manny
10-21-2005, 08:16 PM
Hey, 19!
Life just gets better for Thrashers elder statesman and captain Scott Mellanby.
By Jon Cooper
It is fitting that Scott Mellanby wears No. 19.
http://www.atlantathrashers.com/Resources/News/mellanby1_102105_170.jpgHe is a veteran of 19 NHL seasons and made his National Hockey League debut at age 19.
More important, even though he's the oldest player on the Atlanta Thrashers roster - at 39, he has two years, four months and four days on his nearest teammate, Peter Bondra - when he gets on the ice he still has the jump of that 19-year-old.
A second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers (27th overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, Mellanby has never spent a day in the minors, coming right out of the University of Wisconsin to play in two games for Philadelphia at the end of the 1985-86 season.
That's a lot of hockey games. To put things in perspective, rookie defenseman Braydon Coburn was born just 23 days before Mellanby made his NHL debut, March 22, 1986 against the New York Rangers at The Spectrum - an arena that has since been torn down.
Rapidly approaching 1,300 NHL games played (he will play No. 1,300 against the Islanders on Oct. 25) plus another 132 postseason tilts, Mellanby eagerly anticipated making his Atlanta debut after signing with the Thrashers as a free agent on July 26, 2004. His wait was prolonged over a year by the lockout, but proved worthwhile.
Ironically, once training camp opened, he was already one of the longer-tenured Thrashers despite only being a member of the team on paper.
"I've been here since the end of last December (2004). So for a guy who hasn't played a game here I feel pretty established," he said with a laugh. "A lot of guys around the [locker] room were picked up in trades or free-agent signings this summer. I'm already one of the middle of the pack."
It didn't take long for Mellanby to prove himself as a leader in Atlanta, as on Sept. 27, the team named him captain.
"Scott has the experience and character to provide our team with the leadership that is necessary to be successful," said Thrashers Executive Vice President and General Manager Don Waddell. "We are very fortunate to have four individuals (Mellanby and assistant captains Bondra, Slava Kozlov, and Bobby Holik) of this caliber who can help guide our younger players and set the tone in the locker room."
http://www.atlantathrashers.com/Resources/News/mellanby_102105_170.jpg Atlanta is Mellanby's fifth stop, but he leaves a trail of winning that is easy to follow. He played with the Flyers until May 30, 1991, when he was traded to Edmonton as part of a six-player deal that also included Jarri Kurri. Two years later he was claimed by Florida in the expansion draft, where he stayed until Feb. 9, 2001, when he was shipped to St. Louis.
Along the way, he has played in two Stanley Cup Finals and five conference finals, reaching them with each team for which he's played.
He'd like to continue that trend with Atlanta and especially get another shot at the Cup, which eluded him in 1987, when Philadelphia lost to Edmonton in seven games, and 1996, when Florida was swept by Colorado (pre-Bob Hartley).
"Hopefully I'll get there a third time because I'm 0-for-2," he said.
While no one is talking Finals considering Atlanta's struggles in its first seven games, Mellanby points out that the season is long enough to overcome the rocky, injury-plagued start.
"There are a lot of ups and downs over the course of a year," he said. "You have to try and keep focused on a day-to-day basis on what you're trying to do and not get too far ahead of yourself.
"You can't get too high when you have good days or get too down when you have bad days," he continued. "If you win three or four in a row it doesn't mean you're the best team in the world. At the same time, you can't let one loss turn into five losses by burying your head or feeling sorry for yourself. You've got to get right back at it. Just be a pro every day."
Mellanby believes that with that day-to-day approach the Thrashers have the right combination of veteran leadership and youthful enthusiasm to get to the playoffs and from there anything is possible.
He vividly remembers the Cinderella Panthers, who upset powerful Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and captured the hearts of the city and its fans on their way to the Finals.
It was his slaying of a rat, that had found its way into the Panthers locker room, with a one-timer, then scoring two goals in the game - a feat nicknamed a "rat trick" by then Florida goaltender Jon Vanbiesbrouck - that sparked a craze where fans would throw rubber rats onto the ice after Panthers goals.
Mellanby hopes the Thrashers can create a similar kind of postseason fervor among their fans, sans the throwing of rodents or any other living beings.
"I don't want to say throw Thrasher birds because then I'll have animal rights activists after me," he said with a laugh. "But that was a fun time in Florida, that was a unique situation and something that I'll always remember. Who knows? Maybe we'll come up with something new here."
