players who are expected to be or compete for a spot in the Day 1 rotation played regular minutes.

“We have some high-IQ basketball players so we give them a kitchen full of surprises and sometimes we cook up the meals and sometimes they create their own spins on the dishes,” Ham said. “It’s been great. Just the dialogue and communication between the coaches and players, it’s allowing everybody to be more creative and get on the same page and be more consistent.”

Generally, the main benefits of five-out spacing for an offense – if done correctly and with proper ball and player moment – is that it opens up the paint and makes defensive rotations more difficult.

This is supposed to lead to more efficient scoring opportunities, which has been the case for the Lakers so far in their exhibitions – especially in Monday’s victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

Monday’s shot chart from the non-deep bench Lakers players significantly skewed toward 3-pointers and shots inside the paint – the signs of a healthy offensive system.

“Our offense is a free-flowing offense and it’s predicated on space and quickness,” Ham said. “So whenever we cause the defense to be occupied, we have shooters out there. They have to account for people at the 3-point line, it opens up lanes and allows us to love and live in the paint. Which, in turn, puts that much more pressure on the defense to get stops and it opens us up to win the free throw line as well.”

Using five-out spacing should be easier for the Lakers this season compared to the last one, when they were a bottom-six team in both 3-point attempt frequency and accuracy.

They added players in free agency who attempt a high rate of 3-point shots and are going to force defenses to respect them from behind the arc in Gabe Vincent, Christian Wood and Taurean Prince.

D’Angelo Russell is a high-volume 3-point threat who will take them off the dribble in addition to catch-and-shoot opportunities. Austin Reaves is also a versatile 3-point shooter.

LeBron James has become a more respected shooter in the latter stages of his career.

Ham said after Tuesday’s practice that he’s “requested to see six 3-point attempts a game – three per half, at least” from big man Anthony Davis. That might not happen, which Ham acknowledged, but Davis seems poised to take more 3-point shots after attempting 1.3 per game last season, his lowest output since the 2014-15 season.

The Lakers might not replicate the 55 3-point attempts they had Monday, but letting it fly from behind the arc and making defenses pay for sagging off of them has clearly been an emphasis.

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“We have better shooting this year,” James said. “We have a lot of guys who shot the ball extremely well from the 3-point line last year. Obviously, it starts with putting pressure on the rim and still getting to the free-throw line. We have enough shooting where we believe we can go up there and knock them down with confidence and at a high clip. Still, a work in progress.”

As in their spacing.

“Still too early to tell,” Russell responded when asked how it’s been adjusting to more five-out spacing. “You’ve got two preseason games, one training camp, not a lot of minutes. Obviously, [we’ve] got some high-IQ basketball players that’ll figure it out. As far as adjusting to it, it may be harder for some. It’s too soon to tell.”

AVAILABILITY

James (rest) won’t be available for Wednesday’s preseason game against the Sacramento Kings at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Ham said after Tuesday’s practice.

Cam Reddish (right ankle soreness) and Jarred Vanderbilt (left heel soreness), who didn’t play Monday, remain day to day.

Darvin Ham on the utilization of more 5-out spacing in the Lakers’ offense: “We have some high IQ basketball players. So we give them a kitchen full of surprises. Sometimes we cook up the meals and sometimes they create their own spins on dishes. It’s been great.” pic.twitter.com/MFA2JUfLg9

— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) October 10, 2023

​ Orange County Register 

Palm Springs ‘Swiss Miss’ house by Charles Du Bois relists for $2.5 million

• October 10, 2023

A Swiss Miss house, one of 15 designed by modernist architect Charles Du Bois to stand out from its neighbors in Palm Springs’ Vista Las Palmas enclave, is back on the market.

The asking price is $2.498 million.

Completed in 1958, the 2,132-square-foot Polynesian-inspired double A-frame known as “Alohaus” has four bedrooms and three bathrooms. It sits on a third-acre-plus lot at the end of the street.

The property hit the market for the first time in 20 years in September 2022 for $2.995 million but was quickly removed by the longtime owners. Records show they bought it for $580,000 in January 2003.

“The sellers could not find a suitable replacement property that was worthy enough of giving up this house,” said Scott Histed of Bennion Deville Homes, the listing agent.

That has since changed.

This year in September, the house resurfaced on the MLS for $2.798 million. The price then dropped in early October by 11% to its current ask “to sell quickly,” Histed explained.

As previously reported, the midcentury-modern home has been well-preserved.  The all-white, open-plan living space features soaring tongue and groove ceilings, concrete floors and glass walls with views of the backyard pool and mountains.

