By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
In San Francisco, there was The Catch, the Joe Montana to Dwight Clark playoff miracle.
In Cleveland, there was The Drive, the 98-yard masterpiece engineered by John Elway as the Denver Broncos stunned the Browns.
In Rochester, for Amerks fans, there was The Hit, the monstrous Game 7 body check delivered by Dean Melanson that sent an already frenetic crowd into a frenzy and provided added momentum in their 1996 Calder Cup-winning victory.
“That’s the loudest I ever heard that building,” Melanson said the other day. “The fans really got into it after that.”
Indeed, as Portland Pirates winger Richard Zednik was helped off the ice, the raucous cheering reverberated off the brick arena walls of what was then a smaller, more-cozy War Memorial. It was fandemonium personified.
It was just what Melanson, retired and living with his wife in the rural tranquility of North Carolina, doesn’t cope with well now.
A 15-year professional career of delivering bone-jarring checks, of throwing and receiving punches, has made it difficult, if not impossible, to be among large crowds and bright lights. Post-concussion issues, he said.
Which is why he won’t be in Rochester on Friday night when he and the late Claude Verret, a scoring star from the 1980s, are inducted into the Amerks Hall of Fame. The ceremony starts at 6:59 p.m., before the Amerks play the Hershey Bears.
“It was an absolute privilege to wear the Amerks jersey for six unforgettable seasons and represent one of the most iconic franchises in professional hockey,” Melanson said.
“I was there parts of six seasons and you think about all the coaches, the players, the doctors, the medical staff. We went to the finals three times in six years.”
Melanson’s first trip to the finals came in 1993, when, barely a month out of junior hockey, he helped the Amerks upend the powerhouse Binghamton Rangers in the semifinals before losing to the Cape Breton Oilers in the championship series.
He then was an integral part of the defense on the 1996 Cup team and also was a major force on the blue line when the Amerks reached the finals in 1999 before losing to the Providence Bruins.
Over his time as an Amerk, Melanson played in 353 regular season games (fifth most in franchise history among defensemen) and produced 22 goals, 78 assists and 100 points. His 852 penalty minutes are sixth-most on the franchise’s all-time list. He also skated in 53 playoff games (7-14-21, 74 PIMs).
The style he played as an Amerk – as well as 214 more AHL games for Philadelphia, Portland and Binghamton; in 114 IHL games with Quebec and Chicago; in 9 NHL games for the Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals; and a little over 100 games in Europe – took a toll, however.
He said he suffered 11 documented concussions. One didn’t even happen on the ice. While playing for Portland, he was driving to the rink when his car was T-boned by another vehicle. With his car disabled, he walked to the rest of the way to the rink and played the game.
He remembered none of it the next day.
“That’s old-school,” he said. “You played regardless of everything.”
The list of documented concussions don’t include the one he certainly sustained as an Amerk. Skating through the neutral zone, he absorbed a blind-side hit, fell face-first to the ice and needed to be helped to the bench by the referee while play continued.
“I was ready to play the next night,” he said.
That’s just how it was back then. Players were expected to suck it up.
Today he deals with the repercussions. He prefers quiet and serene to loud and hectic. He and his wife, Renee, live on a farm in Franklinton, N.C. One of their five children is still at home, along with four riding horses, four dogs and 10 chickens.
“There’s nothing like farm-fresh eggs,” he said. “My wife was working in Washington, D.C., but we decided we wanted a little slower pace. The horses are very therapeutic.”
Despite the lasting effects from his nights on the ice, Melanson said that, if able, he wouldn’t re-write history.
“I’d do it all over again,” he said, “but I do like the way things are handled today with protocols.”
Former Amerks and Sabres goalie Martin Biron, Melanson’s teammate in Rochester in 1997-98 and ’98-99, will represent Melanson at Friday’s ceremonies.
Verret to be inducted posthumously
Verret, who died in March of 2025, was better than a point-a-game player as an Amerk, producing 111-148-259 in 229 regular season games. He also scored 10-17-27 in 31 playoff games.
He was the AHL’s rookie of the year in 1983-84, a second-team All-Star in 1984-85 and a member of the 1987 Calder Cup championship team.
Leave a Reply