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Mellanby Hangs 'Em Up
by David Carty

Scott Mellanby was a trail blazer of sorts. The Montreal native probably never envisioned becoming an NHL star. Mellanby certainly never imagined becoming the face of two expansion teams, nearly losing an arm in a barroom brawl, or being dubbed “the rat guy” after an incident that probably resulted in a few nasty letters from PETA.

Yet this is the legacy Thrashers captain leaves behind after announcing his retirement on Tuesday.

Mellanby entered the league as the 27th overall selection in the 1984 NHL Draft. The Philadelphia Flyers second-round pick was selected higher than future stars Patrick Roy, Brett Hull, and Tom Glavine. Yes, that Tom Glavine.

It was during Mellanby’s tenure with the Flyers that the devastating and nearly deadly injury occurred. On August 20th, 1989, Mellanby and friend Jeff Frazier stopped for drinks at the Muskoska Sands north of Montreal. At some point in the night, 44-year-old Frank Chapple started a fight with Frazier and allegedly tried to cut his throat with a broken beer bottle. Chapple slashed Mellanby’s arm instead, severing five tendons in the process. Doctors almost had to amputate the arm, but instead Mellanby returned to action on November 22nd, three months after nearing having his arm sliced off.

It takes some time to heal, you know.

Mellanby was later traded Edmonton in a deal to bring hockey legend Jari Kurri to Philadelphia. After two decent seasons, he was left unprotected in the 1993 NHL expansion draft. At one time, Mellanby was considered a better prospect than guys like Roy, Hull, and Luc Robitalle. Now, he was considered the 30th best player amongst the league’s scrap heap.

Mellanby packed his bags to play hockey in Florida, and he never looked back.

The first goal in Florida Panthers history belongs to Scott Mellanby scored in the inaugural 1993-94 season. He’d score many more before the season was up. Thirty goals and thirty assists capped Mellanby’s career year. Still unfazed by pain, Mellanby broke his nose and orbital bone on as Larry Murphy cleared the puck on February 1st of that season against the Penguins. He was back on the ice a week-and-a-half later.

Despite the gritty play Mellanby become known for, his fandom reached its peak in the 1995-96 season. After finding a scurrying little creature in the Panthers locker room before the Panthers‘ home opener, Mellanby decided to get in some early practice for gametime. He one-timed the rat with his stick, saving exterminators a little extra work. Mellanby then proceeded to score two goals with the very same stick in what John Vanbiesbrouck dubbed a “rat trick”.

From then on, fans littered the ice with plastic rats in the midst of the Panthers Stanley Cup run. The Panthers’ miracle season was stopped just shy of a Stanley Cup after being swept by the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche goaltender is reported to have said, after allowing two goals in the first period of game three, that there would be “no more rats.” That prophecy proved to be true, and the Panthers were held scoreless for the rest of the series. Of course, that goaltender/fortune teller was none other than Patrick Roy, selected 24 picks after Scott Mellanby.

The NHL would ban rat-throwing the following year, saying that in caused too much of a delay on the ice. The Florida Panthers have only made the playoffs twice in the ten years since rat-mania, and they have not once gotten past the first round.

Mellanby ended his Panthers tenure after he was traded to the St. Louis Blues in February, 2001, but he still ranks first in Panthers history in goals and points scored. After a short revival with the Blues, Mellanby signed with the Atlanta Thrashers following the 2004 lockout. He was named team captain in his two seasons with Atlanta, and Mellanby’s third-seeded Thrashers fell in a sweep to the New York Rangers in what would be his last playoff series.

Only Phil Housley and Mike Gartner have played in more career games without hoisting the Stanley Cup, but Mellanby’s most dedicated efforts have actually come off the ice.

In honor of his autistic son Carter, he founded the Mellanby Autism Foundation in 1998 and co-founded Athletes Against Autism with Byron Dafoe and Olaf Kolzig. Mellanby’s foundation alone has raised and granted more than $300,000 dollars to autism related organizations.

While Scott has not yet decided where his life will go from here, one can be sure he’ll keep following the trail, living life the Mellanby way.