Bill Meltzer Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSS
• Archive
• CONTACT
OFFSEASON FLYERS TRIVIA: HALL OF FAMERS AND FIRST OVERALL DRAFT PICKS
Here are two Flyers trivia questions that could stump even many diehard fans. Without looking it up, can you name: a) every player elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame (the "big" Hall in Toronto only, excluding the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame) who played for the Flyers at some point during their careers, and b) all six former first-overall picks in the NHL Draft who played for the Flyers.
For the first part of the question, most of the names can be rattled off quickly. The five most obvious ones are two players -- Bobby Clarke (1987) and Bill Barber (1990) -- who spent their entire playing careers with the Flyers and three others -- Bernie Parent (1984), Mark Howe (2011) and new inductee Eric Lindros (2016) -- who enjoyed their most productive years as members of the Flyers.
The next five are rather easy to identify, too.
Fearsome defenseman Chris Pronger was inducted in the Hall in November 2015. After being acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Anaheim Ducks, Pronger spent two-plus seasons and briefly served as the Flyers captain in 2011-12 before post-concussion syndrome following a serious eye injury ended his playing career.
Two other inductees were elder statesmen members of the Flyers team that reached the Stanley Cup Final during the 1996-97 season: forward Dale Hawerchuk (acquired in latter part of the previous season in a trade with St. Louis) and defenseman Paul Coffey (acquired early in the 1996-97 season in a trade with the Hartford Whalers). Hawerchuk earned Hall of Fame induction in 2001, while Coffey was inducted in 2004.
One of three Hall of Famers originally drafted by the Flyers, Peter Forsberg (2014 inductee) returned to the organization as unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2005 and spent most of two seasons with the club.
Forsberg will always be primarily associated with the Quebec/Colorado franchise, but was still a very productive player -- when healthy enough to play -- during his Flyers stint. Meanwhile, Darryl Sittler (1989 inductee) will always be primarily known as a Maple Leaf. However, he posted a 43-goal, 83-point season in his first full season with the Flyers (1982-83) after being acquired from the Toronto mid-way through the previous season.
On March 19, 2002, Flyers general manager Clarke ponied up a package of four assets to the Washington Capitals to trade for Adam Oates (2012 inductee) as a rental player. A prolific playmaker and a top faceoff man, Oates was 39 years old and an impending unrestricted free agent. He spent 14 regular season games (10 points) and the club's five-game loss to the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the 2002 playoffs -- a series in which the Flyers scored only two goals and just one in regulation but both were assisted by Oates.
In exchange for 19 games of service from Oates before he departed over the summer, the Flyers expended a package of goaltending prospect Maxime Ouellet (drafted by the Flyers in the first round of the 1999 NHL Draft), a 2002 first-round pick (later transferred to Dallas and used on the selection of Martin Vagner), a 2002 second-round pick (Maxime Daigneault) and a 2002 3rd Rounder (Derek Krestanovich).
Although none of the prospects or picks the Flyers traded ended up having significant NHL playing careers, the Oates rental deal has gone down as one of the biggest overpayments in terms of trading assets for a short-term acquisition in franchise history. However, there was some context to why the Flyers made the trade.
At the time the deal was made, they were concerned about injuries to Jeremy Roenick and Keith Primeau (both of whom ended up playing through the issues). Additionally, the Flyers found themselves in a bidding war with a couple of other teams -- Toronto being the most notable -- to add Oates' playmaking prowess for the stretch drive and playoffs.
Finally, here's the real stumper of the list of 12 former Flyers players who were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the player category. A hint: He was actually the first person with a playing association with the Flyers to receive Hall of Fame induction (1981).
Still stumped? The late Allan Stanley finished his Hall of Fame career with the Flyers in 1968-69. Born in Timmins, Ont., on March 1, 1926, Stanley spent 20-plus seasons in the NHL as a standout defenseman. He won four Stanley Cups and twice earned second-team NHL All-Star honors in a career spanning 1,244 regular season games and 109 playoff games.
In his one season in Philadelphia, a 42-year-old Stanley posted four goals and 17 points in 64 regular season games and dressed in three of four playoff games. Stanley passed away on Oct. 18, 2013 at the age of 87.
