According to a release from the Philadelphia Flyers, Ed Van Impe, the second captain in Flyers history, passed away at 84.
Van Impe's NHL career spanned 11 years and 703 games, with all but three of those seasons being played in Philadelphia. After his rookie season with the Chicago Blackhawks, the defenseman was selected by the Flyers in the third round of the 1967 NHL expansion draft. He had 121 points (19 goals, 102 assists) in 620 games with the Flyers.
Ed Van Impe won two Stanley Cup championships in 1974 and 1975, both with Philadelphia. The Saskatoon, Canada native's physical style was a hallmark of the Broad Street Bullies era. He cemented this brand of hockey and his legacy in the annals of Flyers history in the 1976 Super Series. In an exhibition game between the Flyers and the Soviet Union's Central Red Army team, Van Impe knocked Valerie Kharlamov out cold. The Soviet team left the ice in protest, refusing to return.
“A Flyer always gives more than he (thinks he) has, does what he has to do to win. He does it game in and game out, not just every fourth or fifth time he plays,” Van Impe told Hockey Hall of Fame writer Jay Greenberg in Flyers at 50.
Van Impe helped to form and then run the Flyers Alumni Association. He also served as a television broadcaster in Philadelphia for five years. The three-time NHL All-Star was inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame in 1993.
We at Broad Street Buzz mourn Ed Van Impe's loss and offer our condolences to his friends, family, and the community.