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Quick Hits: Top 25 in 25, Nolet and More

August 14, 2017, 9:35 AM ET [135 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
1) It is hard to believe that this season marks 25 years since Eric Lindros' rookie year with the Flyers. Borrowing ideas from HF Boards and HockeyBuzz Lightning blogger John Gove, I am going to write a series of blogs profiling the Philadelphia careers of the top 25 Flyers of the last quarter century.

Lindros, who is the Flyers' all-time points-per-game leader and won a Hart Trophy and was a finalist for a second, is number one on the list. Before I publish the mini-profile series, I would love to get reader feedback on how they would arrange their own top 25 list of Flyers players from 1992 to 2017.

The current 25 in 25 list (in unfinished order right now) is as follows: Eric Lindros, Claude Giroux, John LeClair, Eric Desjardins, Mark Recchi, Kimmo Timonen, Chris Pronger, Rod Brind'Amour, Keith Primeau, Simon Gagne, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Danny Briere, Wayne Simmonds, Jeremy Roenick, Peter Forsberg, Mikael Renberg, Scott Hartnell, Jakub Voracek, Derian Hatcher, Chris Therien, Ron Hextall, Roman Cechmanek, Brian Boucher and Mike Knuble.

Others up for consideration: Kim Johnsson, Braydon Coburn, Garry Galley, Matt Carle, Robert Esche, Steve Mason, Michal Handzus, Ville Leino, Kevin Dineen, R.J. Umberger, Luke Richardson, Dan McGillis, Joffrey Lupul, Tony Amonte, Keith Jones, Shjon Podein, Mark Streit, Jaromir Jagr, Paul Coffey, Dale Hawerchuk, Alexei Zhamnov, Sami Kapanen, Petr Svoboda, Vaclav Prospal, Martin Biron, Joni Pitkänen, Janne Niinimaa, Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov.

2) Today in Flyers History: In late March of 1990, shortly before the Flyers dismissed Bob Clarke as general manager, Clarke had made a verbal agreement with former teammate Simon Nolet to hire him as a scout. Nolet had been scouting for the Quebec Nordiques but the organization was in a state of upheaval at the time. Nolet left the Nordiques but, before he could be formally hired by the Flyers, Clarke was let go as GM on April 16, 1990.

Nolet was understandably nervous. Keith Allen reassured Nolet that he'd make sure the hire would go through with whomever the next general manager would be. The Flyers hired Russ Farwell on June 6, 1990. Two days later, Clarke became the general manager of the Minnesota North Stars.

For two months, Nolet continued to sit in limbo. Despite the emotional pain of having recently lost his job in Philadelphia, Clarke told Nolet that Allen and the Sniders were men of their word and he was sure there was no cause for alarm. If things for some reason did not work out, however, Nolet was welcome to come work for the North Stars.

On August 14, 1990 -- 27 years ago today -- Farwell formally hired Nolet and the late Bill Dineen as Flyers scouts. Both Dineen (who later ended up coaching the Flyers for most of two seasons) and Nolet would go on to have important impacts on the organization. In Nolet's case, he was the Philadelphia scout who viewed Simon Gagne and Claude Giroux the most times during their respective draft years. He was also instrumental in the Flyers' selection of Patrick Sharp in the third round of the 2001 Draft.

To this day, Nolet still works for the Flyers. At age 75, however, he no longer traverses North America and the world. In more recent years, he has wound down his travel and scouted portions of Quebec. Todd Hearty is the Flyers primary Quebec League scout and also performs extensive crossover scouting work.

3) The Flyers off-season community caravan will be in Sea Isle City, NJ on Monday. Events feature an autograph session with members of the Flyers Alumni, giveaways and ball hockey games.


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