The Hockey Hall of Fame makes its calls to inductees on Tuesday. Here are some Flyers we think are worthy of making it into the Hall for the Class of 2025.
In their franchise history the Philadelphia Flyers have had several people who wore the jersey or were behind the bench who were later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The late owner Ed Snider is one. The late coach Fred Shero is another, alongside Ken Hitchcock, Pat Quinn, Roger Neilson, Keith Allen. As for players, they include Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber, Bernie Parent, Mark Howe and Eric Lindros. Meanwhile, players who had a stint with Philadelphia who are also in the hallowed Hall are ample: Paul Coffey, Adam Oates, Peter Forsberg, Dale Hawerchuck, Chris Pronger, Mark Recchi, Jeremy Roenick, Darryl Sittler and Allan Stanley.
On Tuesday, the Hockey Hall of Fame will be making a series of phone calls, congratulating the class of 2025 inductees for a special ceremony later this year. It’s always a day for discussion regarding who got in, who was left out and who remains consistently ignored by the selection committee. The first-year eligibility list this year is loaded with talent: Zdeno Chara, Ryan Getzlaf, Duncan Keith, Joe Thornton and Carey Price. But there are plenty of others, including a handful of Flyers who didn’t get in their first year of eligibility, who could finally be getting a phone call from the HHOF. Here then, in no particular order, are five noteworthy Flyers who would be worthy of getting that call.
Rick Tocchet (1144 GP, 440 G, 512 A, 952 PTS)
While many will be wondering how he’ll be behind the Flyers bench, Rick Tocchet spent the majority of his 18-year career in Philadelphia. Over 11 seasons with the club which bookended his career Tocchet scored 232 goals and had 276 assists for 508 points in 621 games. He scored thirty goals or more four times as a Flyer, and twice scoring over 40 (including 45 in 1988-89). Tocchet was also instrumental in leading the Flyers to two deep playoff runs in three seasons. The first run saw the Flyers lose to Edmonton in five games while the second (1986-87), scoring 10 goals and adding 11 assists in 26 games before the Philadelphia bowed out to the Oilers in a dramatic seven-game series. That same calendar year Tocchet was instrumental (alongside Brian Propp) in helping Team Canada overcome a deep hole in Game 3 of the 1987 Canada Cup against Russia which ended with Mario Lemieux’s iconic goal.
Tocchet wasn’t a gifted skater or gifted goal scorer but worked for everything he accomplished. Although there are others with similar statistics who are as deserving, a 2025 induction would certainly be another accolade in his career. It would definitely go with his Stanley Cup ring he won with the Penguins in 1991-92. Heck, even his final extended playoff run as a veteran with the Flyers in 1999-2000 saw him score five goals and add six assists in 18 games. On the whole, Tocchet coming back to coach might rub some people the wrong way, but you may be able to think of only one or two other players who epitomized the Flyers style better.
John LeClair (967 GP, 406 G, 413 A, 819 PTS)
When the trade was made many moons ago, the Flyers got fleeced. Robbed. Absolutely taken to the cleaners. What Montreal did was criminal. At least that was the initial indication back in February 1995, as Montreal landed coveted high end forward Mark Recchi from the Flyers in exchange for John LeClair, a decent middle-six forward who would surely never amount to much. Oh and the Flyers got Eric Desjardins (and Gilbert Dionne) also in the trade back for Recchi and a third-round pick. What were the Flyers thinking?
Well, with the clarity of history, they were thinking quite correctly. Paired with Eric Lindros who was just coming into his own, and alongside Mikael Renberg, LeClair was an integral part of the Flyers’ “Legion of Doom.” If opponents were in the way, they were bulldozed. If they wanted to take over a game, they did. If they wanted to overpower a team and score, they did. There was nothing LeClair didn’t do over that time, except win a Stanley Cup. In a 37-game sample size after arriving from Montreal, LeClair had 49 points. The following five seasons, LeClair put up five 40-goal seasons, three times hitting the 50-goal mark. He had two consecutive seasons of 97 points, scoring 51 goals the first year and 50 goals the second.
In 649 regular season games with Philadelphia, LeClair scored 333 goals and had 310 assists for 643 points. Nearly a point a game. And he does have a Stanley Cup ring thanks to the Canadiens winning it all in 1992-93. Although he’s not considered a certainty for the Hockey Hall of Fame, it’s possible he’s much closer to getting that phone call then at any point the last few years.
