Gilles Meloche

Gilles Emile Meloche (born July 12, 1950) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, scout and former player. Meloche played as a goaltender in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Black Hawks, California Golden Seals, Cleveland Barons, Minnesota North Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins. He is currently a special assignment scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Until 2013 he was the team's longtime goaltending coach, during which time the team won three Stanley Cups. Meloche was born in Montreal, Quebec.

Playing career

After playing junior hockey with the Verdun Maple Leafs, and loaned to the Quebec Remparts at the 1970 Memorial Cup, Meloche was the 70th selection in the 1970 amateur draft, chosen by the Chicago Black Hawks. His first professional season was spent mostly with the Flint Generals in the International Hockey League, with a two-game stint with Chicago. The Black Hawks were strong in goal with Tony Esposito, so Meloche was dealt to the California Golden Seals, one of the weakest teams in the league. In his first season with the Seals in 1971–72, he recorded a strong goals-against average of 3.33 and four shutouts, including one against the Boston Bruins, then a league powerhouse. The Seals' fortunes continued to worsen but Meloche continued to play well as the club's number one goaltender. He faced a barrage of rubber for another four seasons, including the Seals' relocation as the Cleveland Barons. For the next two seasons, Meloche solidly backstopped the Barons, with only a slight improvement in the team.

Following the Barons' merger with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978, Meloche was Minnesota's primary goalie and experienced his greatest success there. He spent eight seasons with the North Stars and appeared in the NHL All-Star game in 1980 and 1982. Minnesota experienced success in the playoffs as well, with an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in and the semi-final in 1980 and 1984. Meloche also became the first goaltender in NHL history to wear a modern full fiberglass cage during the Stanley Cup Final.

Despite leading the North Stars with 32 starts in the 1984–85 season, the 34-year old Meloche was getting a significant push from fellow netminders Don Beaupre and Roland Melanson, who was acquired from the New York Islanders during the season. With his contract up and two much younger netminders under contract, Meloche's rights were traded to the Edmonton Oilers. With Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog firmly entrenched in the Oilers' net, the trade was an odd fit and not surprisingly, Meloche was on the move again without ever playing a game for Edmonton. Prior to the 1985–86 season the Oilers sent Meloche to Pittsburgh in the deal that landed Marty McSorley in Edmonton.

Meloche spent his final three seasons as the Penguins' starting goalie before retiring following the 1987–88 season.

In total, Meloche played in 788 NHL regular season games over nineteen seasons with a GAA of 3.64 and 20 shutouts. Largely because of his stint with the dreadful Seals and Barons, he ranks fourth on the list of goalies with most losses with 351, only behind Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Curtis Joseph. He appeared in 45 playoff games and registered a GAA of 3.48 with 2 shutouts.

Following his retirement from playing, Meloche served as a Penguins scout from 1989 to 2006 and also served as a goaltending coach/consultant during much of that time. He was on the staff when the Penguins won Stanley Cups in 1991, 1992 and 2009. Meloche and his wife, Sophie, reside in Pittsburgh. His son, Eric, is a professional ice hockey player who played 74 NHL games between 2000 and 2007 for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Bold indicates led league Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1969–70 Verdun Jr. Maple Leafs QMJHL 45 — — — 2679 221 1 4.95 .882 11 5 6 654 34 0 3.12 .921 1969–70 Quebec Remparts M-Cup — — — — — — — — — 8 4 4 474 35 0 4.43 — 1970–71 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 2 2 0 0 120 6 0 3.00 .917 — — — — — — — — 1970–71 Flint Generals IHL 33 — — — 1866 104 2 3.34 — 3 — — 183 11 0 3.61 — 1971–72 California Golden Seals NHL 56 16 25 13 3121 173 4 3.33 .893 — — — — — — — — 1972–73 California Golden Seals NHL 59 19 32 14 3473 235 1 4.06 .885 — — — — — — — — 1973–74 California Golden Seals NHL 47 9 33 5 2800 198 1 4.24 .877 — — — — — — — — 1974–75 California Golden Seals NHL 47 9 27 10 2771 186 1 4.03 .877 — — — — — — — — 1975–76 California Golden Seals NHL 41 12 23 6 2440 140 1 3.44 .888 — — — — — — — — 1976–77 Cleveland Barons NHL 51 19 24 6 2961 171 2 3.47 .890 — — — — — — — — 1977–78 Cleveland Barons NHL 54 16 27 8 3100 195 1 3.77 .887 — — — — — — — — 1978–79 Minnesota North Stars NHL 53 20 25 7 3118 173 2 3.33 .885 — — — — — — — — 1979–80 Minnesota North Stars NHL 54 27 20 5 3141 160 1 3.06 .897 11 5 4 564 34 1 3.62 .885 1980–81 Minnesota North Stars NHL 38 17 14 6 2215 120 2 3.25 .889 13 8 5 802 47 0 3.52 .884 1981–82 Minnesota North Stars NHL 51 26 15 9 3026 175 1 3.47 .894 4 1 2 184 8 0 2.61 .908 1982–83 Minnesota North Stars NHL 47 20 13 11 2689 160 1 3.57 .887 5 2 3 319 18 0 3.39 .882 1983–84 Minnesota North Stars NHL 52 21 17 8 2883 201 2 4.18 .868 4 1 2 200 11 0 3.30 .875 1984–85 Minnesota North Stars NHL 32 10 13 6 1817 115 0 3.80 .879 8 4 3 395 25 1 3.80 .902 1985–86 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 34 13 15 5 1989 119 0 3.59 .881 — — — — — — — — 1986–87 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 43 13 19 7 2343 134 0 3.43 .881 — — — — — — — — 1987–88 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 27 8 9 5 1390 95 0 4.10 .868 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 788 270 351 131 45,397 2756 20 3.64 .885 45 21 19 2464 143 2 3.48 .889

International Year Team Event Result GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA 1982 Canada WC 5 3 2 0 299 16 1 3.21