Mellanby, a hard-working forward, made two trips to the Stanley Cup Final and scored 364 goals during 21 NHL seasons with five teams.
The Philadelphia Flyers selected the Montreal native in the second round (No. 27) of the 1984 NHL Draft and signed him after he played two seasons at the University of Wisconsin. Mellanby made his NHL debut March 22, 1986, and he became a regular the following season. He had 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) in 71 games in 1986-87 and helped the Flyers advance to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Edmonton Oilers.
Mellanby, a hard-working forward, made two trips to the Stanley Cup Final and scored 364 goals during 21 NHL seasons with five teams.
The Philadelphia Flyers selected the Montreal native in the second round (No. 27) of the 1984 NHL Draft and signed him after he played two seasons at the University of Wisconsin. Mellanby made his NHL debut March 22, 1986, and he became a regular the following season. He had 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) in 71 games in 1986-87 and helped the Flyers advance to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Edmonton Oilers.
Mellanby scored at least 20 goals in three of the next four seasons before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers on May 30, 1991. Two years later, the Florida Panthers claimed him in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft.
He had his best offensive seasons while playing with the Panthers, scoring the first goal in Florida history Oct. 9, 1993, and scoring 30 goals in 1993-94. Mellanby had NHL career highs of 32 goals and 70 points in 1995-96, when the third-year Panthers stunned the NHL by advancing to the Cup Final before being swept by the Colorado Avalanche. He also triggered the "Rat Trick" tradition of Panthers fans throwing rats onto the ice to celebrate goals by using his stick to kill a rat in the Miami Arena locker room before a game, then using the same stick to score two goals Oct. 8, 1995.
Mellanby scored 27 goals in 1996-97 and was named captain the following season. He scored at least 15 goals in each season from 1997-98 through 1999-2000, but after a slow start was traded to the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 9, 2001.
After bouncing back with 15 goals in 2001-02, Mellanby scored 26 times in 2002-03, helping the Blues to a second-place finish in the Central Division. He dropped to 14 goals in 2003-04, became a free agent and was signed by the Atlanta Thrashers on July 26, 2004.
Mellanby was named captain in 2005-06 and played his final two NHL seasons with the Thrashers, helping them advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 2007. The Thrashers were swept by the New York Rangers, and after that series Mellanby retired with 840 points (364 goals, 476 assists) and 2,479 penalty minutes in 1,431 NHL games, as well as 53 points (24 goals, 29 assists) in 136 playoff games.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (1996)
- Traded to Edmonton by Philadelphia with Craig Fisher and Craig Berube for Dave Brown, Corey Foster and Jari Kurri, May 30, 1991.
- Claimed by Florida from Edmonton in Expansion Draft, June 24, 1993.
- Traded to St. Louis by Florida for the rights to Dave Morisset and St. Louis' 5th round pick (Vince Bellissimo) in 2002 NHL Draft, February 9, 2001.
- Signed as a free agent by Atlanta, July 26, 2004.