Philadelphia Flyers Flashback: Goalie Ron Hextall

Ron Hextall led the Philadelphia Flyers to the playoffs the next two seasons. With 30 wins or more each season, Hextall became the first goaltender in history to achieve that in his first three seasons. After that, things began to unravel.

The same fiery competitiveness that brought Hextall to the Flyers was causing him to miss games. On one side, he was missing games due to suspensions from overly aggressive play. On the other side, he fought with his own team’s front office over his contract. Hextall emerged as one of the best goalies in the league and wanted to be paid like it.

The contract dispute led to a holdout which led to injuries after Hextall’s eventual return to the ice. He missed most of the 1989-90 season. He only managed to play 36 games the next season. During the 1991-92 season, he played in 45 games, but he only won 16 games. It looked like the incredible prospect was following apart.

The Flyers entered negotiations with the Quebec Nordiques for their top pick Eric Lindros who refused to play for Quebec. Ron Hextall and five other players were shipped off to Canada for the future hall of famer. He played for the Nordiques for one season before being traded to the Islanders. While in New York, Hextall played well, but the Islanders were expecting big things from youngster Jamie McLennan.

Hextall was again traded, but this time, back to the Philadelphia Flyers. His return coincided with the acquisition of John LeClair. The piece finally came together for the Flyers to return to greatness. In the 1994-95 season, Philadelphia returned to the playoffs for the first time since 1988-89.

During his last five seasons, Hextall remained with the Flyers. He even led the team to the 1997 Stanley Cup finals, but the Flyers ran into the best team of the 1990s, the Detroit Red Wings. His GAA remained below 3.00 every season including 1995-96 season when he led the league with a 2.17 GAA.

His final season in the NHL, Hextall was displaced as the starter by John Vanbiesbrouck. The former Florida Panther came to the team as a free agent. The Flyers made the playoffs, but Vanbiesbrouk struggled. Hextall retired following the season.

Ron Hextall is easily the best Philadelphia Flyer that I have ever seen between the posts. Of course, I never saw Bernie Parent play because I’m not quite that old. Other guys have showed flashes of greatness, but no other Flyers goalie had the sustained greatness since Parent. The aggressiveness he played with might never be matched by another goalie. He still leads the league in all-time penalty minutes by a goalie with 584.

Who better to represent the Broad Street Bullies than a stick slashing goalie? If it wasn’t for the best team of the 1980s and the best team of the 1990s, Hextall could have won two Stanley Cups. He managed to get a Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings as their Assistant General Manager which is bittersweet for Flyer fans. He might not have worked out as general manager, but he will always be our goalie.