Kehoe Takes To Meloche
By Bob Grove

The Penguins' struggles to stay healthy and win games this season have presented an unexpected opportunity for the organization's young players to spend their first full season on the National Hockey League stage—with mixed results.

Center Kris Beech and defenseman Josef Melichar have been impressive; center Milan Kraft has been a disappointment; defenseman Andrew Ference and right wing Toby Petersen have been plagued by inconsistency that is hardly surprising given their respective eighth- and ninth-round draft history.

While second-round 2000 pick Shane Endicott and seventh-round 1997 pick Tom Kostopolous did not disappoint the Penguins in their brief NHL stints this season, the team was more impressed with the play of seventh-round 1996 pick Eric Meloche, a right wing whose number 72 is a reversal of the number his father Gilles wore in 18 seasons as an NHL goaltender before becoming a Pittsburgh scout.

The 5-10, 195-pound Meloche, who was 9-years-old when his father began his three-year stretch with the Penguins in 1985, is neither big nor blessed with the kinds of skills that would have worried Gilles a great deal in his playing days. But that's OK, because coach Rick Kehoe likes Eric Meloche's attitude.

"I can hit, I can skate, open up ice for the centermen," says Meloche, a strong skater who finishes every check he sees. "I want to go hard to the net, crash, bang and maybe anger the other team a little bit. That's the way I've got to play to stay in this league. You have to work hard every night. Otherwise, you'll just get run over."

A Montreal native who played four seasons at Ohio State, Meloche was the Baby Penguins' fourth-leading scorer when he was promoted from the American Hockey League in mid-January and seems capable of contributing the rarest of Penguin goals: the kind that come from knocking opponents off the puck, forechecking aggressively, getting the puck to the net and actively looking for rebounds.

Meloche was reassigned to the AHL during the Olympic break but hoped to be recalled for the Penguins' final playoff push.

"I got a lot of confidence from the coaches putting me out there to play in certain situations, and I think I took good advantage of it," he said.