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Meltzer's Musings: Retired Numbers -- Will We See Another?

August 22, 2011, 8:16 AM ET [ Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
If it were my decision to make, Mark Howe's number 2 jersey would have been retired by the Flyers shortly after his retirement as an active player in 1995. At this point, with so many defensemen on the team having worn the number since Howe's departure after the 1991-92 season, it makes less sense to do so now.

For his part, Howe has said that he has never lost a wink of sleep over whether his number would be retired and that he agrees with Bob Clarke (who would prefer to his own retired number to be unretired) that a jersey number should be available to succeeding generations of players.

To be certain, Howe's career has already been honored extensively. A newly inducted member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he is also a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame and the Flyers Hall of Fame. Having his jersey number retired as well would be the sprinkles on the icing of the cake.

As I see it, though, unless Howe is vehemently against the idea, his number should go up in the rafters next to those of Bernie Parent (#1), Barry Ashbee (#4), Bill Barber (#7) and Clarke (#16). He is the best defenseman in franchise history and a Hall of Famer, and deserves the same treatment as the most accomplished goaltender, center and winger in team history. Ashbee's jersey retirement was a special case.

The most common rationale people give for not retiring Howe's jersey was that he didn't win a Cup in Philadelphia, unlike the other honorees. Sorry, but that doesn't wash. The Flyers came within one win of the Cup in 1987. The outcome of a single (closely contested) game should not outweigh a player's career accomplishments.

Apart from Howe, there is popular sentiment to co-retire number 27 in honor of Ron Hextall and Reggie Leach. I would not be opposed to that, so long as it was, in fact, for both players and not just for one.

Brian Propp's number 26 is another strong candidate.The five-time NHL All-Star was the franchise's all-team leader in game winning goals and his 0.925 point-per-game average in the playoffs was actually higher than Clarke's (.875), Barber's (.844) or Tim Kerr's (.876). Only Eric Lindros (1.14), Danny Briere (1.03 with Flyers to date), Claude Giroux (.950) and Rick MacLeish (.938) compiled postseason points at a higher clip than Propp.

Pelle Lindbergh's number 31 has been "unofficially" retired since his death in 1985 and is likely to stay that way. Putting aside the circumstances surrounding his death, he only played three-plus seasons in the NHL. At some future point, however, the organization may raise a memorial banner honoring Flyers players who died during their careers -- Lindbergh (car accident), Yanick Dupre (leukemia) and Dmitri Tertyshny (boating accident). Leukemia also claimed Ashbee, who was an assistant coach by that point. His playing career ended due to an eye injury suffered during the 1974 playoffs.
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