Gilles Meloche
| Gilles Meloche | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Meloche with the Penguins, December 2011
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| Born |
July 12, 1950 Montreal, QC, CAN |
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| Nationality | Canadian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | ice hockey player, coach, scout | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ice hockey career
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| Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | ||
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| 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 |
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| National team |
 Canada
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| NHL Draft | 70th overall, 1970 Chicago Black Hawks |
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| Playing career | 1970–1988 | ||
Gilles Emile Meloche (born July 12, 1950) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, scout and former player. Meloche was a 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. Meloche was born in Montreal, Quebec.
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.
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