Barkley began in the Chicago organization, playing parts of 1957-58 and 1959-60 with the Hawks while apprenticing in the minors. The Hawks traded him in 1962, and he soon became a regular with Detroit. Barkley joined the Red Wings for 1962-63 and missed out on rookie-of-the-year honors in the closest vote of all time when Kent Douglas of Toronto received 99.4 weighted votes to Barkley's 99.2.

After his injury, Barkley joined the Detroit front office, working in public relations and as a troubleshooter. He was appointed head coach of the Fort Worth farm team for Detroit in 1969 and a year later was behind the bench for the Wings, where he stayed for less than one season before quitting because of the teams slow start. He returned to coach the Wings again in 1975, but lasted just 26 games before being fired and replaced by Alex Delvecchio, his former teammate.

Courtesy of the Hockey Hall of Fame