At some future point in time, the still-active Jaromir Jagr is an absolute lock for Hall of Fame induction. The Czech living legend, of course, spent the 2011-12 season with the Flyers upon his return to the NHL after a three-year stay in the Kontinental Hockey League. Although two-stint Flyers winger Mark Recchi has missed out on Hall of Fame several times, he will probably get in at some point, too. Roenick and Rod Brind'Amour have a shot, too.
Apart from the 12 honored former Flyers players, the Hockey Hall of Fame has inducted Flyers chairman Ed Snider (1988), general managers Keith Allen (1992) and Bud Poile (1990), and coaches Roger Neilson (2001), Fred Shero (2013) and new inductee Pat Quinn (2016) in the "Builders" category.
Longtime Flyers play-by-play announcer Gene Hart was inducted via the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 1987. The first Flyers beat writer (Philadelphia Daily News) to earn the Elmer Ferguson Award was Jay Greenberg in 2013.
The first already-inducted Hall of Famer player who had an official post-playing career association with the Flyers was legendary goaltender Jacques Plante (1978 inductee). The boyhood idol and, later, close friend and mentor of Bernie Parent served as a part-time goaltending coach (the first in Flyers history) and consultant during the late 1970s to early 1980s. Likewise current Flyers assistant coach Joe Mullen is also a Hall of Famer. The prolific goal-scoring New Yorker from Hell's Kitchen was inducted into the Hall in 2000 and is also a 1998-inducted member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame located in Eveleth, Minnesota.
There are numerous others with Flyers associations who are members of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Players Mark Howe (inducted 2003 and the Flyers' lone dual "big Hall"/U.S. Hall inductee among Americans who played for the team), John LeClair (2009), Jeremy Roenick (2010), Tony Amonte (2009), Derian Hatcher (2010) and John Vanbiesbrouck (2007) are all inductees. Likewise, Ed Snider (2011) and former Flyers play-by-play broadcaster Mike Emrick (2011) are members.
Longtime NHL power forward Bill Guerin never played a regular season game for the Flyers but he was a tryout player in their 2010 preseason training camp at age 39. Guerin, who had been working out with the team, was officially invited to try out on Sept. 7. He was not signed to a contract and was let go on Oct. 4 when head coach Peter Laviolette made his final cuts for the opening night roster. Guerin retired shortly thereafter. He was selected for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013.
Forsberg is the only Flyers-affiliated figure who has earned induction to date in the International Ice Hockey Federation's Hall of Fame. Jagr is a lock in the future. Cases could also be made for Mark Howe and Fred Shero, but neither is likely to get in.
Howe was an Olympian at age 16 for the silver medal winning Team USA, played for Team Canada in the series between the Soviet Union and the top stars of the World Hockey Association and for Team USA at the 1981 Canada Cup. However, the latter two tournaments were not IIHF-sanctioned events. If Howe is to get into the only remaining major Hall from which he is presently excluded, it would have to be on the weight of his total contributions to the game, since both domestic and international impact can be considered.
The image of the Broad Street Bullies is the only thing keeping Shero out of the IIHF Hall's Builders category. Two years ago, when Shero finally got posthumously inducted into the "big Hall," I authored an article for the IIHF's official website on Shero's often forgotten role as one of the first North Americans to study and adapt Soviet hockey techniques -- even traveling behind the Iron Curtain and befriending Anatoli Tarasov -- and as one of the first prominent NHL figures to vocally advocate for NHL clubs to scout and sign top players from across Europe.
Overseas, two former Flyers are members of the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in Tampere, which was profiled recently on the IIHF website. Both Ilkka Sinisalo (1997 inductee) and Sami Kapanen (2014) are members and the now-retired Kimmo Timonen is a lock at some point. Former Flyers goaltender Antero Niittymäki also has a shot based on winning three Finnish championships (two as a starter) for TPS Turku, a Finnish rookie of the year award, a Calder Cup and playoff MVP award with the Philadelphia Phantoms, playing in the NHL, and winning an Olympic MVP and silver medal in 2006.
