Thomas Robert Mellor (born January 27, 1950) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

. He played 26 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

with the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

during the 1973–74 and 1974–75 seasons. Internationally Mellor played for the American national team at the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...

, winning a silver medal.

Playing career

Before being drafted by the

, Mellor played hockey for

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

. In the 1968–69 season, he scored nine goals and 19 points in his 17-game rookie season. In his sophomore season, he scored 21 goals and 44 points in 26 games. He scored a

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

for Boston College in a 13–6 win over

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

. In his junior year in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

he had 40 points in 25 games for the Boston Eagles. During his years at Boston College, he led Boston College in assists on two occasions (1971: 30; 1973: 45) and was ranked third for most assists in a season at Boston College. He was also a two-time recipient (1971, 1973) of Boston College's Norman F. Dailey Memorial Award as the team's Most Valuable Player. He was inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980. Mellor was drafted 68th overall by the

1970 NHL Amateur Draft The 1970 NHL Amateur Draft was the eighth NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 11, 1970, the day after the 1970 Expansion Draft, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Bil ...

and played 26 regular season games in the

for Detroit between 1973 and 1975. Mellor also played in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

for the

Virginia Wings The Virginia Wings were a professional ice hockey team based in Norfolk, Virginia of the greater Hampton Roads area. They were an affiliated farm team of the Detroit Red Wings, and a member of the American Hockey League for three seasons from 197 ...

; in the International Hockey League for the

Toledo Goaldiggers The Toledo Goaldiggers were a minor professional ice hockey club based in Toledo, Ohio, from 1974 to 1986. They played in the International Hockey League (IHL) and held their home games at the Toledo Sports Arena on the east side of Toledo. Pr ...

; and in the

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Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

with

Västra Frölunda Västra Frölunda, sometimes referred to as just Frölunda, is one of 21 boroughs in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. It is located in the south western part of the city, and is the smallest of the boroughs with a population of 12,855 (2004) on 3.7 ...

. As a player in the IHL, he was named to the First-Team All-Star Team, he won the

James Gatschene Memorial Trophy The James Gatschene Memorial Trophy was awarded annually to the International Hockey League player selected as most valuable through his display of outstanding playing ability and sportsmanlike conduct over the course of the regular season, as ch ...

and the

Governor's Trophy The Governor's Trophy was awarded annually by the International Hockey League to the most outstanding defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the oppo ...

in 1977, his last season as a professional player before retiring. As an amateur, Mellor represented the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

at the

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

, winning a silver medal. Mellor also played in the 1971, 1972 and 1973

Ice Hockey World Championship The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annua ...

tournaments. Mellor was formally inducted into the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022. At the same enshrinement ceremony, his 101-year-old father, Don Mellor, a pioneer youth hockey organizer, was honored by the Hall with the Malcolm Greene Chace Memorial Trophy for "Lifetime Achievement of a Rhode Islander to the game of hockey."

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

*
Tom Mellor @ hockeydraftcentral.com
1950 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American men's ice hockey defensemen Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey players Detroit Red Wings draft picks Detroit Red Wings players Frölunda HC players Ice hockey players from Rhode Island Ice hockey players at the 1972 Winter Olympics London Lions (ice hockey) players Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey Sportspeople from Cranston, Rhode Island Toledo Goaldiggers players Virginia Wings players {{US-icehockey-defenceman-stub