A stone wall fireplace anchors the great room. The combined living and dining room flows into the kitchen.

Histed said last year that the kitchen and bathrooms are original except for the wall paint.

Du Bois introduced his “Swiss Miss” collection in Vista Las Palmas, which Bob Dumas and the Alexander Construction Co. developed in the 1950s. The midcentury-modern neighborhood was once populated by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Peter Lawford.

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​ Orange County Register 

High school football: Orange County season stat leaders through Oct. 7

• October 10, 2023

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

Here are the Orange County high school football stat leaders after the Week 7 games.

The leaderboards are based on season stats published on MaxPreps.com.

To be included, teams must have stats updated on MaxPreps each Tuesday by 2 p.m.

PASSING: TOTAL YARDS

Name, school                                         Yds.      Yds/G.   Comp. Att.    TD

Jackson Kollock, Laguna Beach             1949       278.4      130     208     26

Anthony Luna, Western                          1900       271.4      131     194     24

Nate Bento, El Dorado                            1729      247.0       107     168     16

Max Ruff, St. Margaret’s                         1728       246.9       144     221     19

Elijah Brown, Mater Dei                          1674       239.1       114    156      25

Nate Richie, Capo Valley Christian         1669       278.2       125    185      20

Cash O’Byrne, Tesoro                             1573       224.7       109    174      11

Ryan Reger, Fullerton                             1527       218.1       101     170     15

Alonzo Esparza, Los Alamitos                1510       215.7       104     162     17

Rudy Alcala, Troy                                    1508       215.4         77     137     21

Jaden O’Neal, Newport Harbor                1462      208.9        126     20      17

Nicholas Miali, Foothill                             1430       204.3       112     180     13

Noa Banua, Fountain Valley                    1425       237.5        113     176     18

Sergio Torres, Santa Ana                         1414      176.8          89     154     15

Corin Rynders, Canyon                            1373      196.1        126      243    10

Jeremiah Finaly, Crean Lutheran              1355      193.6        114      168    17

Austin Shepard, Beckman                         1313     187.6          92      133     20

Cullen Doyle, Brea Olinda                         1300      185.7           99      173   12

Brady Edmunds, Huntington Beach           1292      184.6          78      158    15

Annett Kaleb, Corona del Mar                    1240      177.1        117      205    13

Timmy Herr, San Juan Hills                        1238      176.9        100      146    12

Jacob Perry, Trabuco Hills                          1232      176.0        112       174      9

Holden Nagin, Yorba Linda                         1202      171.7         94       127     17

MJ Fernandez, Anaheim                             1201      171.6         84       151       8

Rocky Palacio, Portola                                1189      169.9         87       169       9

Devin Almazan, Kennedy                            1119      186.5         84       125      13

Leo Hannan, Servite                                    1113      159.0         81       130       6

RUSHING: TOTAL YARDS

Name, school                                         Yds       Yds/G     Yds/Car    Att     TD

Aiden Rubin, San Clemente                   1175        167.9        7.99       147      16

Aaron Forsgren, Esperanza                    1138       189.7        9.98        114      15

Ardwon Morris, Orange                           1090       181.7        7.57       144      13

Julius Gillick, Edison                               1039        148.4       7.70        135      13

Eimesse Essis, Tustin                              1025       146.4      11.14         92        8

Nathan Aceves, Brea Olinda                     943        134.7        6.33       149      12

Matthew Peters, Calvary Chapel               936        117.0       11.56         81       7

Aaron Mitchell, Foothill                              904         129.1        6.75       134     14

Charles Hughes, Santa Ana                      903         129.0        7.59       119     17

Tatum Ramos, Woodbridge                       863         123.3        8.22       105       8

Brandon Figueroa, Irvine                           853         121.9        6.27        136     10

Carter Christie, Villa Park                           847         121.0      11.45         74      13

Travis Wood, Tesoro                                  811          115.9         5.44       149       7

Charles Denny, Valencia                            807          115.3         6.16       131     13

Pablo Reyes, Garden Grove                     761          126.8        5.68         134      5

Jonathan Rodriguez, Century                    738           105.4       6.77        109       4

Tommy Acosta, Capistrano Valley             726            103.7       7.48         97     12

Anthony Abad, Sonora                               719           102.7       7.49         96      12

Steve Chavez, Orange Lutheran                700           100.0        5.26       133       9

Taylor Bowie, Trabuco Hills                        690             98.6        5.35        129       5

