TOP 100 OILERS: SCOTT MELLANBY (95)
8 years ago
If you had a dollar for every time a NHL general manager has said over the past 20 years he coveted a forward who was not only talented, but big and tough with a nasty edge to him, you could probably retire quite comfortably. Players like that don’t grow on trees.
Scott Mellanby, a robust right-winger born in Montreal, ticked the boxes on all of the above and he parlayed those traits into a NHL career that spanned 1,431 regular season games, including 149 games with the Edmonton Oilers during the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons.
Scott Mellanby #19
Right Wing
| NUMBER: | 19 | BIRTHDATE: | June 11, 1966 |
| HEIGHT: | 6′ 1″ | BIRTHPLACE: | Montreal, QC, Canada |
| WEIGHT: | 210 | DRAFTED: | PHI / 1984 NHL Entry Draft |
| SHOOTS: | Right | ROUND: | 2nd (27th overall) |
BY THE NUMBERS
CAREER REGULAR SEASON STATISTICS
| SEASON | TEAM | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG | S | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985-86 | FLYERS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 1985-86 | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN | 32 | 21 | 23 | 44 | 89 | ||||||
| 1985-86 | CANADA-WJC-A | 7 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 6 | ||||||
| 1986-87 | FLYERS | 71 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 8 | 94 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 118 | 9.3 |
| 1987-88 | FLYERS | 75 | 25 | 26 | 51 | -7 | 185 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 190 | 13.2 |
| 1988-89 | FLYERS | 76 | 21 | 29 | 50 | -13 | 183 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 202 | 10.4 |
| 1989-90 | FLYERS | 57 | 6 | 17 | 23 | -4 | 77 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 104 | 5.8 |
| 1990-91 | FLYERS | 74 | 20 | 21 | 41 | 8 | 155 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 165 | 12.1 |
| 1991-92 | OILERS | 80 | 23 | 27 | 50 | 5 | 197 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 159 | 14.5 |
| 1992-93 | OILERS | 69 | 15 | 17 | 32 | -4 | 147 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 114 | 13.2 |
| 1993-94 | PANTHERS | 80 | 30 | 30 | 60 | 0 | 149 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 204 | 14.7 |
| 1994-95 | PANTHERS | 48 | 13 | 12 | 25 | -16 | 90 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 130 | 10.0 |
| 1995-96 | PANTHERS | 79 | 32 | 38 | 70 | 4 | 160 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 225 | 14.2 |
| 1996-97 | PANTHERS | 82 | 27 | 29 | 56 | 7 | 170 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 221 | 12.2 |
| 1997-98 | PANTHERS | 79 | 15 | 24 | 39 | -14 | 127 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 188 | 8.0 |
| 1998-99 | PANTHERS | 67 | 18 | 27 | 45 | 5 | 85 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 136 | 13.2 |
| 1999-00 | PANTHERS | 77 | 18 | 28 | 46 | 14 | 126 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 134 | 13.4 |
| 2000-01 | PANTHERS | 40 | 4 | 9 | 13 | -13 | 46 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 6.9 |
| 2000-01 | BLUES | 23 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 18.9 |
| 2001-02 | BLUES | 64 | 15 | 26 | 41 | -5 | 93 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 137 | 11.0 |
| 2002-03 | BLUES | 80 | 26 | 31 | 57 | 1 | 176 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 132 | 19.7 |
| 2003-04 | BLUES | 68 | 14 | 17 | 31 | -7 | 76 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 103 | 13.6 |
| 2005-06 | THRASHERS | 71 | 12 | 22 | 34 | 5 | 55 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 100 | 12.0 |
| 2006-07 | THRASHERS | 69 | 12 | 24 | 36 | -9 | 63 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 103 | 11.6 |
| NHL TOTALS | 1,431 | 364 | 476 | 840 | -36 | 2,479 | 140 | 1 | 56 | 2,960 | 12.3 |
CAREER PLAYOFF STATISTICS
| SEASON | TEAM | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG | S | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986-87 | FLYERS | 24 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1987-88 | FLYERS | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -6 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0.0 |
| 1988-89 | FLYERS | 19 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 8.9 |
| 1991-92 | OILERS | 16 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -3 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 7.7 |
| 1995-96 | PANTHERS | 22 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -10 | 44 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 5.3 |
| 1996-97 | PANTHERS | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| 1999-00 | PANTHERS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.0 |
| 2000-01 | BLUES | 15 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -1 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 9.4 |
| 2001-02 | BLUES | 10 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 28.0 |
| 2002-03 | BLUES | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0.0 |
| 2003-04 | BLUES | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.0 |
| 2006-07 | THRASHERS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.0 |
| NHL TOTALS | 136 | 24 | 29 | 53 | -17 | 220 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 229 |
NOTABLE
Originally drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1984, Mellanby would finish his career with 364 goals and 840 points to go with 2,479 penalty minutes. He added 53 more points and 220 PIM in 136 playoff games.
Mellanby scored 20-or-more goals eight times, including 23 with the Oilers in 1991-92 after being acquired from the Flyers in a six-player deal that sent Jari Kurri to Philly. He had 100-or-more PIM in 11 seasons, including sin bin times of 197 and 147 minutes with the Oilers.
For trivia buffs, Mellanby was the player who created the fad in Florida that saw fans toss plastic rats on the ice after Panther goals. He started the trend by killing a real rat in the Panthers’ dressing room in October 1995 between periods of a game against Calgary. Mellanby would score two goals in that game in what was declared a “rat-trick.”
THE STORY
Mellanby could play the game anyway you wanted to play it. In his first season with the Oilers, his 50 points left him fourth in team scoring behind only Vincent Damphousse, Joe Murphy and Craig Simpson. His 197 penalty minutes was second on the team to Dave Manson (220 PIM).
In 1992-93, a season in which the Oilers struggled mightily to a record of 26-50-8, beginning a stretch in which they would miss the playoffs for four consecutive seasons, Mellanby scored 15-17-32 in 69 games. The Oilers left him available for the 1993 expansion draft, where he was taken by Florida.
Mellanby’s relatively brief tenure wearing Edmonton silks came with a team clearly on the decline – he’d enjoy his best years in Florida, including a 60-point campaign in 1993-94. Mellanby was one of the few players that fans could count as the Oilers spiraled into mediocrity and the 1990 Stanley Cup win became a distant speck in the rear-view mirror.
This series will look at the top 100 Edmonton Oilers from the NHL era 1979-80 to 2014-15, starting with 100 and working up. Find previous editions of the Top 100 here.
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