University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame
Roger J. Mallette 1975 - Hockey
One of Vermont's toughest and most talented players in the highly successful mid-1970s, Roger Mallette, inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1985, graduated second on UVM's all-time hockey scoring ladder and still ranks in the top 10.
Former coach Jim Cross called Mallette the finest left wing he ever coached, and cited Mallette's consistency and ability to play within a system, as well as his scoring, as trademarks. Cross said that Mallette, though he lacked size (5-foot-8), was the best checking forward at Vermont in the 1970s. And though he earned a reputation as one of the East's toughest players, he was tagged with just 88 minutes of penalties in the 126 games.
He amassed 156 points in his career, on the strength of 57 goals and 99 assists. That included an outstanding senior campaign in which he scored 18 goals and assisted on 37 others. Not bad, considering he played much of the year with a broken wrist. His scoring totals attested to his consistency: 11 goals and 18 points as a freshman, 17 goals and 38 points as a sophomore, 11 goals and 45 points as a junior, and his 18 goals and 55 points as senior.
Along with linemates Hall of Famers, Tim O'Connell ('76) and Bill Koch ('75), Mallette led the Catamounts to the 1974 ECAC Division II Championship and a third-place ranking in UVM's first year of Division I play in 1975. The team advanced to the Boston Garden for the 1975 ECAC Championships and beat Cornell in the consolation game after losing to eventual-champion Boston University.
Mallette, the first French-speaking player at Vermont, was a Dean's List student majoring in chemistry and a member of the Gold Key Society.
