Twelve Potential Flyers Hall of Famers: Part Two
DANNY BRIÈRE
Brière joined the Flyers via free agency in 2007 after spending the first nine seasons of his career between Phoenix and Buffalo. Paul Holmgren signed the Gatineau, Quebec native to an 8-year, $52 million contract, and the rest became history.
Brière’s first season in Philadelphia saw him rack up 31 goals and 41 assists for 72 points in 79 games on a Flyers squad that reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2004. Brière scored nine goals and seven assists for 16 points in 17 postseason contests that year, and the legend of Mr. Playoffs began to grow.
Brière would only appear in 29 games the next season after suffering some abdominal and groin injuries, but he still managed 25 points and posted a goal and three assists in the Flyers’ 6-game opening-round loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Brière’s 2009-10 season would be one to remember. He would score 26 goals and 27 assists for 53 points in 75 games, but he gave the Flyers some moments that won’t ever be forgotten. In the final game of the regular season against the Rangers that every Flyers fan remembers, Brière scored the opening goal in the shootout to help propel them into the postseason on the final day of the regular season. He was just getting prepared for what would become the highest-scoring postseason in franchise history.
In the playoffs, Brière scored a fantastic breakaway goal in the opening game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Boston in which he split two defenders and pounded home a goal after Tuukka Rask made the initial save. In Game 7 of the series, Brière scored the tying goal by faking a shot, skating behind the net and around, and stuffed home the wraparound attempt off of a Boston defender’s back. The Flyers would ultimately win the game thanks to Simon Gagné.
Brière also was directly involved in the goal that gave them their first victory in a Stanley Cup Final game since Game 6 of 1987. Mike “Doc” Emrick’s call is still something I have etched in my memory eleven years later, “Back ahead Danny Brière, Brière sets up Carle, side of the net, deflected, SCORE! GIROUX! FLYERS WIN!” Briere earned a secondary assist on Claude Giroux‘s tip-in goal in overtime to send the Wachovia Center crowd into a frenzy and to give the Flyers life against the Chicago Blackhawks in the series.
He would ultimately score three goals and nine assists for 12 points in the six-game Final, where the Flyers ultimately fell in overtime on Patrick Kane’s infamous goal-line shot in front of an orange-clad crowd on Broad Street. Brière’s 12 points still stand to this day as the most by a player in a Stanley Cup Final in franchise history. He would lead the Flyers in total scoring in two of their four postseason series, with 10 points against Boston and 12 points against Chicago.
Brière would record 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points in just 23 playoff games as he led the Flyers to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1997. His 30 points would lead all players in the postseason, but Brière would lose out on the Conn Smythe Trophy to Chicago’s Jonathan Toews.
Brière’s 2010-11 season saw him rack up 34 goals and 34 assists for 68 points in 77 games. His 34 goals were not only his best with the Flyers but also stood as a career-high. He would record nine points in the playoffs before the team bowed out to the Bruins in a second-round sweep.
His productions dipped the following year, only mustering 16 goals and 33 assists for 49 points in 70 games. His postseason success would continue, however, as he potted eight goals and five assists for 13 points in 11 contests.
In Game 1 of the Flyers’ opening-round series against the Penguins, Brière would score Philadelphia’s first goal in what would become a 4-3 overtime victory after they trailed 3-0 earlier. And yes, Brière’s goal was offside as he beat the puck into the zone before beating Marc-Andre Fleury on a breakaway, but there was no coach’s challenge back then and it counts in the record books, so yes he scored.
After they disposed of the Penguins in six games, Brière would also score the overtime winner in the opener of Philadelphia’s second-round matchup with New Jersey. He initially scored earlier in the extra frame, but it was ruled a distinct kicking motion and thus was waved off. Brière would make up for it and slapped home a bullet from the point that eluded Martin Brodeur and gave the Flyers their only victory in the five-game series.
Brière’s last season came in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, in which he scored only six goals and 10 assists for a total of 16 points while only appearing in 34 of Philadelphia’s 48 games. He was bought out in the 2013 offseason and signed with his boyhood team in the Montréal Canadiens. Brière would spend the rest of his career between Montréal and Colorado before hanging up his skates for good in 2015.
Brière’s totals with the Flyers top out at 364 games played, 124 goals, 159 assists, and 283 points. His regular-season statistics stand out as average, but his postseason numbers are what makes him a potential candidate for the Flyers Hall of Fame. Brière’s 37 playoff goals rank seventh in franchise history and his 35 playoff assists rank 10th. His 72 total postseason points place him at 7th in Flyers history despite only ranking 31st in playoff games played with 68.
