Mellanby played a key role for the Panthers while skating on a line with electric goal scorer Pavel Bure

The Florida Panthers were a fun team around the turn of the millennium.

Their roster had a fun mix of younger players and veterans, the shine had yet to completely come off from the Stanley Cup Final run from a few seasons prior, and oh yeah, Florida also had the league’s most exciting goal scorer on its roster.

At the time, the Panthers were also hoping that they were building a winning team for years to come.

One of the team’s lesser-known (outside of South Florida) but integral players was captain Scott Mellanby.

While Bure received the majority of the attention, it was Mellanby who provided essential secondary scoring on the ice – often skating on Bure’s line with Viktor Kozlov – and crucial leadership off the ice.

There was one point during that 2000-01 season where Mellanby logged 14 points over an 11-game span.

The Panthers went 7-3-1-1 during those 11 games in December of 2000, helping them to the top of the Southeast Division.

At the time, The Hockey News featured Mellany and the Panthers in a story that came in the January 14, 2000 magazine, Vol. 53, Issue 18, written by David J. Neal. 

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