Brian Propp (1016 GP, 425 G, 579 A, 1004 PTS)
Before his rookie season with Philadelphia in 1979-80, Brian Propp had 109 goals for the Brandon Wheat Kings in 1978-79. Ninety came in the regular season, the other 19 came in the playoffs as Brandon won the Western Hockey League championship. That goal scoring prowess was evident throughout most of Propp’s 15-year career, 11 of them with the Flyers. Eight of his first 10 seasons with the Flyers saw Propp scoring 30 or more goals. Four times he scored 40 or more. In 790 regular season games with Philadelphia, he scored 369 goals to go with 480 assists for 849 points. Of those 369 goals, 55 were game-winning goals. And 103 of them came on the power play. Simply put, he was often a lethal sniper.
Propp’s career was fleshed out with stops in Boston, Minnesota and Hartford before retiring after the 1993-94 season. He was also nearly a point a game player in the playoffs, scoring 148 points in 160 playoff games. Six times his playoff season was at least 18 games or more, meaning he was durable for long playoff runs. Although not on Chris Chelios’ Christmas gift list (if you know you know), Propp should be recognized for his durability. And by far his coveted goal scoring.
Rod Brind’Amour (1484 GP, 452 G, 732 A, 1184 PTS)
Rod Brind’Amour spent 20 seasons in the NHL. After a brief stint with St. Louis to start his career, Brind’Amour ended up in Philadelphia with Dan Quinn in 1991 in exchange for Ron Sutter and Murray Baron. Brind’Amour was often a bright spot in the darker days of the Flyers in the early pre-Lindros ’90s. The Flyers were often on the outside looking in regarding the playoffs, yet he would epitomize the scrappy, rugged play the faithful fans lauded. In nine years with Philadelphia, Brind’Amour played 633 regular season games, scoring 235 goals and adding 366 helpers for 601 points. Nearly a third of those goals (75) were on the power play while 34 were the game-winning goal.
In 1996-97, Brind’Amour had a good playoff run, scoring 13 goals and eight assists in 19 games. The Flyers lost to Detroit in the Stanley Cup final, with coach Terry Murray saying the team choked. Brind’Amour was shipped off to Carolina with picks in exchange for Keith Primeau (and picks) in January 2000. He ended up winning a Cup with Carolina in 2005-06. He’s remained with the same organization, hoping to get the Hurricanes that second Stanley Cup banner as a coach. But it still remains elusive. Nonetheless, Brind’Amour’s hard-nosed, pugnacious style, to go along with his talent to get to the dirty areas to score, made him a memorable Flyer during some often unmemorable seasons.
Ron Hextall (614 GP, 296 W, 2.98 GAA, .895 SV%)
Of the five listed, this one (perhaps alongside Propp) might be the longest shot for induction. Hextall was known as much for his suspensions and razor-thin temperament as he was for backstopping the Flyers to the brink of a Stanley Cup in his rookie year. He even won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Gretzky and company hoisted the big prize. In 489 games with Philadelphia over two stints, Hextall won 240 games with a 2.91 goals-against average and a save percentage of .895. Aside from incidents with Chris Chelios and Kent Nilsson (and occasionally fighting with other goaltenders), Hextall was a great goalkeeper in an era where scoring was paramount.
Hextall was shipped out to Quebec in a huge franchise-altering trade for Eric Lindros in 1992. However he wasn’t part of the Colorado Avalanche who won the Cup the first year after the Nordiques relocated in 1995-96. By then he was back in Phialdelphia after a stop with the Islanders. Hextall returned to Philadelphia for another five seasons, getting to the Eastern (then Prince of Wales) Conference final before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champions in the New Jersey Devils in six games.
The goaltender’s time as a general manager hasn’t fared well. His stay with the Flyers saw him focus on developing the blueline but most of those picks didn’t pan out. And his selection of Nolan Patrick, although considered reasonable at the time, was a disaster due to Patrick’s migraine issues which ended his career. A stay as the Penguins’ general manager went just as badly, namely due to his hands essentially being tied when it came to getting young and giving Sidney Crosby a different supporting cast. Nonetheless, as a Flyers netminder, Hextall was more often than not very good, which is something a lot of Flyers goalies haven’t been lately.
