And he would always deliver a timely shorthanded goal outta nowhere!
- Konalover

Oppps no coffee yet,,,,that comment about shorties was For Dave Poulin.

And he would always deliver a timely shorthanded goal outta nowhere!
- Konalover

That could equally apply to Poulin and Clarke

Oppps no coffee yet,,,,that comment about shorties was For Dave Poulin.
- Konalover

That could equally apply to Poulin and Clarke

- BiggE

Hockey players back then were truly a breed a apart!
Didn't really see any of Clarkes shorties cause rabbit ears didn't get Philly TV in LA, but ESPN just started the coverage of NHL when Poulin was putting the shorthanded dagger into people.

Hockey players back then were truly a breed a apart!
Didn't really see any of Clarkes shorties cause rabbit ears didn't get Philly TV in LA, but ESPN just started the coverage of NHL when Poulin was putting the shorthanded dagger into people.
- Konalover

Clarke and Barber were a lethal PK pair, between 73-74 and 78-79 they averaged 7 shorties per season between them and Clarke finished with 32 for his career. Poulin was even more amazing as he finished with 39 shorties in roughly half the amount of games.

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away...

sorry, couldn't resist. What I really wanted to post about though was to follow up in more detail about JMatch's question about where I'd rank Lindros among all Flyers captains. After giving it some thought, here is my top ten list:

Honorable Mentions:
Mel Bridgman
Ron Sutter
Kevin Dineen

10. Eric Lindros
If rating a captain was only based on on-ice performance, the big guy would be #2 after only Bobby Clarke. However there is so much more to being a Captain than what you do during the time you are on the ice. Lindros had a habit of both feuding with and sometimes ducking the media, and that is simply not conducive to being a good Captain since part of the job is to be the player spokesman for the team. Ducking out after the Flyers were swept by the Wings in 97 is simply inexcusable behavior for a captain. Also the whole Lindros family vs Clarke feud didn't help as well. Many of Eric's own teammates have criticized him for the same things so this is not just my opinion. To sum up, great player, so-so Captain.

9. Mike Richards
Another guy who gave it all on the ice, but had his issues off the ice. His refusal to take off ice training seriously is a big black mark against him IMO, even more so than the supposed partying issues.

8. Lou Angotti
Was only here for the inaugural 67-68 season, but he was a class act and set a good example for the younger players on an expansion team. I have also heard, from guys who played with him that year, that he did a nice job of quickly bringing the guys together as a team.

7. Keith Primeau
Not a big fan of how he handled the Bill Barber stuff, but other than that he was a very good Captain. Primeau was instrumental in smoothing things between the rest of the players and Hitchcock and almost singlehandedly willed the team to a Cup in 2004.

6. Eric Desjardins
Having to take over the captaincy during the mess that was the end of the Lindros era in Philly required a special kind of person and Rico was the perfect guy. Classy and soft spoken, respected by all, he was the perfect choice at that time.

5. Ed Van Impe
Van Impe captained the team from 68-69 thru 71-72 and was one of the few hard nosed players on what were relatively soft teams prior to the Bullies era. He gave it all on the ice, was good with the media and always took younger players under his wing. He is one of the all time good guys in Flyers history.

4. Claude Giroux
Giroux has now been Captain nearly as long as any Flyer in history not named Clarke. The team has been up and down during his tenure, but he's done a nice job overall. He plays through injury, gives his all and plays bigger than his size. At this point in his career he is probably better slated as a #2C, but he will do whatever the team needs him to do. He has also greatly improved his interaction with the media over time and he has a rep for being very helpful to the younger players on the roster.

3. Jason Smith
Smith was the ultimate hockey warrior. After just one camp with the team he was unanimously voted Captain by his teammates which pretty much says it all. He played through debilitating pain and injury while he was here and truly left it all on the ice. Taking over as Captain of the team that had just finished dead last in the NHL and taking them to the conference final in the next season is one hell of an accomplishment.

Now, we jump up about 10 notches to the top 2:

2. Dave Poulin
Poulin may just of been the classiest guy to ever wear the orange and black. He was the epitome of what a Captain should be both on and off the ice and he, like Smith, played through injuries that would have sidelined most players. Any NHL team would love to have a captain like Dave Poulin.

1. Bobby Clarke
Now take Dave Poulin and add top quality skills and a near frightening determination to win at all costs and you have the greatest captain in team history, Robert Earle Clarke. Bobby Clarke was the heart and soul of the Broad Street Bullies and he led his team to back to back Cups and 3 straight trips to the finals. He was the ultimate leader and still, IMO, the greatest Flyer of all time. His resume is staggering: 2 Cups, 4 trips to the finals, 3 Hart trophies, a Selke trophy, a Masterton Trophy and over 1200 points in a 15 year career. He is simply Mr. Flyer.
- BiggE

I do think the length of time of being captain should be factored in.

