Twelve Potential Flyers Hall of Famers: Part One

The Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame is a symbolization of some of the most storied and beloved characters in the history of the franchise. Induction into the prestigious club is far and away the highest honor that any person can obtain in the Flyers organization for the hard work, dedication, effort, and excellence they put into being a part of this storied franchise.

Since the franchise’s inception in 1967, only 25 members have been inducted. The club includes 20 players along with other figures. They include team founder and former owner Ed Snider, former team president Joe Scott, former head coach Fred Shero, former general manager and head coach Keith Allen, and former broadcaster Gene Hart.

The inaugural members of the Flyers Hall of Fame were franchise legends Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent back in 1988, and the last induction was for Jimmy Watson in 2016. Today, we’ll take a look at twelve players that have cases to join this elusive club in the future.

The criteria is limited to retired players only, so players like Claude Giroux, Jake Voracek, and Sean Couturier will not be making appearances on this list even though they’ll be more than worthy of the honor when they finally hang up their skates.

I also understand that not everyone may agree with this list and it is purely up to interpretation, and everyone is entitled to their opinions. For the record, these are players that have cases to potentially be a part of the Flyers Hall of Fame, not players that I think should one hundred percent be in.

BOB KELLY

Kelly, a third-round pick of the Flyers in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft, was a huge part of the Broad Street Bullies in the mid-1970s. The Oakville, Ontario native was one of a few enforcers the Flyers had as they won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975.

In his 741 games played as a Flyer, which is tied for 7th in team history with Flyers Hall of Famer Rick MacLeish, Kelly amassed a staggering 1,442 penalty minutes in Philadelphia to accompany his 128 goals and 168 assists. Kelly immediately became a fan favorite with his physical play and his frequency to drop the gloves.

The man they call “The Hound” cemented his legacy with the franchise by scoring the game-winning goal in Game 6 of the 1975 Stanley Cup Final against the Buffalo Sabres. The Flyers’ victory in that game sealed their second consecutive Stanley Cup and Kelly’s goal on Roger Crozier stood as the clinching tally in a decisive 2-0 victory at the old Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

Kelly’s best season with Philadelphia came in 1976-77 when he recorded 22 goals and 24 assists for 46 points in 73 games, both career highs at the time. Of course, he also racked up 117 penalty minutes that season in true Bob Kelly fashion.

After 10 years in Orange and Black, Kelly was traded by Flyers to the Washington Capitals after the 1979-80 season and played 96 more games with the Capitals before requesting his release and retiring during the 1981-82 season after a schism with Washington management.

In retirement, Kelly has been a fantastic ambassador for the Flyers as he is almost always at Wells Fargo Center for home games to greet fans and hand out military appreciation awards. Kelly is not only still very active with the Flyers organization, but he is also a prominent member of the Philadelphia community in general as he often appears at Flyers Alumni events and continues to promote hockey in the Delaware Valley to this very day.

RICK TOCCHET

Tocchet currently stands at 15th in Flyers all-time scoring, sitting at 508 points along with 1,815 penalty minutes across 621 games during two separate stints with Philadelphia. That amount of time spent in the box ranks first in franchise history.

In his first stint with the Flyers, Tocchet scored 215 goals and registered 249 assists in 531 games. He was then shipped off to Pittsburgh along with Kjell Samuelsson, Ken Wregget, and a 1993 3rd-round pick for Mark Recchi, Brian Benning, and a 1992 1st-round pick.

In that time, Tocchet recorded five consecutive 20+ goal seasons from 1986-87 to 1990-91, highlighted by a 45-goal triumph in 1988-89 that ranked second that season only behind the great Tim Kerr’s 48 tallies. Tocchet had another 40-goal season in 1990-91 in his last full season with Philadelphia before his trade to the Penguins.

Tocchet also reached the point-per-game mark on three occasions with Philadelphia, with his best season coming in 1989-90 with 37 goals and 59 assists for a sum of 96 points in just 75 games. That point total also stood as a personal best for the feisty winger until 1992-93 when he scored 109 points in 80 games in his first full season with Pittsburgh.

Tocchet was also no stranger to dropping the gloves as he recorded triple digits in penalty minutes every single year in his first 7.5 seasons with the Flyers. From 1985-86 to 1987-88, Tocchet consecutively accrued PIM totals of 284, 288, and 299, three of the top ten most penalized seasons in franchise history.

Tocchet finished his NHL career back in Philadelphia after stops in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, and Phoenix. The Coyotes traded Tocchet to the Flyers during the 1999-00 season for Mikael Renberg, and Tocchet would play his final 90 games with the Flyers before retiring in 2002.

Tocchet was a player who embodied what it meant to be a Flyer. He scored plenty of goals, he played with an edge and would beat down on anyone who dared to challenge him. He was a fan favorite in his time with Philadelphia and still is a figure that is admired by the fanbase.

PELLE LINDBERGH

Lindbergh was poised to become the next great goaltender in Flyers history before his tragic and unexpected passing on November 11th, 1985 at the age of 26. But Lindbergh gave the franchise and its fanbase plenty to be proud of in his brief time with the Flyers.

Lindbergh still ranks 10th in games played among Philadelphia goaltenders at 157, and in that span he recorded a record of 87-49-15 from 1981-1985. Lindbergh posted an .887 save percentage and 3.31 goals against average along with seven shutouts in his time with the Flyers as well.

