| Birth Date: | January 27, 1950 |
| Birth Place: | Cranston, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 0 |
| Weight Lb: | 185 |
| Position: | Defense |
| Shoots: | Right |
| Played For: | Detroit Red Wings London Lions Västra Frölunda IF |
| Ntl Team: | USA |
| Draft: | 68th overall |
| Draft Year: | 1970 |
| Draft Team: | Detroit Red Wings |
| Career Start: | 1973 |
| Career End: | 1977 |
Thomas Robert Mellor (born January 27, 1950) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He played 26 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings during the 1973–74 and 1974–75 seasons. Internationally Mellor played for the American national team at the 1972 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal.
Before being drafted by the Detroit Red Wings, Mellor played hockey for Boston College. 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 for Boston College in a 13–6 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.[1] In his junior year in the NCAA he had 40 points in 25 games for the Boston Eagles.[2] 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.[3]
Mellor was drafted 68th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 1970 NHL Amateur Draft and played 26 regular season games in the National Hockey League for Detroit between 1973 and 1975. Mellor also played in the American Hockey League for the Virginia Wings; in the International Hockey League for the Toledo Goaldiggers; and in the Swedish Elitserien with Västra Frölunda. As a player in the IHL, he was named to the First-Team All-Star Team, he won the James Gatschene Memorial Trophy and the Governor's Trophy in 1977, his last season as a professional player before retiring.
As an amateur, Mellor represented the United States national team at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, winning a silver medal.[4] Mellor also played in the 1971, 1972 and 1973 Ice Hockey World Championship 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."
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |||||
| 1966–67 | Northwood School | HS-NY | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1967–68 | Northwood School | HS-NY | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1968–69 | Boston College | ECAC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1969–70 | Boston College | ECAC | 26 | 21 | 23 | 44 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1970–71 | Boston College | ECAC | 25 | 10 | 30 | 40 | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1970–71 | United States National Team | Intl | 18 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971–72 | United States National Team | Intl | 7 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | Boston College | ECAC | 30 | 6 | 45 | 51 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973–74 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 25 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973–74 | Virginia Wings | AHL | 23 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973–74 | London Lions | Intl | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974–75 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974–75 | Virginia Wings | AHL | 73 | 17 | 35 | 52 | 147 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 17 | ||
| 1975–76 | Västra Frölunda IF | SWE | 34 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1975–76 | Toledo Goaldiggers | IHL | 13 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 1976–77 | Toledo Goaldiggers | IHL | 75 | 13 | 61 | 74 | 118 | 19 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 16 | ||
| NHL totals | 26 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | United States | WC | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 1972 | United States | OLY | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1973 | United States | WC-B | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | ||
| Senior totals | 26 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 8 | ||||
| Award | Year | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-ECAC Hockey Second Team | 1969–70 1970–71 | [5] | |
| All-ECAC Hockey First Team | 1972–73 | ||
| AHCA East All-American | 1972–73 | [6] |