Quick Hits: December 8, 2020
1) Darren Dreger reported on Monday that there has been progress made in the NHL/NHLPA discussions about increased deferred compensation for players relative to the Memorandum of Understanding reached this summer about the terms of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the union. The focus now is on working out the many non-financial details involved in returning to play amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The target date to start the regular season has been moved back from Jan. 1 (which never felt realistic) to Jan. 13, 2021 (ambitious but potentially doable).
2) The Boston University Terriers, featuring Flyers 2018 first-round pick Jay O'Brien, have rolled back the start of their 2020-21 season until at least January 8. This is due to a positive coronavirus test on the team. This is additional delay, as BU's initially rescheduled start to the season was set for Dec. 5.
3) Goaltender Week on the Flyers Broadcast Network and PhiladelphiaFlyers.com continues with articles on the special relationship between Jacques Plante and Bernie Parent and then between Parent and Pelle Lindbergh, as well as a look at the top five most underrated seasons by Flyers goaltenders. On Jason Myrtetus' Flyers Daily show, there have been interviews with Martin Biron, Michael Leighton and Robert Esche. Coming up tomorrow is a tandem interview that Jason and I did with 1970s backup goaltender and longtime Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning broadcaster Bobby Taylor.
4) January 11 will mark the 45-year anniversary of the Flyers' dominant 4-1 win over the Red Army team at the Spectrum. I was a guest last night on the O&B Puckcast recording to discuss that historic game and why it meant almost as much as winning the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons. We also discussed the NHL's return-to-play status, Flyers prospects at the upcoming World Junior Championships, the Phantoms' two Calder Cup championships and more. To listen, click here.
5) Today in Flyers History: Hextall Goal Makes NHL History
In a 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins at the Spectrum on December 8, 1987, Ron Hextall carved out a special place in NHL history. He became the first goaltender in NHL history to score a goal by shooting the puck into the opposing net.
Hextall was not the first NHL goaltender who was adept puckhandler, and not the first who was willing to venture far out of his crease to play the puck. But he took it to whole different level both with his skill and aggressiveness. Hextall was eminently capable of triggering the breakout with a long stretch pass or intercepting a dump-in by the attacking team and clearing the right back out of the defensive zone.
And then there was his shooting ability. Hextall was so adept and physically strong that he developed the ability to routinely be able to fire the puck from goal line to goal line using his goalie stick.
From the time Hextall arrived in the NHL in 1986-87, many people said that it was only a matter of time when he became the first NHL netminder to score a goal by shooting the puck. in 1979, the Islanders' Billy Smith was credited with a goal by virtue of being the last Islander to touch the puck on a delayed penalty call in which the Colorado Rockies accidentally put the puck into their own net after an errant pass by Rob Ramage.
Hextall's puckhandling ability became a major asset for the Flyers' defense. The team's defensemen certainly appreciated the goalie's ability not only to stop the puck behind the cage but to take it himself and pass it to safety.
"Hexy really was like a third defenseman out there for us," Mark Howe recalled in a 2009 interview. "He saved me a lot of wear and tear."
On his history-making goal against the Bruins, Hextall corralled the puck near his own net, and saw a clear shooting path down the ice. He measured his aim momentarily and fired a dart that went straight down the ice into the center of the vacated net.
Earlier in the game, Peter Zezel (two power play goals) and Brian Propp (power play and even strength goals) tallied for the Flyers. On the same night, Flyers defenseman Brad Marsh suffered a frightening head injury on a sandwich check by Ray Bourque and Cam Neely, as his unhelmeted head crashed into the stanchion and hits the ice. Marsh was hospitalized for precautionary reasons.
On April 11, 1989 Hextall became the first NHL goaltender to score a goal in a playoff game, accomplishing the feat in Game Five of the Flyers' 1989 first-round playoff series with the Washington Capitals.