Lindbergh’s strong play in that 1984-85 season helped lift the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Final that season, only to be defeated by the dynasty that was the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers in five games. Despite not winning a championship, Lindbergh brought home the 1985 Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender.

Lindbergh’s campaign that season resulted in a 40-17-7 record in 65 games to go along with a 3.02 GAA, .899 SV%, and 2 shutouts. No Flyers goaltender has won 40 games in a season since Lindbergh accomplished the feat, with Ron Hextall coming the closest since then with 37 in 1986-87. Lindbergh was also named as an NHL First Team All-Star in goal that offseason.

To this day, only Hextall has won the Vezina in a Flyers sweater since Lindbergh, and only Brian Boucher, Roman Cechmanek, and Steve Mason have even received votes for the award while with the Flyers since that point as well.

The late Swedish phenom’s 87 wins still rank seventh all-time in Flyers history in that category despite his passing over 35 years ago. Lindbergh’s famed #31 was taken out of commission after his death and has never been worn in a game for the Flyers since, and a posthumous team Hall of Fame induction would be very well deserved for one of the great faces of Flyers goaltending.

MARK RECCHI

It’s actually very surprising to me that Recchi isn’t already in the Flyers Hall of Fame considering his impressive numbers and his time spent with Philadelphia. Recchi, a former fourth-round pick of the Penguins in 1988, was brought over in the trade involving the aforementioned Rick Tocchet in 1992.

Recchi played 602 of his 1,652 NHL games with the Flyers across 10 different seasons in two separate stints, which is the most games with any of the seven teams he played with. In his first time around with Philadelphia, Recchi appeared in 200 games and racked up 105 goals and 157 assists for 262 points. That was before the famous 1995 trade that saw him traded along with a 1995 3rd-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for John LeClair, Éric Desjardins, and Gilbert Dionne.

Recchi’s best NHL season came with the Flyers in 1992-93 when the winger recorded 53 goals and 70 assists for 123 points in 84 games. Those goal and point totals remained as personal bests for Recchi for the remainder of his NHL career. He would also score 107 points in the 1993-94 season before being shipped off to Montreal 10 games into the 1994-95 season.

Recchi would not return to Broad Street until 1999 when the Canadiens traded him back for Dainius Zubrus, a 1999 2nd-round pick, and a 2000 6th-round pick. In his second stint with the Flyers, Recchi played in 402 games and posted 127 goals and 238 assists for 365 points before leaving in free agency in 2004.

Altogether, Recchi scored 232 goals and 395 assists for 627 points in 602 games while wearing the Winged-P. His 395 assists are good for sixth in Flyers history and his 627 points rank him as the ninth-highest scorer in Flyer history currently, just 23 points ahead of Jake Voracek who will easily break that mark next season.

Recchi’s 123-point campaign in 1992-93 still stands as the highest-scoring season in franchise history, and the only Flyer to break the century mark in a season since then besides Recchi again the very next season are Eric Lindros and Claude Giroux. Recchi’s 53 goals that year also still stand as the sixth-highest total in a season in franchise history, and only John LeClair has eclipsed the 50-goal mark as a Flyer since Recchi accomplished the feat.

Recchi is also only one of two Flyers to record multiple triple-digit scoring seasons in Orange and Black with the other being fellow franchise legend and the undisputed greatest Flyer ever, Bobby Clarke, who recorded three 100+ point seasons to Recchi’s two.

Recchi was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017, which cemented him as one of the game’s all-time greats with 577 goals and 956 assists for 1,533 points in 1,652 games. The majority of those numbers came with the Flyers, and while he did not win any of his three Stanley Cups here or win any major awards while with Philadelphia, Recchi still stands as one of the greatest Flyers in history and is long overdue for an induction into the Flyers Hall of Fame.

CHRIS THERIEN

Therien was a hard-nosed defenseman who appeared in 756 games for the Flyers, which still stands as the fifth-most in franchise history and most by a defenseman.

Making up one half of the famous “Rico and Bundy” pairing along with Éric Desjardins, Therien was selected by the Flyers in the third round of the 1990 NHL Draft. Therien would make his NHL debut in the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, playing in all of Philadelphia’s 48 games and registering three goals and 10 assists in his rookie campaign and was named to the NHL’s All-Rookie First Team for his efforts.

Therien’s career highs in scoring would come the next season in 1995-96 as he scored six goals and 17 assists for 23 points in 82 games. However, Therien would not be exactly known for his scoring, but rather his strong defensive play and his ability to lay body-on-body and play as physically as anyone on the ice.

Standing at a firm 6’5″ and weighing in at 235 pounds, Therien was a wrecking ball on skates and endeared himself to the Flyers fanbase because of his hard play and strong work ethic, two things that Philadelphians heavily admire in a player.

The Ottawa native recorded 29 goals and 130 assists for 159 points in his 756 games with the Flyers in two different stints with the team that were only separated by an 11-game cup of coffee with the Dallas Stars in 2004. The Flyers traded Therien for a 2004 8th-round pick and a 2005 3rd-round pick before returning in free agency for 2005-06.

In Therien’s post-playing life, he has still been around the Flyers as he previously worked as a color commentator on the radio for Flyers games for 97.5 The Fanatic before moving to NBC Sports Philadelphia and working as the inside-the-glass analyst on television broadcasts. He then moved to a studio analysis role for Flyers pre-game and post-game shows with NBCSP before being let go last year.

Therien has been involved in some capacity with the Flyers for the better part of 30 years and has remained a fan favorite and a delight to see at Flyers events.