Today the Flyers announced the 2021 inductees into the Flyers Hall of Fame, Paul Holmgren and Rick Tocchet.
Congratulations to Flyers legends Paul Holmgren and @RealRocket22, who will be inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame during a pregame ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 16! https://t.co/OTGhLFyc36
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 7, 2021
Holmgren has one of the more illustrious careers in Flyers history. He amassed 500 games played with the Flyers and posted 50 points in 67 playoff games, including 20 in 18 when the Flyers went to the Final in 1980. He then went on to be a coach for the team from 1988-1992 with the difficult task of following up Mike Keenan who went to two Cup Finals.
In 1995 he returned to the team after coaching in Hartford, as the director of pro scouting. He was named director of player personnel following the team’s Eastern Conference champion season of 1996-97, then Assistant General Manager after the 1998-99 season where he was until 2006 when he took over for Bobby Clarke as General Manager.
Holmgren took the worst team in franchise history and one year later had them in the East Finals against Pittsburgh, and two years later was in the Stanley Cup Final vs. Chicago. He acquired Chris Pronger, Danny Briere, Kimmo Timonen, Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, and so many more Flyers legends. Homer is, to a tee, a Philadelphia Flyer.
Rick Tocchet was a key cog in those mid 1980’s teams that went to the Stanley Cup Final vs. Edmonton, scoring 508 points in 621 games with Philadelphia. He returned to the team for his final run in the NHL, and scored 11 points in 18 playoff games when they went to game seven of the East Finals vs. New Jersey. Tocchet was another one of those “typical” Flyers players. He was as tough as it gets, but had the skill to back it up.
He may have won his only Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh, but Tocchet made his name in the NHL with the Flyers. He served as captain in the 1991-92 season, and is the all-time team leader in penalty minutes.
* stats via Hockey-reference
