Barry Melrose is going into the hall of fame. Not for hockey, 33 points in 300 games as a player or 79 wins as a coach are not enshrinable numbers, even for a place that honours Harold Ballard as a member.

No, tonight during their game against the Portland Pirates, the Manchester Monarchs are inducting the Kelvington, Sask., native into the mullet hall of fame.Melrose, the former NHLer and coach of the Los Angeles Kings, derided by none other than Don Cherry during the 1993 playoffs as Billy Ray Cyprus (a reference to the egregiously mulleted country star Billy Ray Cyrus with the achy, breaky singing career), is accepting the honour in the spirit in which it was offered."It's going to be a blast," said Melrose, now an analyst for ESPN.

"I grew up in the American Hockey League and I coached in the AHL, so I know what the AHL is all about. If I can get seven or eight thousand people in their building to have a good time, I'm all for it."