Tomorrow's blog will be dedicated to a look at undrafted rookies who went on make an impact with the Flyers. For today, I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of the biggest flash-in-the-pan Flyers (rookies or otherwise), who made a great initial impression with the club and then were never heard from again.
Here's my top 5:
1) Todd Bergen: I discussed Bergen's unusual career story in yesterday's blog about standout rookies. With 11 goals in 14 NHL games, he actually ranks the highest all-time in goals-per-game among all NHL players who played at least a dozen games in the league.
2) Robbie Moore: The tiny goalie (5-foot-5, 155 pounds) was a popular and solid minor league player who finally got his shot at the big time with the Flyers in 1978-79; the season that Bernie Parent suffered a career-ending eye injury and Wayne Stephenson battled a groin pull. Moore appeared in 5 regular season games, recording two shutouts, and posting a 1.77 goals against average to go along with a 3-0-1 record. He also got into five playoff games, winning three times, but the magic soon wore off.
With the emergence of Pete Peeters, Rick St. Croix and Pelle Lindbergh, there was no NHL future for Moore in Philadelphia. Moore went to the CHL. He had a one-game stint with the Washington Capitals in 1982-83, acquitting himself decently but coming out on the losing end of a 3-1 game.
3) Dave Michayluk: Originally the Flyers fourth-round pick in the 1981 Draft, Michayluk got into one game during the 1981-82 season. The following season, he made the club's opening night roster. He had quite the auspicious opening-night on what was also
Mark Howe's first game as a Flyer. Michayluk scored a pair of goals in a wild-and-woolly 9-5 win over Quebec. The tallies proved to be the right wingers only ones during his 12-game stint with the club that season (he did add six assists). He never was recalled by the Flyers again, although he later became a perennial 100-point scorer in the high-scoring (and now defunct) IHL.
4) Al Hill: Hill was a respectable role player for the Flyers over parts of eight seasons, and had an NHL career in Philly that spanned 221 games. So he may not exactly qualify as a flash-in-the-pan, but Hill's career will always be defined by what he did in his record-shattering
NHL debut on Feb. 14, 1977. On that night, Hill recorded two goals and three assists for five points. The record holds to this day, and may never be broken because every player who enters the NHL only gets one shot at it. After his extraordinary debut, Hill dressed in 8 more NHL games over the latter part of the 1976-77 season. He had one point.
5)Bruce Cowick: If you've ever watched the grainy films of the Broad Street Bullies' run to the 1974 Stanley Cup, you may notice a few clips with number 27 in them. It's not Reggie Leach (who arrived the next season). It's little-known Bruce Cowick.
With the Flyers' forward corps beset by injuries in the playoffs - most notably to Bob Kelly and Gary Dornhoefer -- the Flyers activated the gritty Richmond Robins forward. Cowick, who never played a regular season game as a Flyer, made his NHL debut in the Stanley Cup semifinals against the New York Rangers and played (albeit sparingly) throughout the remainder of the playoffs.
Cowick dressed in every game of the Stanley Cup Final against Boston, and celebrated the Cup victory at the Spectrum with the rest of his teammates. A few weeks later, he was claimed by Washington in the NHL expansion draft. Cowick played 70 NHL games with the Capitals and St. Louis Blues -- all in the regular season.
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I was caught a little off-guard by the announcement earlier this week that Ed Snider has been elected to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. I had assumed he was already in, seeing as how he was long since inducted as a builder into the "big" Hall in Toronto.
Snider's selection was an obvious one, though. I'm also glad that former Flyers announcer Mike "Doc" Emrick got chosen this year, too.
As many know, Doc is an influential voice on the selection committee for the official Hall in Toronto, and has been instrumental in lobbying both for the now-inducted Mark Howe and the posthumous selection of Fred Shero. It was good to see Emrick himself recognized.
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This week's
Across the Pond at NHL.com profiles ex-Flyers forward Glen Metropolit. Metro led the Swiss league in scoring this past season (the second time he has done so in his career), and will return to play a second season for EV Zug next season.
Anyone familiar with Metropolit's biography can't help but root for the guy. He's a person who came from an extremely precarious background and never had a single thing handed to him in life or in hockey. He's made a successful career for himself through sheer love of the game and hard work.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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