No one has to remind Flyers fans it’s been nearly a half-century since their favorite hockey team won the first of two Stanley Cups.
While the Broad Street Bullies are long-retired from the professional game and most have hung up their skates from alumni and charity events, a few still make their way around the ice.
But even stars such as 71-year-old Reggie “The Riverton Rifle’’ Leach, famous for his team-record 61 regular-season goals and 19 Stanley Cup playoff markers in the 1975-76 season as part of the “LCB’’ Line (along with Bobby Clarke and Bill Barber) might be getting ready to skate into the sunset.
That’s why Monday night’s “Orange and Black’’ Alumni Game at the Wells Fargo Center should be must-watch hockey.
While 78-year-old Joe Watson insists he’s not ready to call it a game just yet, a few members of the game’s 30-or-so member cast might not be following that plan.
So if you’re one of the fortunate ones to attend the game, keep your eye on some of the old-timers. They can still get around and they’re an inspiration to us all.
The game will be held on the eve of the Flyers Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Paul Holmgren and Rick Tocchet prior to the Flyers-Calgary Flames game on Tuesday night at the WFC.
Team Black will be coached by Holmgren and ex-Flyer forward Murray Craven and Team Orange by former Flyers coach Mike Keenan and Tocchet. Both teams are loaded with talent and the action should be fast-paced because some of these players – such as Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell and Scottie Upshall – are not that far removed from the game.
Hall of Famers Eric Lindros and Mark Howe, plus stars such as Brian Propp, John LeClair and Pelle Eklund dot the rosters.
Proceeds from the game benefit Flyers Charities.
Helping out Holmgren on his bench will be Broad Street Bullies Bob “The Hound’’ Kelly and Orest Kindrachuk. The Holmgren coaching staff includes Dave “The Hammer’’ Schultz, Jimmy Watson, Rich Sutter and Bill Clement.
Lindros and LeClair will help recreate the “Legion of Doom’’ Line for Team Black. Since the third member, Mikael Renberg, is unable to attend, another No. 19, Scott Mellanby, will fill in.
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The roster for Team Black:
>Forwards
LeClair-Lindros-Mellanby
Hartnell-Adam Hall-Joffrey Lupul
Upshall-Ron Sutter-Dave Brown/Todd Fedoruk
>Defense
Howe-Dan McGillis
Joe Watson-Derian Hatcher
>Goaltender
Robert Esche-Neil Little
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The roster for Team Orange (coaching staff includes Bob Clarke,
Bill Barber, Gary Dornhoefer and Steve Coates):
>Forwards
Simon Gagne-Briere-Mike Knuble
Propp-Eklund-Lindsay Carson
Donald Brashear-Mitch Lamoureux-Leach/Riley Cote
>Defense
Chris Therien-Kjell Samuelsson
Brad Marsh-Nick Schultz
>Goaltender
Mike McKenna
The game will start at 7 p.m. Tickets for the game start at $35 and are on sale at WellsFargoCenterPhilly.com. VIP ticket packages are also available and include exclusive access to a happy hour event with Flyers alumni, a live pregame program hosted by Clement, and a limited-edition Flyers Hall of Fame puck autographed by Holmgren and Tocchet.
Good luck and good health to all these popular ex-Flyers who will provide great memories from the distant and not-so-distant past.
>Recchi, Gagne next for Flyers Hall of Fame?
Now that Holmgren and Tocchet are about to be enshrined in the Flyers Hall of Fame (after too long a wait, we might add), it’s time to turn our attention to who’s next on the overdue list.
We believe Mark Recchi and Gagne are shoo-ins for the honor, whenever the next vote is held.
Recchi still holds the club record for most points in a season with 123. Gagne played more than a decade in Philadelphia, topping out at a high of 47 goals in one season and scoring that spectacular Game 7 goal to complete the Miracle in Boston comeback in 2010.
Both Recchi and Gagne, along with Kelly and long-time public address announcer Lou Nolan, were finalists this year. I would think all four eventually will get to the Flyers Hall.
“There’s a backlog of deserving Flyers Hall of Fame candidates,’’ noted Bill Meltzer, Flyers Alumni Association content manager and contributing writer for the Flyers’ official website. “Danny Briere and Kimmo Timonen also fall into that category.’’
Meltzer disclosed Gagne barely missed the cut this year. As for Recchi, he’s been a member of three Stanley Cup-winning teams (Pittsburgh, Carolina, Boston) and that puts him in an elite class. Plus, he’s already in the Hockey Hall of Fame and he played more games for the Flyers than any other NHL team.
“Mark was just inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame,’’ Meltzer said. “And he’s the only Flyers-related inductee who is not in the Flyers Hall of Fame. I think that will be rectified in the near future.’’
>Aube-Kubel on waivers
The Flyers placed forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel on waivers Friday afternoon because they need to create space under the NHL salary cap for the return of center Kevin Hayes from injured reserve. If Aube-Kubel goes unclaimed, he can go down to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. NAK has shown talent but also has made some critical turnovers and taken some inopportune penalties. Hopefully he goes unclaimed and can work on his game down in Allentown with a possible return to the Flyers at some point.
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