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FLYERS TOP 25 IN THE LAST 25 YEARS: DERIAN HATCHER
After a brief, injury-riddled season with the Detroit Red Wings (limited by knee issues to 15 games), veteran shutdown defenseman Derian Hatcher signed a four-year unrestricted free agent contract with the Flyers on August 2, 2005, following the conclusion of a year-long work stoppage in the NHL.
Hatcher already had creaky knees by the time he came to the Flyers but managed to grit his way through it until 2008 and quickly became a team leader. He dressed in 208 regular season games and 21 playoff tilts for Philly before his physical issues became too severe to play. He retired in 2009 after spending the 2008-09 season on long-term injured reserve.
Hatcher's mobility was limited by the mid-2000s -- he had almost no cartilage left so his knees were virtually bone on bone -- but his hockey smarts and toughness compensated for it.
Hatcher was particularly adept at going into the defensive corner for a 50-50 puck, where he would use his size and strength to win the battle and then use his underrated hands to make a play with it. Although not a big point producer, Hatcher was a good passer. Additionally, the Flyers would occasionally use the defenseman as a net-front forward on power plays and he bagged four goals (among the nine he scored as a Flyer) deployed in that capacity.
Hatcher served as Flyers captain for a time in 2005-06 after Keith Primeau suffered career-ending concussion issues. Throughout his Flyers' career, the defenseman wore a letter on his jersey. He primarily served as an alternate captain. Regardless of the letter, he was a leader.
The original roots of the mutual enmity between the Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby can be at least partially traced to an incident between Hatcher and a rookie Crosby in the highly touted center's second career game against Philadelphia.
The rookie, who had already been accused of diving/embellishment two previous times by opponents in the early going of the 2005-06 season, received an embellishment call in the second period when he took a Hatcher high-stick in the mouth. Hatcher and the players on the Flyers' bench barked at Crosby, who returned fire as he bled from the mouth.
The Crosby embellishment penalty nullified a Pittsburgh power play 20 seconds into an R.J. Umberger holding penalty. Earlier in the period, Crosby was doubled over after engaging with Hatcher in the corner of the Flyers defensive zone. Crosby hunched over, perhaps looking for a penalty call but getting none. Eventually, he went off to the bench and returned without missing a shift. Thus began a running battle between Crosby and Flyers players that would go on for many years to come.
For his NHL career, Hatcher dressed in 1,045 regular season games (80 goals, 251 assists, 331 points, 1,581 penalty minutes) and 133 playoff games (seven goals, 26 assists, 33 points, 248 penalty minutes).
During the Flyers' portion of his career, Hatcher played 203 regular season games (nine goals, 24 assists, 33 points, 193 penalty minutes while averaging roughly 23 minutes of ice time per game. He dressed in 21 playoff games as a Flyer (one goal, five points, 50 penalty minutes).
After his playing days ended, Hatcher spent several seasons as a Flyers player development coach. Later, he became part-owner and coach of the Ontario Hockey League's Sarnia Sting.
Derian Hatcher was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010. He was also inducted as part the iconic 1996 World Cup of Hockey championship winning Team USA squad.
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QUICK HITS: AUGUST 20, 2017
1) QMJHL: Chicoutimi Sagueneens general manager/ head coach Yanick Jean declined to speculate when journalist Mikaël Lalancette (TVA Sports) asked him if Flyers 2016 first round pick German Rubtsov would return to the team for the 2017-18 season. Rubtsov is eligible to play in the American Hockey League for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms if the Flyers decide the AHL would be a more suitable challenge for the Russian center. In 16 games for Chicoutimi last season -- his first matches in North America -- Rubtsov compiled 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) and a plus-11 rating.
Lalancette wrote in his 10 Things to Watch column that he believes the Flyers will assign the 19-year-old Rubtsov to the Quebec League for next season. The player dealt with various injuries last season both before and after transferring from the KHL to the QMJHL and underwent season-ending hand surgery that kept him out of the playoffs.
Assuming he does play in the Q, the big question is where. Lalancette wrote that he foresees the Sagueens, whose roster shapes up to be in a transitional phase next season, trading Rubtsov to a contender. The move may not happen right away, however.
2) Flyers forward prospect Olle Lycksell was selected to play for Team Sweden at the Four Nations under-20 tournament in Finland. Lycksell was not part of the original Junior Crowns roster but was selected to replace injured Kalle Miketinac. A right winger in the Linköpings HC junior chain, Lycksell will celebrate his 18th birthday on Aug. 24.
3) Flyers TV caught up with Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp co-organizer Bob "the Hound" Kelly on the first day of the ongoing Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp in Atlantic City. The Camp has been a sellout each year to date.
4) August 20 Flyers Alumni birthdays: defenseman Shawn Cronin (1963), left winger Pat Murray (1969).
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THREE BLOCKBUSTER TRADE ANNIVERSARIES
Three of the biggest trades in Flyers' franchise history were officially announced on August 20.
In 1982, the Flyers made a blockbuster deal with the Hartford Whalers. Philadelphia received defenseman Mark Howe and a 1983 third-round pick (Derrick Smith). The return cost was high, but ultimately worthwhile in order to land the best defenseman in club history.
Philly had to package its 1981-82 leading scorer, Ken Linseman, highly regarded prospect Greg Adams, a 1983 first-round draft pick (David Jensen) and a 1983 third-round pick (Leif Karlsson). The inclusion of Adams in the package was nearly a deal-breaker at the time -- which is kind of comical in historical hindsight -- but the club did not want to let the opportunity to land Howe slip away.
On this date in 1997, the Flyers completed their acquisition of Chris Gratton by sending Mikael Renberg and Karl Dykhuis to Tampa Bay in exchange for the four first-round draft picks Tampa received from the Flyers as compensation for not matching Philly's offer sheet to the restricted free agent center.
One of the first-round picks Philly got back ended up being used for the 1998 selection of Simon Gagne. Sadly, Renberg's run of horrible luck with injuries would continue in Tampa Bay and during his subsequent return to Philadelphia.
Tomorrow's blog will look at Renberg. Prior to his spate of his major injuries, Renberg did much more than simply ride the coattails of Eric Lindros and John LeClair as the "third" member of the Legion of Doom line. Unfortunately, Renberg suffered one serious and ill-timed injury after another, and was never the same player again. People who remember him as anything less than a burgeoning NHL star who simply ran repeatedly into horrendous luck injury-wise do not know the full story.
On this date in 2001, the Flyers finally brought the Lindros era to an end after the former team captain sat out of the 2000-01 season while awaiting a trade. Ultimately, the Flyers traded Lindros to the New York Rangers; the same team against him the Flyers had to win an arbitrator's ruling to acquire Lindros from the Quebec Nordiques in 1992 after the Nordiques traded Lindros' rights twice on the same day.
In return, the Flyers received defenseman Kim Johnsson, forwards Jan Hlavac and Pavel Brendl plus a 2003 third-round pick (Stefan Ruzicka) from the Rangers. Under the circumstances, the Flyers ended up doing well for themselves. There was zero chance they could land a package equal to the king's ransom they had paid to the Nordiques nine years early.
Johnsson ended up becoming the team's top defenseman for a few years before he, too, suffered a serious of concussions and other injuries that limited his effectiveness and availability. Hlavac only played for the Flyers briefly before he was traded for enforcer Donald Brashear. The once highly-touted Brendl was a bust. Lindros began a slow but steady concussion-related decline in his post-Flyers career. He would no longer be the perennial Hart Trophy candidate he had been before multiple concussions took their toll on his game.
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