Broad Street Buzz
Fansided

Twelve Potential Flyers Hall of Famers: Part Two

By Jacob Modugno

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 02: Danny Briere #48 of the Philadelphia Flyers skates during the game against the Ottawa Senators at the Wells Fargo Center on March 2, 2013 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 02: Danny Briere #48 of the Philadelphia Flyers skates during the game against the Ottawa Senators at the Wells Fargo Center on March 2, 2013 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 7
Next

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.

Home/Editorials