John Malloy has a cavalcade of titles to his credit. Ohio’s all-time winningest high school hockey coach, still going strong as the longtime bench boss at Gilmour. Hall of Famer. State champion. Revered institution of the game in Greater Cleveland and beyond. Gilmour hockey coach John Malloy reflects after reaching 700 career victories But before his Lancers' Varsity A squad dropped the puck for another campaign, Malloy added one more distinction, one that brought a collective smile to all who have known him around the rink through the years: "Wheel of Fortune" contestant. On its Oct. 23 episode, Malloy appeared on the beloved American hallmark game show. Since its debut as an NBC franchise in 1975 before heading to its longtime home in syndication, now airing on WOIO locally, it is estimated according to TV Insider that around 24,000 people have appeared as contestants on "Wheel." Malloy is now among that exclusive club. Even he remains pleasantly surprised over getting his own shot on the show. "Something my wife (Erin) and I do is watch 'Wheel of Fortune,' and I was sitting there and I was on the Wheel of Fortune app and just decided, 'Oh, Be a Contestant. I'll sign up,'" Malloy said. "They gave a call. One Zoom led to another Zoom led to another Zoom led to another Zoom led to another. Then I didn't hear from them for about five, six weeks, and I figured, 'Ah, OK. Nothing's going with it.'" Turns out, Malloy was wrong. "Wheel" coordinators called again, which led to two more Zooms. "I think I hooked them when they asked which of four things, if I was to be invited, which theme would I be interested in," Malloy said. "There's like eight people on the Zoom call. And they came to me, and one of the themes was Halloween. And I said, 'Well, of course Halloween. Because my first cousin is Linda Blair.' And the guy that was on the Zoom with me, the director, goes, 'Wait, your cousin is the queen of horror?!' "So I knew I was hooked there." Gilmour coach John Malloy talks to his team during a 2023 game against University. (Brian Fisher - For The News-Herald) There were two more Zoom calls with show coordinators, and before he knew it, Malloy was on a plane to Los Angeles to appear on the show. "It was much more of a process than I thought," Malloy said. "I thought it was, 'Hey, come on out.' But it was a lot of fun." Malloy's rotation for "Wheel" episodes was the second cycle for new host Ryan Seacrest, who had taken over starting this season for the retiring Pat Sajak. Even though Malloy had flown out, there was still not 100% certainty he would appear. As he explained, "Wheel" records six episodes at a time. His group had 21 people. Gilmour hockey coach John Malloy gets Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame nod "And they only use 18," Malloy explained. "So you go out there not knowing if you're actually going to be on or not. They have to do it, because if someone gets sick or ..." That fate did not meet Malloy, thankfully. On Malloy's episode, his fellow contestants were Alexandria Harris of San Diego and Jackie Fakhoury from Visalia, Calif. Malloy solved the Round 1 puzzle, a "Before and After" phrase that was "Things That Go Bump in the Night Nurse." He also got one of the triple tossups, then a speed-up round with "Wicked The Musical." All told, Malloy collected $11,950, taking second to Fakhoury ($14,800 and a trip to Romania) and just past Harris ($11,550 and a trip to Philadelphia). Fakhoury later won $100,000 in the bonus round, the first bonus of that magnitude won in the Seacrest era of the show. For his part in it, Malloy couldn't get over how much of a well-oiled machine "Wheel" was, despite decades watching the show with Erin. "They treat you really, really well," Malloy said. "But you also knew you were just a cog in the system. They put you everywhere you needed to be and get you ready across the board. "It was so neat seeing how the sausage was made. All the behind the scenes and how many people work there. You go to a commercial break, and people scurry out and they're cleaning everything, doing all that. That was the cool thing, and my wife was in the stands. She was even saying the same thing. She was like, 'I never imagined.'" While past episodes of "Wheel" do air on Pluto TV, recent ones such as Malloy's are not immediately available on a streaming service unless they're recorded and watched on demand. "Wheel" does share highlights on YouTube, but not full episodes. The online community finds creative ways to keep up with the show and each episode under those circumstances. One YouTube user, for example, has a channel dedicated to describing each episode, including Malloy's, through AI-generated illustrations and narration. Another has a blog breaking down each episode. In the Malloy household, perhaps an irony is that, Malloy admits, he's not necessarily the diehard "Wheel" fan. It's Erin. "My wife is probably more into it than I am," Malloy said. "There's the old saying: 'Happy wife. Happy life.' She would say, 'Hey, Wheel is on. You coming up to watch?' And I would be like, 'Yeah, sure.' Not that I didn't enjoy it. "But I'm actually not a good Wheel player. So once I found out that I was going to be on, she got a little Wheel of Fortune book, and she practiced with me. I just didn't want to embarrass myself. And I felt like I didn't. I felt like I was able to at least answer some of the questions and so forth. I could have been a little quicker on the buzzer. I could have done a little better. But either way, I just didn't want to do something where I pick a letter that's already been picked. And so I had some fun, too." As did the community and those who have known Malloy well through his journey. Malloy was featured in the December edition of the Miami (Ohio) alumni newsletter for his "Wheel" appearance. There were plenty of people who watched the episode the night it aired as well. All-time winningest high school hockey coach in Ohio. Revered institution. And, now, "Wheel of Fortune" alumnus. "I think the best part was how many people watched, because I couldn't say anything," Malloy said. "They give you about a week to promote it. And so, once I got it out, the school was really good with promoting it. Miami University did a good job of promoting it. "Just all the texts of people watching. There was a watch party. Different people got together and watched. And just all the comments. That's why I didn't want to embarrass myself." Gilmour hockey: Player connection sets apart Ohio’s all-time winningest coach, John Malloy