Dean Melanson

{{short description|Canadian ice hockey player}}

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| image =

| image_size =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1973|11|19|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 11

| weight_lb = 200

| position = Defence

| shoots = Right

| played_for = Buffalo Sabres
Washington Capitals
Iserlohn Roosters
Kassel Huskies
Milano Vipers
Basingstoke Bison

| draft = 80th overall

| draft_year = 1992

| draft_team = Buffalo Sabres

| career_start = 1993

| career_end = 2008

}}

Dean Clement Melanson (born November 19, 1973) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey defenceman. He played 9 games in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals between 1995 and 2001. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1993 to 2008, was spent in the minor leagues and in Europe.

Biography

Melanson was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. As a youth, he played in the 1985 and 1986 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Antigonish.{{cite web|url=https://www.publicationsports.com/ressources/files/439/Joueurs_Pro.pdf|title=Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA|year=2018|website=Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament|access-date=2019-01-21|archive-date=2019-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306085544/https://www.publicationsports.com/ressources/files/439/Joueurs_Pro.pdf|url-status=dead}}

Melanson was drafted in the fourth round, 80th overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft.{{cn|date=January 2019}} Melanson appeared in only nine games in the NHL: five with the Sabres in the 1994–95 season and four with the Washington Capitals in the 2001–02 season.{{cn|date=January 2019}} In his brief NHL career, Melanson went scoreless and recorded eight penalty minutes.{{cn|date=January 2019}}

The majority of his professional career was spent in the American Hockey League, where he won the Calder Cup in 1996 with the Rochester Americans. He also suited up for teams in the International Hockey League, Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey and the United Hockey League. He also had a spell in Italy for the Milano Vipers. Melanson ended his professional career after playing 11 games with British Elite Ice Hockey League team the Basingstoke Bison in the 2007–08 season.{{cn|date=January 2019}}

Career statistics

=Regular season and playoffs=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"|

! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"|

! colspan="5"|Regular season

! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"|

! colspan="5"|Playoffs

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Season

! Team

! League

! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM

! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM

1990–91

| Saint-Hyacinthe Laser

| QMJHL

| 69

101727110

| 4

0112
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1991–92

| Saint-Hyacinthe Laser

| QMJHL

| 42

81927158

| 6

12325
19920–93

| Saint-Hyacinthe Laser

| QMJHL

| 57

132942253

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1992–93

| Rochester Americans

| AHL

| 8

0116

| 14

16718
1993–94

| Rochester Americans

| AHL

| 80

12122138

| 4

0112
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1994–95

| Buffalo Sabres

| NHL

| 5

0004

| —

1994–95

| Rochester Americans

| AHL

| 43

471184

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1995–96

| Rochester Americans

| AHL

| 70

31316204

| 14

33622
1996–97

| Quebec Rafales

| IHL

| 72

3212495

| 7

02212
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1997–98

| Rochester Americans

| AHL

| 73

7916228

| 4

0220
1998–99

| Rochester Americans

| AHL

| 79

72734192

| 17

32532
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1999–00

| Philadelphia Phantoms

| AHL

| 58

112536178

| 4

23510
2000–01

| Chicago Wolves

| IHL

| 42

17880

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2000–01

| Philadelphia Phantoms

| AHL

| 15

14548

| —

2000–01

| Portland Pirates

| AHL

| 13

14514

| 2

00010
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2001–02

| Washington Capitals

| NHL

| 4

0004

| —

2001–02

| Portland Pirates

| AHL

| 70

21416140

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2002–03

| Portland Pirates

| AHL

| 23

14540

| —

2002–03

| Binghamton Senators

| AHL

| 35

43793

| 13

01148
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2003–04

| Iserlohn Roosters

| DEL

| 27

4610150

| —

2003–04

| Saint-Hyacinthe Cousin

| QSMHL

| 3

0557

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2004–05

| Kassel Huskies

| DEL

| 49

369143

| —

2005–06

| Saint-Hyacinthe Cristal

| LNAH

| 30

2131542

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2005–06

| Muskegon Fury

| UHL

| 6

0009

| 12

14518
2006–07

| Muskegon Fury

| UHL

| 6

11212

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2006–07

| Milano Vipers

| Italy

| 2

0006

| 8

00057
2007–08

| Basingstoke Bison

| EIHL

| 11

02232

| —

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | AHL totals

! 567 !! 42 !! 132 !! 174 !! 1365

! 72 !! 9 !! 18 !! 27 !! 142

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | NHL totals

! 9 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 8

! — !! — !! — !! — !! —

References

{{reflist}}