A Flyers Hall of Fame induction would be a great way to honor one of the greatest and most clutch playoff performers in team history.
KIMMO TIMONEN
Timonen was acquired by the Flyers in 2007 in a trade that saw him and Scott Hartnell shipped from Nashville to Philadelphia for a 2007 1st-round pick. It’s more than safe to say the Flyers came well out on top in that deal looking back at it fourteen years later.
Timonen spent 519 games in a Philadelphia sweater, good for 10th all-time among defensemen in franchise history. He would record 38 goals and 232 assists for 270 points in that span, which ranks him third all-time in Flyers blueline scoring, sitting only behind Flyers legends Mark Howe and Éric Desjardins in that category.
Timonen was a very effective two-way defender who excelled at creating offense as well as being incredibly responsible in every zone of the ice and always knew how to make the right play. Timonen received Norris Trophy votes on three occasions in his tenure with the Flyers for his excellent play, and in each race, he finished 17th in 2008, 15th in 2009, and 20th in 2013.
Timonen’s best season as a Flyer came in his first one in 2007-08 as he racked up eight goals and 36 assists for 44 points in 80 games. His goal and point totals from that season would be his best as a Flyer in his seven seasons with the club.
He was a very effective piece in the team’s 2010 postseason run, usually playing the bulk of his minutes on a pairing with Braydon Coburn. Timonen scored one goal and 10 assists for a playoff career-high 11 points in Philadelphia’s 23 games that saw them fall to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in the Stanley Cup Final.
Timonen would sadly not get to finish his NHL career in Philadelphia. In the 2014 offseason, it was revealed that the Finn was suffering from blood clots, and his 2014-15 season was in jeopardy. He was nearing 40 and knew his time in the NHL would be over soon, but he wanted to go out on his own terms. Timonen went on blood thinners and had to watch his club from the press box as they struggled mightily without him. In late February, Timonen was well enough to play but the Flyers, who were well out of the playoff picture and knew Timonen was mulling retirement, decided to send him off into the sunset with a chance to win a Stanley Cup.
Timonen was dealt to the Blackhawks for a 2015 2nd-round pick and a conditional 2016 4th-round pick. The defenseman was able to play in every game for the Blackhawks after the trade and participated in every playoff game en route to his first and only Stanley Cup championship, and Timonen would retire after the season was over.
Timonen is actually the only player on this list that spent more time with another team than he did with the Philadelphia, as he played one more season with the Predators than with the Flyers. Nonetheless, Timonen was a fan favorite who provided steady play on both ends of the ice and remains one of the most skilled defenders the club has ever seen.
STEVE MASON
Yes, I know what you’re thinking. “Really, you put Steve Mason on this list?” Yes, and despite the animosity he receives from a solid portion of the fanbase, he was a lot better than he gets credit for in his time with the Flyers.
Mason arrived in Philadelphia at the 2013 trade deadline from Columbus in exchange for Michael Leighton and a 2015 3rd-round pick. The trade turned out to be one of the best moves the Flyers have made in recent memory.
Mason was coming off of a turbulent 4.5 seasons with the Blue Jackets and desperately needed a change of scenery. He was granted his wish and looked like the Steve Mason that won the Calder Trophy and posted ten shutouts in 2009 all of a sudden.
He appeared in seven games for Philadelphia after the trade, going 4-2-0 with a .944 save percentage and 1.90 goals-against average. Mason subsequently signed a one-year deal to stay with the Flyers and become the starter as Ilya Bryzgalov was bought out of his albatross of a contract.
Mason’s 2013-14 season saw him tie his career-high in wins at 33, a feat he hadn’t achieved since his rookie year in 2008-09 with Columbus. Mason’s overall stat line stood at 33-18-17 along with a .917 SV%, 2.50 GAA, and 4 shutouts. Mason’s great season helped the Flyers reach the playoffs and his efforts earned him Vezina Trophy votes for the second time in his career, ultimately finishing seventh in the race.
His 2014-15 season was marred by injuries and a terrible defensive corps in front of him. He would only appear in 51 games and his record sat at 18-18-11, but his peripheral numbers improved drastically to a .928 SV% and 2.25 GAA to go along with three shutouts. His save percentage ranked third in the entire NHL behind Devan Dubnyk’s .929 and Carey Price’s .933, with the latter taking home the Hart Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award, and Vezina Trophy that season.
