Lou Angotti, Flyers Original Captain, Passes Away at the age of 83

Lou Angotti, while not in the organization for long, began the long and storied history of what it means to be the captain of the Philadelphia Flyers. While he played for the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks previously, he became the franchise’s first captain after he was selected by the team in the 1967 Expansion Draft. And while not being around the team for longer than a season, he had the best season of his 10-year career during his brief time with Philadelphia.

Most teams that entered the league struggled during their opening years. The Flyers avoided that completely, winning the West Divison in their first year. Angotti was a big part of that. As the franchise’s first captain, Angotti posted 12 goals and a career-high 49 points. He would not touch the 40-point mark again during his career, coming close with 38 points in the 1969-70 season.

Joe Watson, the Flyers Hall of Fame defensemen and a teammate of Angotti’s, had nothing but fond things to say about their brief time in the organization together.

"“Lou was a smart player and a fine captain. It was a tough job for anyone, because we were an all-new team with 20 guys who had come from six different organizations. We had a good coach in Keith Allen, but every coach needs players who buy in to what he preaches.We didn’t have a lot of scoring, but he had good goaltending and Keith coached us to play a disciplined and defensively smart style. Lou really helped set that tone.”"

Helping the team to the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Angotti appeared in all seven games against the St. Louis Blues. He would not record a single point as the team would lose to the Blues in seven games. He was traded the following summer, along with Ian Campbell, to St. Louis in exchange for Darryl Edestrand and Jerry Melnyk.

He was subsequently flipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Ab McDonald. He spent one season in the Penguins organization before he returned to the Blackhawks for a second stint. He would play the next five seasons in Chicago, appearing in 77 games during the 1972-73 season, the most of his career.

He would return to the Blues organization once more during his final year, this time spending the season with them as both a player and coach. He appeared in 51 games for the team and spent the final 23 games coaching the team as well after Jean-Guy Talbot was fired. After retiring, he returned to coach full-time the following season but was fired nine games into the 1974-75 season after posting a 2-5-2 record.

Angotti did play one season in the World Hockey Association after his firing but that would be the final time he laced up the skates as a player. He would coach the Penguins during the 1983-84 season as the team missed the playoffs and posted a 16-58-6 record for a sixth-place finish.

Angotti kept close ties with the Blackhawks organization. He was a color commentator for the team at one point and also did periodic work with their Alumni Association.