That's why, as much as I admire Jason Smith and I think Eric Desjardins is probably one of the most important Flyers players of the last 30 years, I'm not sure I would have ranked their captaincies quite so high.

My list would have been something like:

1.) Clarke
2.) Poulin
3.) G
4.) EVI
5.) Eric Lindros
6.) Mike Richards
7.) Lou Angotti
8.) Primeau (without that 2004 run, he doesn't make this list)
9.) Rico
10.) Jason Smith

And even in my list, you could rank the guys that I have 3 through 6 in any order and it would work on some level.

I do think the length of time of being captain should be factored in.

That's why, as much as I admire Jason Smith and I think Eric Desjardins is probably one of the most important Flyers players of the last 30 years, I'm not sure I would have ranked their captaincies quite so high.

My list would have been something like:

1.) Clarke
2.) Poulin
3.) G
4.) EVI
5.) Eric Lindros
6.) Mike Richards
7.) Lou Angotti
8.) Primeau (without that 2004 run, he doesn't make this list)
9.) Rico
10.) Jason Smith

And even in my list, you could rank the guys that I have 3 through 6 in any order and it would work on some level.
- johndewar

Length of service is certainly a fair point, but I would suggest that a guy like Jason Smith had more of a positive impact purely in the role of Captain in one year than guys like Richards and Lindros did in a much longer time frame. I also ranked Rico as high as I did because I can't imagine stepping in as Captain during a more difficult and tumultuous time and handling it as well as Desjardins did.

edit: It was really close between G and Smith for #3 and I can see G moving up to that spot in the near future since he will have his work cut out for him helping so many kids adjust to playing in the NHL over the next few seasons.

Length of service is certainly a fair point, but I would suggest that a guy like Jason Smith had more of a positive impact purely in the role of Captain in one year than guys like Richards and Lindros did in a much longer time frame. I also ranked Rico as high as I did because I can't imagine stepping in as Captain during a more difficult and tumultuous time and handling it as well as Desjardins did.
- BiggE

Everytime I think about Rico's captaincy, I think of that story Rick Tocchet told about Claude Lemieux skating up to Rico and asking him if the "C" on his jersey stood for "selfish".

That story, of course, teaches us that Claude Lemieux is not only the worst, but he's quite possibly illiterate.

Everytime I think about Rico's captaincy, I think of that story Rick Tocchet told about Claude Lemieux skating up to Rico and asking him if the "C" on his jersey stood for "selfish".

That story, of course, teaches us that Claude Lemieux is not only the worst, but he's quite possibly illiterate.
- johndewar

Claude Lemieux is a 1st class piece of crap.

Everytime I think about Rico's captaincy, I think of that story Rick Tocchet told about Claude Lemieux skating up to Rico and asking him if the "C" on his jersey stood for "selfish".

That story, of course, teaches us that Claude Lemieux is not only the worst, but he's quite possibly illiterate.
- johndewar

Does the french word for selfish start with a C?

Does the french word for selfish start with a C?
- Doc_Sarcasm

No, in French it is egoiste. Lemieux is as dumb as he is obnoxious.

No, in French it is egoiste. Lemieux is as dumb as he is obnoxious.

- BiggE

I only speak 'Murican. (frank) yea!

- Giroux_Is_God

Class dismissed.

Fultz has an ankle sprain and Patrick will be on th ice soon. Oh what ever will we do???
- hereticpride

laugh because we can't seem to catch a break

laugh because we can't seem to catch a break
- 2Real

Nolan Patrick was the final straw

Class dismissed.
- TobyFlenderson

Hell yes it is. Class will be dismissed one last time after his next season

Flyers and Sixers draft picks both injured right now. You can't make this up
- 2Real

Both healthy as a team of oxen. Cal Ripken Jr. must look at all these pretzels in pro sports these days and just laugh.

How many cities have 3 pro sports teams with 35+ year championship droughts?
Boston is the only other city that comes to mind.
Laughably pathetic.

Hell yes it is. Class will be dismissed one last time after his next season
- Giroux_Is_God

Professor Emeritus Big Dog

Professor Emeritus Big Dog
- Mononoke

Both healthy as a team of oxen. Cal Ripken Jr. must look at all these pretzels in pro sports these days and just laugh.

How many cities have 3 pro sports teams with 35+ year championship droughts?
Boston is the only other city that comes to mind.
Laughably pathetic.
- PLindbergh31

Tainter Jainter missed half a season with elbow pain. Came back strong as ever. That was his first of 2 seasons in Believeland, back in 2028. He still turned out alright