Life just gets better for Thrashers elder statesman and captain Scott Mellanby.
By Jon Cooper
It is fitting that Scott Mellanby wears No. 19.
http://www.atlantathrashers.com/Resources/News/mellanby1_102105_170.jpgHe is a veteran of 19 NHL seasons and made his National Hockey League debut at age 19.
More important, even though he's the oldest player on the Atlanta Thrashers roster - at 39, he has two years, four months and four days on his nearest teammate, Peter Bondra - when he gets on the ice he still has the jump of that 19-year-old.
A second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers (27th overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, Mellanby has never spent a day in the minors, coming right out of the University of Wisconsin to play in two games for Philadelphia at the end of the 1985-86 season.
That's a lot of hockey games. To put things in perspective, rookie defenseman Braydon Coburn was born just 23 days before Mellanby made his NHL debut, March 22, 1986 against the New York Rangers at The Spectrum - an arena that has since been torn down.
Rapidly approaching 1,300 NHL games played (he will play No. 1,300 against the Islanders on Oct. 25) plus another 132 postseason tilts, Mellanby eagerly anticipated making his Atlanta debut after signing with the Thrashers as a free agent on July 26, 2004. His wait was prolonged over a year by the lockout, but proved worthwhile.
Ironically, once training camp opened, he was already one of the longer-tenured Thrashers despite only being a member of the team on paper.
"I've been here since the end of last December (2004). So for a guy who hasn't played a game here I feel pretty established," he said with a laugh. "A lot of guys around the [locker] room were picked up in trades or free-agent signings this summer. I'm already one of the middle of the pack."
It didn't take long for Mellanby to prove himself as a leader in Atlanta, as on Sept. 27, the team named him captain.
"Scott has the experience and character to provide our team with the leadership that is necessary to be successful," said Thrashers Executive Vice President and General Manager Don Waddell. "We are very fortunate to have four individuals (Mellanby and assistant captains Bondra, Slava Kozlov, and Bobby Holik) of this caliber who can help guide our younger players and set the tone in the locker room."
http://www.atlantathrashers.com/Resources/News/mellanby_102105_170.jpg Atlanta is Mellanby's fifth stop, but he leaves a trail of winning that is easy to follow. He played with the Flyers until May 30, 1991, when he was traded to Edmonton as part of a six-player deal that also included Jarri Kurri. Two years later he was claimed by Florida in the expansion draft, where he stayed until Feb. 9, 2001, when he was shipped to St. Louis.
Along the way, he has played in two Stanley Cup Finals and five conference finals, reaching them with each team for which he's played.
He'd like to continue that trend with Atlanta and especially get another shot at the Cup, which eluded him in 1987, when Philadelphia lost to Edmonton in seven games, and 1996, when Florida was swept by Colorado (pre-Bob Hartley).
"Hopefully I'll get there a third time because I'm 0-for-2," he said.
While no one is talking Finals considering Atlanta's struggles in its first seven games, Mellanby points out that the season is long enough to overcome the rocky, injury-plagued start.
"There are a lot of ups and downs over the course of a year," he said. "You have to try and keep focused on a day-to-day basis on what you're trying to do and not get too far ahead of yourself.
"You can't get too high when you have good days or get too down when you have bad days," he continued. "If you win three or four in a row it doesn't mean you're the best team in the world. At the same time, you can't let one loss turn into five losses by burying your head or feeling sorry for yourself. You've got to get right back at it. Just be a pro every day."
Mellanby believes that with that day-to-day approach the Thrashers have the right combination of veteran leadership and youthful enthusiasm to get to the playoffs and from there anything is possible.
He vividly remembers the Cinderella Panthers, who upset powerful Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and captured the hearts of the city and its fans on their way to the Finals.
It was his slaying of a rat, that had found its way into the Panthers locker room, with a one-timer, then scoring two goals in the game - a feat nicknamed a "rat trick" by then Florida goaltender Jon Vanbiesbrouck - that sparked a craze where fans would throw rubber rats onto the ice after Panthers goals.
Mellanby hopes the Thrashers can create a similar kind of postseason fervor among their fans, sans the throwing of rodents or any other living beings.
"I don't want to say throw Thrasher birds because then I'll have animal rights activists after me," he said with a laugh. "But that was a fun time in Florida, that was a unique situation and something that I'll always remember. Who knows? Maybe we'll come up with something new here."