Justin Dominguez, Crean Lutheran            688             98.3        7.09          97       7

Sullivan Land, San Juan Hills                     657             93.9        6.77         97        8

Jake Martinez, Whittier Christian                655           109.2        7.62         86       11

RECEIVING: TOTAL YARDS

Name, school                                        Yds       Yds/G     Yds/Rec    Rec     TD

Cristian Ramos, Santa Ana                    812        101.5          19.80       41        9

Vander Ploog, Troy                                 768        109.7          20.76       37      11

Max Krosky, Capo Valley Christian         702        117.0          14.94       47      10

Nolan Olivares, Fountain Valley              686        114.3          15.59       44        8

Jordan Anderson, Newport Harbor         677          96.7           13.54      50        7

Kamran Jahromi, Portola                        659          94.1           17.81       37       7

Vance Spafford, Mission Viejo                646          92.3           15.02       43       9

Trent Mosley, Santa Margarita                643          91.9           16.08       40       6

Dylan Gardner, Yorba Linda                    614          87.7           14.28       43       5

Hunter Gray, Huntington Beach               606         86.6            26.35       23      9

Ryan Luce, Trabuco Hills                         603         86.1            12.83       47      5

Jason Robinson, San Juan Hills              594         84.9             15.63       38      7

Russell Frye, St. Margaret’s                     591         84.4             11.82       50      5

Declan Kai Healey, Troy                           580         82.9             23.20       25     10

Josiah Lamarque, Newport Harbor           569         81.3            12.93        44      8

Deacon Moss, Irvine                                 562         80.3            16.53        34       4

Jack Zerkel, Foothill                                  551         78.7            15.31        36       6

Russell Weir, Corona del Mar                   549         78.4            14.08         39      5

Desmin Joshway-Fairley, Western           543          77.6            14.68        37      6

Noah Kucera, Dana Hills                           526         75.1             15.94       33       4

Xavier Cadena, El Dorado                        509          72.7             18.18        28      6

Lucas Raya, El Dorado                             506          72.3             19.46        26      6

Lance Guerrero, Tesoro                            503          71.9             13.60        37      3

Blaine Anderson, University                      500          83.3             13.16        38      9

Davon Mitchell, Los Alamitos                    495          70.7              17.07       29      6

Ryner Swanson, Laguna Beach                491          70.1             15.84        31      8

Will Viola, St. Margaret’s                           488           69.7             13.94        35      6

Carson Clark, Los Alamitos                       478          68.3              17.07       28       4

Sean O’Rourke, Beckman                         477          68.1              17.67       27      7

TACKLES – TOTAL

Name, school                                          Tackles      Tck/G      Solo      Asst        TFL

Hoi Hansen, Edison                                     102          14.6           25         77            2

Carter Jones, Crean Lutheran                       94           13.4          68         26            7

Gabriel Jimenez, La Habra                            85           12.1          43         42            0

Clayton Corbett, Western                               80           11.4          49         31            9

Johnny Rojas, Whittier Christian                    77            11.0          30        47            7

Jackson Sievers, Capistrano Valley               77            11.0          55        22            7

Battle Gideons, St. Margaret’s                       76             12.7         39        37            5

Evangelino Salud, Westminster                     71             11.8         29        42            4

Jesse Vargas, La Habra                                71              10.1        39        32             5

Gavin Ghahsayi, Calvary Chapel                   69               8.6         30        39            4

Jake Javorsky, San Juan Hills                        68               9.7         50        18          19

Nathan Nieves, Calvary Chapel                     68               8.5          28        40          25

Brandon Soleau, Huntington Beach               67               9.6          46        21          11

Joel Clemente, Fullerton                                 67               9.6         27        40            3

Dalton Hurd, Tesoro                                        66               9.4         20        46            4

Chris Villalobos, Godinez                                66               9.4         40        26            0

Noah Sulick, Santa Margarita                         65               9.3          25       40            5

Eddie Zarate, Bolsa Grande                            65              9.3          35       30            1

Jack Klausner, St. Margaret’s                          64              9.1          29       35          10

Jacob Johnson, Villa Park                               64              9.1            5       59          8.5

​ Orange County Register 

Ducks claim Ross Johnston on waivers from Islanders in latest roster move

• October 10, 2023

The Ducks have claimed winger Ross Johnston on waivers from the New York Islanders, giving them their second waiver claim of the preseason and representing what was assuredly their final personnel move ahead of Oct. 14’s season opener, when Johnston will be on the roster.