In terms of the Flyers' own team Hall of Fame, this is the current list of inductees:
Bobby Clarke (1988)
Bernie Parent (1988)
Bill Barber (1989)
Keith Allen (1989)
Ed Snider (1989)
Rick MacLeish (1990)
Fred Shero (1990)
Barry Ashbee (1991)
Gary Dornhoefer (1991)
Gene Hart (1992)
Reggie Leach (1992)
Joe Scott (1993)
Ed Van Impe (1993)
Tim Kerr (1994)
Joe Watson (1996)
Brian Propp (1999)
Mark Howe (2001)
Dave Poulin (2004)
Ron Hextall (2008)
Dave Schultz (2009)
Eric Lindros (2014)
John LeClair (2014)
Eric Desjardins (2015)
Rod Brind'Amour (2015)
Jimmy Watson (2016)
Now let's move on to the other part of the question: the six former first overall picks in the NHL Draft to play for the Flyers.
The most obvious three are Lindros (1991 Draft), Mel Bridgman (1975, the only year the Flyers have ever made the first pick of the Draft) and Vincent Lecavalier.
Two others are also relatively easy to get: Hawerchuk (1981) and Alexandre Daigle (1993). Hoping that a change of scenery could motivate the happy-go-lucky Daigle to work a little harder to apply his speed and scoring ability on more than a sporadic basis, the Flyers traded fellow underachiever Pat Falloon (the second overall pick of the 1991 Draft) and young forward Vaclav Prospal to Ottawa for Daigle midway through the 1997-98 season. Philly ended up disappointed.
The sixth name is the tough one to get without looking it up. In the legendary 1979 Draft, the Colorado Rockies made defenseman Rob Ramage the first overall pick. The player, who had a fine career but not a career on par with the numerous future Hall of Famers and perennial All-Stars taken that year, finished up his NHL career with a 15-game stint with the Flyer in 1993-94. By that point, the 35-year-old Ramage was a shell of the player he was in the early-to-mid-1980s.
Another former first overall pick, offensive defenseman Bryan Berard (1995), was a training camp tryout invitee for the Flyers in 2008 but the Woonsocket, RI native did not make the team despite a decent showing in the preseason. Numerous injuries (including a very serious right eye injury that left him with corrected 20/400 vision and uncorrected 20/600 vision) and being flagged in a performance-enhancing drug test two years earlier took a big bite out of his once-burgeoning career. After the Flyers let him go, Berard finished his pro career in the KHL.
*********
TODAY IN FLYERS HISTORY: JULY 20
1987: The Flyers sell the contract of Jeff Brubaker to the New York Rangers.
1989: The Flyers trade Shawn Cronin to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for future considerations.
2008: The Flyers sign Joffrey Lupul to a four-year contract extension.
2010: The Flyers sign Matt Clackson to a one-year, two-way contract.
Birthday: The late "Cowboy" Bill Flett was born in Vermillion, Alberta on July 21, 1943. Acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in the same multi-player deal that brought Ross Lonsberry to Philadelphia. The big (6-foot-1, 205 pound) Flett was not a fast skater or deft puckhandler but had good hands and an ability to score goals when paired with a skilled playmaker.
Playing right wing on a line with Bobby Clarke and Bill Barber in 1972-73, Flett produced a 43-goal, 74-point campaign in 74 games. The next year, hindered by injuries and off-ice issues, he slumped to 17 goals and 44 points and was moved down in the lineup. Flett dressed in 17 playoff games (zero goals, six assists) as the Flyers won their first Stanley Cup. Flett assisted on Clarke's famous overtime goal in Game Two of the Final against Boston; one of the most iconic moments in franchise history.
The Flyers traded Flett to the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 27, 1974 in exchange for Dave Fortier and Randy Osbourne. Flett passed away on July 12, 1999.
**********
2016 Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp
The 2nd annual Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp will be held Aug. 19 -22 in Atlantic City. The Alumni have assembled an excellent group of instructor/coaches this year, including Hockey Hall of Famers Bernie Parent and Mark Howe, along with the likes of Danny Briere and Flyers assistant coach Ian Laperriere.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»