Gilles Meloche

Gilles Meloche
Meloche with the Penguins, December 2011
Born	(1950-07-12) July 12, 1950 Montreal, QC, CAN
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight	170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	NHL Chicago Black Hawks California Golden Seals Cleveland Barons Minnesota North Stars Pittsburgh Penguins
NHL Draft	70th overall, 1970 Chicago Black Hawks
Playing career	1970–1988

Gilles Emile Meloche (born July 12, 1950 in Montreal, Quebec) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League 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. He had previously served as the team's longtime goaltending coach, winning three Stanley Cups in that position before resigning in 2013.

Playing career

After playing junior for the Verdun Maple Leafs, Meloche was the 70th player chosen in the 1970 amateur draft by the Chicago Black Hawks. His first professional season was spent mostly with Flint in the International League with a two game stint with Chicago. Chicago was 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 league powerhouse Boston Bruins. The Seals' fortunes in the NHL continued to worsen but Meloche continued to play well as the club's number one goaltender. Meloche faced a barrage of rubber directed at the Seals' goal for another four seasons up to the franchise's relocation to Cleveland. Moving to Cleveland for 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. Meloche spent eight seasons with the North Stars, which included two appearances in the NHL All-Star game in 1980 and 1982. Minnesota experienced playoff success as well, with an appearance in the finals in 1981 and the semi-finals in 1980 and 1984. Meloche finished his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, playing three more seasons before retiring in 1988.

In total, Meloche played in 788 NHL regular season games over 19 seasons with a GAA of 3.64 and 20 shutouts. Largely because of his stint with the dreadful Seals/Barons teams of the 1970s, his 351 losses are the fourth-most in NHL history, only behind Martin Brodeur, Curtis Joseph and Gump Worsley. 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 doubled as a goaltending coach/consultant during much of that time. He was part of 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

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1969–70	Verdun Jr. Maple Leafs	QJHL		45	—	—	—	2679	221	1	4.95	.882
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	—
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
1980–81	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		38	17	14	6	2215	120	2	3.25	.889
1981–82	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		51	26	15	9	3026	175	1	3.47	.894
1982–83	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		47	20	13	11	2689	160	1	3.57	.887
1983–84	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		52	21	17	8	2883	201	2	4.18	.868
1984–85	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		32	10	13	6	1817	115	0	3.80	.879
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

Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1969–70	Verdun Jr. Maple Leafs	QJHL		11	5	6	0	654	34	0	3.12	.921
1969–70	Verdun Jr. Maple Leafs	M-Cup		8	4	4	—	474	35	0	4.43	—
1970–71	Flint Generals	IHL		3	—	—	—	183	11	0	3.61	—
1979–80	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		11	5	4	—	564	34	1	3.62	.885
1980–81	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		13	8	5	—	802	47	0	3.52	.884
1981–82	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		4	1	2	—	184	8	0	2.61	.908
1982–83	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		5	2	3	—	319	18	0	3.39	.882
1983–84	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		4	1	2	—	200	11	0	3.30	.875
1984–85	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		8	4	3	—	395	25	1	3.80	.902
NHL totals				45	21	19	—	2464	143	2	3.48	.889

International

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

External links

• Gilles Meloche's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database