Mason’s 2015-16 season saw a slight regression but he willed the Flyers into the postseason that year. While only managing a 23-19-10 record, he recorded a .918 SV%, 2.51 GAA., and four shutouts in 54 games played. Mason also started 17 of the Flyers’ final 19 games of the season, which included a run of 12 consecutive games, and he posted a 10-4-3 record along with a .924 SV% and 2.14 GAA to help the Flyers secure the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
The 2016-17 season was not only lackluster for Mason but for the Flyers as a whole. They missed the postseason again and Mason’s record stood at 26-21-8 coupled with a .908 SV%, 2.66 GAA, and three shutouts in 58 appearances. Mason was shown the door to free agency at season’s end after the Flyers mistakenly decided to re-sign the inconsistent and often-injured Michal Neuvirth to an extension in February 2017.
Steve Mason’s rankings in Philadelphia Flyers history among goaltenders reads like this: third in games played (231), third in wins (104), second in save percentage, (.918), fourth in GAA (2.47), fourth in total saves (6,047), fifth in shutouts (14). Only Bernie Parent and Ron Hextall spent more time in the Flyers’ crease than Mason and you’d think by how some fans talk about Mason, he’d have the numbers of an AHL goaltender, but he’s been by far Philadelphia’s best goaltender in the last twenty-five years or so.
While Philadelphia did not experience any real sustained success or make any deep playoff runs with him in the net, Mason was still able to play as well as he did. He gave the Flyers the most stable goaltending they’ve had since Hextall’s days in net while he was behind some of the most poorly constructed rosters the franchise has seen in recent history.
ANDRÉ DUPONT
A former eighth overall selection in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft, Dupont arrived in Philadelphia in 1972 after he was traded by the St. Louis Blues along with a 1973 3rd-round pick for Brent Hughes and Pierre Plante.
The left-handed defender was one of the toughest players on the Flyers and was no stranger to dropping the gloves either as he reached triple digits in penalty minutes every season in his 7.5 years with Philadelphia, posting a career-high of 276 during the team’s second consecutive Stanley Cup run in 1974-75.
Dupont suited up in Orange and Black 549 times in his career from 1972 to 1980, scoring 42 goals and 135 assists for 177 points in that stretch. He also racked up 1,505 penalty minutes, by far the most by a defenseman in franchise history and third all-time among all Flyers players behind Rick Tocchet and Paul Holmgren.
Dupont’s shining moment with the Flyers came in Game 2 of the 1974 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins. The Bruins were leading in the game 2-1 when the Flyers pulled goaltender Bernie Parent for an extra attacker, and with just 52 seconds left in the third period, Dupont was able to rifle home a shot by Boston netminder Gilles Gilbert to tie the game at 2-2 and show off his famous “Moose Shuffle” celebration.
The Flyers would go on to win the game in overtime thanks to Bobby Clarke and they eventually won the Stanley Cup in six games. Dupont was a part of both the 1974 and 1975 squads that won Stanley Cup championships as well as the 1976 squad that made it to the Final and lost to the Canadiens. He was also on the 1980 team that went unbeaten for an NHL record 30 straight games and made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final before falling to the New York Islanders.
Dupont appeared in 108 postseason games for Philadelphia, recording 13 goals, 15 assists, and 306 penalty minutes. His 108 games are tops in franchise history for defensemen and fifth overall, and his 306 PIM also lead all defensemen and rank third overall only behind Dave Schultz and Rick Tocchet.
Dupont was a fierce and impactful player in the Broad Street Bullies era of Flyers hockey and has been overlooked as one of the better defensemen in team history despite helping the team win both of their Stanley Cups, and a Flyers Hall of Fame induction would be more than worthy for him.
ILKKA SINISALO
Sinisalo spent his first nine seasons in the NHL with the Flyers, appearing in 526 games for the team from 1981 to 1990. Sinisalo registered 199 goals and 210 assists for 409 points in that span and was one of the Flyers’ top players for much of the 1980s.
Sinisalo reached the 20-goal plateau on six separate occasions with the Flyers, which included 36 goals in 1984-85 followed by a career-high 39 goals in 1985-86. His goal-scoring prowess currently ranks him 16th in Philadelphia history all-time in that category. Sinisalo is also the highest goal-scoring European-born player in Flyers history, currently sitting 22 goals ahead of second-place Jake Voracek (177).
