Gilles Meloche and his Under-Appreciated Rookie 1971-72 NHL Season

Goaltender Gilles Meloche was a fifth round pick by the Chicago Blackhawks at the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft. However, Meloche played just two games with the Hawks in 1970-71 before ending up with the California Golden Seals. With the Seals, Gilles was thrust into the number one role in 1971-72 and didn't disappoint.

In his true rookie season, Meloche played 56 games for California, posting a 3.33 goals against average with four shutouts. These were great numbers for a goalie on a team that didn't qualify for the post season. In his first game with the club, he shut down the high-powered Boston Bruins, earning his first career shutout while turning away 34 shots at the Boston Garden.

Typical of the Golden Seals, Meloche stopped 52 of 54 shots in a March 11, 1972 game at Maple Leaf Gardens but still lost the to Toronto 2-1. It was Darryl Sittler sinking the Seals with a power play goal at 12:29 of the second period.

Despite this, Gilles received just a single vote for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 1971-72. Ahead of him in voting was winner Ken Dryden along with Rick Martin and Marcel Dionne, certainly a deserving trio.

The following year, 1972-73, Meloche led the NHL in games and minutes played, shots, saves and goals against. Gilles was getting better as a goalie but the Golden Seals were simply getting worse as a franchise. In three games, he faced over 50 shots. In 14, opponents fired more than 40 at him. 

Gilles Meloche played 788 regular season and 45 playoff games in the National Hockey League between 1970-71 and 1987-88 with the Blackhawks, Golden Seals, Cleveland Barons, Minnesota North Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins. 

Eddie Shack's Time With The Los Angeles Kings

Eddie Shack spent just one full season with the Los Angeles Kings, 1969-70. He came to California via a May 14, 1969 trade from the Boston Bruins with Ross Lonsberry for Ken Turlik and a pair of draft picks. Shack had been with the Bruins for two seasons, following his time winning four Stanley Cup championships with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

With the Kings in 1969-70, Eddie scored 22 goals and assisted on 12 for 34 points over 73 games. This was important because it was the third of five different teams he would score 20 or more in a season for. He was the first to accomplish that feat.

His first game with Los Angeles was against the Montreal Canadiens on the road at the Forum. Shack scored the only goal for the Kings in a 5-1 loss. Eddie put the puck past Habs goalie Rogie Vachon at 3:52 of the third period, assisted by Dennis Hextall and Bob Wall.

His lone hat trick with the Kings came shortly after in an October 18, 1969 matchup with the Oakland Seals. He scored what would be the game winner at 15:19 of the first period on Gary Smith in a 5-0 home win. 

Shack started the 1970-71 NHL season with Los Angeles but eleven games into the season, his time in California was up. On November 24, 1970, Eddie was traded with Dick Duff to the Buffalo Sabres for Mike McMahon and two draft picks. He scored 25 goals with Buffalo that year. Combined with the two goals he scored for L.A., the 27 total was a career best.

Between 1958-59 and 1974-75, Eddie Shack played 1,047 regular season and 74 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Red Berenson's Final Year In The NHL

Both O-Pee-Chee and Topps thought Red Berenson was good for another year in the NHL, featuring him on hockey cards in their 1978-79 sets. However, Red decided to call it a career as a player and his final action came during the 1977-78 season with the St. Louis Blues.

Captain Berenson played all 80 games for the Blues in his final campaign at 39 years old. He put up respectable numbers with 13 goal and 25 assists for 38 points. Three of those thirteen came in a February 28, 1978 game against the Minnesota North Stars at the Checkerdome. It was the last of his six NHL hat tricks, the final two coming against the Stars.

Red didn't get on the board until 15:14 of the second period, scoring on Minnesota goalie Paul Harrison with assists going to Bob Hess and goalie Phil Myre. This put the Blues up 4-1 in the game. Just 47 seconds into the third period, Berenson had his second of the night, assisted by Bill Fairbairn. The hat trick goal was scored at 10:09 of the third period, unassisted. That goal was the last of the game in a 7-1 win for the home team.

Over the season, Red also had seven two point games to go with the hat trick. He had two game winning goals, both against the Los Angeles Kings. Both those goals were scored on L.A. goalie Rogie Vachon. In a 3-2 win over the Kings at the Great Western Forum, Berenson broke a 2-2 tie with just 39 seconds left in the match.

Between 1961-62 and 1977-78, Red Berenson played 987 regular season and 85 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues. He won a Stanley Cup championship with the Habs in 1964-65.