Maybe not considered to be an over-looked exclusion to the Hockey Hall of Fame like Rogatien Vachon, Gilles Meloche is a goaltender that was under-rated due to the misfortune of playing for mediocre teams throughout his NHL career. The California Golden Seals, Cleveland Barons, Minnesota North Stars and pre-Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins were teams that just didn’t get an outstanding goalie noticed.
Gilles played one season in the QMJHL with the Verdun Maple Leafs in 1969-70. Despite a goals against average of 4.95, Meloche was selected to the First All-Star Team. Afterall, this was a league where Guy Lafleur scored 103 goals for the Quebec Remparts that season.
The Chicago Black Hawks took Meloche in the fifth round of the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft, 70th overall. Gilles played two games with Chicago in 1970-71 but spent most of the time in the minors. The Black Hawks had Tony Esposito and Gerry Desjardins in net and there was no place for a rookie netminder on the team.
The next season changed everything. Meloche was traded to the California Golden Seals and played 56 of the team’s games. Despite playing on a terrible California team, Gilles recorded a decent 3.32 GAA. He was the main goaltender for the Seals until they moved to Cleveland after the 1975-76 season. Meloche played the bulk of the games for the Cleveland Barons during their two year history in the National Hockey League.
When Cleveland merged with the Minnesota North Stars for the 1978-79 season, Meloche became the number one goalie for the Stars. With his move to Minnesota, finally Gilles got to see what Stanley Cup playoff hockey was like. The North Stars lost in the Semi-Finals to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1979-80. The following year, the team made it to the Stanley Cup finals before falling to the mighty New York Islanders. In 1983-84, Minnesota made it to the Conference Finals before losing to the powerhouse Edmonton Oilers.
For a whole summer, Gilles was a member of the Edmonton Oilers. Minnesota traded him at the end of May, 1985. On September 12, Edmonton
traded him to the Penguins for Marty McSorley. He spent his final three years in the NHL with Pittsburgh before retiring after the 1987-88 season.
Forever, Gilles Meloche will have his name in the record books of the California Golden Seals. Here are his main accomplishments with the team, for better or worse:
- Most wins – 93
- Most losses – 191
- Most shutouts – 11
- Most minutes – 20,666
- Most shutouts in a single season – 4 in 1971-72
The Gilles Meloche rookie card appears in the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee and Topps hockey card series. O-Pee-Chee #112 is valued at $8 and Topps #69 is valued at $5. For the rest of his career, his cards are rated as semi-star/goalie.
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | A | PIM | SO | GAA |
| 1969-70 | Verdun Maple Leafs | QMJHL | 45 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 4.95 |
| 1970-71 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 |
| 1970-71 | Flint Generals | IHL | 33 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3.34 |
| 1971-72 | California Golden Seals | NHL | 56 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3.32 |
| 1972-73 | California Golden Seals | NHL | 59 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4.06 |
| 1973-74 | California Golden Seals | NHL | 47 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4.24 |
| 1974-75 | California Seals | NHL | 47 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 4.03 |
| 1975-76 | California Seals | NHL | 41 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.44 |
| 1976-77 | Cleveland Barons | NHL | 51 | 3 | 18 | 2 | 3.47 |
| 1977-78 | Cleveland Barons | NHL | 54 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3.77 |
| 1978-79 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 53 | 1 | 25 | 2 | 3.33 |
| 1979-80 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 54 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3.06 |
| 1980-81 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 38 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3.25 |
| 1981-82 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 51 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3.47 |
| 1982-83 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 47 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.57 |
| 1983-84 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 52 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4.18 |
| 1984-85 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.80 |
| 1985-86 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 34 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.59 |
| 1986-87 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 43 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 3.43 |
| 1987-88 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.09 |