Sinisalo’s 1985-86 season was the best of his NHL career as he chalked up 39 goals and 37 assists for 76 points in 74 games played. All of those numbers remained career highs for Sinisalo and his 39 goals that year still rank to this day as the most scored in a season by a European-born Flyer.
His shining moment as a Flyer came in overtime of Game 1 of the 1987 Wales Conference Finals against the Montréal Canadiens. Sinisalo, who had already scored once in the game, was looking on as Peter Zezel attempted a wraparound shot on Montreal netminder Brian Hayward. Sinisalo was able to skate in at the goalmouth and locate the puck under Hayward and Chris Chelios. He stuffed home the loose puck to win the game 4-3 and give the Flyers a 1-0 series lead.
Sinisalo scored five goals and one assist in the Flyers’ 18 playoff games that year, with his goal total falling one shy of his playoff high from 1984-85, another season where Philadelphia met the Oilers in the Final and couldn’t survive.
Sinisalo remained with the Flyers until 1990 when he signed with the Minnesota North Stars in free agency. He lasted 46 games before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings and played his final 10 NHL games with the Kings before leaving for his native Finland, where he retired from playing in 1996.
In 2004, Sinisalo returned to the Flyers organization as a European scout, helping the team look for new young talent across the Atlantic. He served the franchise in that role for 13 years before tragically passing away on April 5th, 2017 at the age of 58 due to complications from prostate cancer.
Sinisalo was the first real star European player the Flyers ever had, as scouting in that region wasn’t very common in the late 70s and early 80s. His skill and ability to create offense and score goals was something that not many players possess in their careers.
PELLE EKLUND
Eklund, an eighth-round pick of the Flyers in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, spent 589 of his 594 career NHL games with Philadelphia. He recorded 118 goals and 334 assists for 452 points while with the Flyers.
Eklund was able to reach double digits in goals for seven of his 8.5 seasons with the Flyers, including a career-high 23 goals in 1989-90. Eklund was more well known as a playmaker and was also a good defensive forward during his career.
Eklund’s 334 helpers register as the 11th-most assists in franchise history with his career-high in a season being 51. That occurrence took place twice in his career, in his rookie year in 1985-86 and in 1988-89. Eklund’s 1985-86 assist total led all NHL rookies that season as well.
Eklund led the Flyers in assists twice, 51 in 1988-89 and 50 in 1990-91. On top of his excellent playmaking abilities, he was also a very good skater and was strong defensively as well. He earned votes for the Selke Trophy in 1990-91, but ultimately finished 16th in voting.
The Flyers made the playoffs in Eklund’s first four seasons with the club, and he recorded 10 goals and 33 assists for 43 points in 57 playoff contests with Philadelphia. Three of his goals came in the 6-3 victory in Game 4 of their 1987 Wales Conference Finals matchup with Montréal, marking the 15th playoff hat trick in Flyers history on top of it.
Eklund recorded seven goals and 20 assists for 27 points in 26 playoff games during that 1987 run to the Stanley Cup Final. Eklund’s 20 assists led the Flyers and ranked second among all playoff performers behind only Wayne Gretzky. His 27 points trailed only Brian Propp for the team lead as they lost in seven games to Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers for the Stanley Cup.
Eklund remained with the Flyers until 1994 when he was traded to the Dallas Stars for a 1994 8th-round pick. He would play 5 regular-season games along with nine playoff games for Dallas before leaving the NHL for his homeland of Sweden, where he would play until 1999.
In his time with the Flyers, no one recorded more assists with the team than he did. Murray Craven’s 237 sit at a healthy 97 assists behind Eklund’s 334 from 1985-86 to 1993-94. Eklund is also only one of nine Flyers ever to lead the club in assists in a season multiple times (Clarke, Linseman, Propp, Recchi, Lindros, Richards, Giroux, Voracek).
Eklund was a gifted playmaker that sometimes gets overlooked because he did play on the struggling Flyers teams of the early 1990s, but he was a great player that is deserving of the honor of joining the club’s prestigious Hall of Fame.
There they are, twelve players who could potentially be inducted into the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame. There are more players that definitely have cases too that just missed the cut, such as Scott Hartnell or Mikael Renberg. It shows how rich in history and talent the organization has been and hopefully that continues as we move on through the next era of Philadelphia Flyers hockey.