Johnston, 29, fits with general manager Pat Verbeek’s emphasis on adding toughness to the organization. In 134 NHL contests, he has accumulated 283 penalty minutes and scored 24 points along the way. The 6-foot-5-inch, 235-pound Johnston is under contract for three seasons with a cap hit of $1.1 million.

He posted career highs in games played (32) and points (7) two years ago, but saw his role diminish on the Island last season. The Ducks had given a long look to another veteran with sandpaper to his game and fighting majors to his name, winger Zack Kassian, but they released him from his professional tryout last week.

That wasn’t the only intrigue in training camp, where Lukas Dostal beat out veteran free-agent signing Alex Stalock for the backup goalie job behind John Gibson. On defense, eight rearguards will open this campaign with the parent club. Veteran Cam Fowler leads a group that also includes rugged additions Radko Gudas and Ilya Lyubushkin, while the prodigious Jamie Drysdale headlines a younger bunch with Pavel Mintyukov, Jackson LaCombe, Tristan Luneau and Urho Vakkanainen.

The Ducks’ first waiver claim, defenseman Lassi Thomson, was waived again and claimed anew by his former club, the Ottawa Senators, after an ephemeral stint that included a game in which two of his turnovers led directly to goals.

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The forward corps has decidedly fewer new faces, with Johnston being the only outright newcomer other than rookie Leo Carlsson (lower-body, day-to-day) and free-agent signing Alex Killorn (finger, one month), both of whom are presently injured. So, too, are Chase De Leo (knee, two months) and Isac Lundeström (Achilles tendon, season).  Along with Carlsson, Trevor Zegras and Mason MacTavish comprise the nucleus in waiting behind seasoned scorers like Adam Henrique, Jakob Silfverberg, Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, Brock McGinn and Sam Carrick. Max Jones, Brett Leason and relative newcomer Benoit-Olivier Groulx, a French national who played two games for the Ducks last season, round out the roster.

​ Orange County Register 

Former Kings coach Barry Melrose retires from ESPN after revealing Parkinson’s diagnosis

• October 10, 2023

EL SEGUNDO –– Barry Melrose, the coach who guided the Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final, announced Tuesday he was stepping away from his post-coaching job as a broadcaster after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

“I’ve had over 50 extraordinary years playing, coaching and analyzing the world’s greatest game, hockey. It’s now time to hang up my skates and focus on my health, my family, including my supportive wife Cindy, and whatever comes next,” said Melrose, 67, in a statement.

Melrose played nearly 500 professional games on defense between the NHL and the competing World Hockey Association, most notably with the Toronto Maple Leafs. His career in coaching began at 35 and was encapsulated almost entirely within three campaigns stewarding the Kings. His tenure was highlighted by his first season, which preceded a Wayne Gretzky-led dash to a Final that saw the Kings upended by an indefatigable bunch of Montreal Canadiens.

He coached Kings general manager Rob Blake and Kings president Luc Robitaille in their primes, leaving a longstanding imprint on them and their teammates.

“He was a terrific coach, a big influence with Luc and I, obviously, in our careers, but I think within the organization itself. He’s in our thoughts and our prayers,” Blake said.

In 1996, Melrose began an association with ESPN that endured all but uninterrupted until Tuesday. He had another dalliance with pro coaching, lasting just 16 games behind the Tampa Bay Lighting bench in 2008-09. While Melrose may never have been clipping at Scotty Bowman’s heels for the most career victories in NHL history, NBA legend turned eight-figure analyst Charles Barkley once said he felt Melrose was the best analyst in sports.

Beyond any specific area of the industry, Melrose’s gregarious nature, infectious guffaw and everyman-oriented vernacular made him an indelible figure in the hockey world long after he skated his last shift or blew his final whistle.

“I’ve worked with Barry at ESPN for over a quarter century. Cold beers and hearty laughs in smokey cigar bars. A razor sharp wit, he was always early and he looked like a million bucks. I love him. I’ll miss him,” said Melrose’s frequent broadcast partner John Buccigross via X on Tuesday.

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Melrose was not only one to connect with fans through a screen. At events he covered, he would frequently arrive early, roam liberally and commiserate with patrons, remaining eager to snap photos, share stories and extend the reach of the sport to which he’d dedicated his life.

“He’s bigger than any team,” Gretzky said in a video tribute for ESPN. “For decades, he’s been suiting up – and I mean suiting up – for the game, for the sport, for hockey.”

He added: “Hockey is more than a game, it’s a community, a finely tuned orchestra, and Barry was our conductor.”

​ Orange County Register