Former Flyers greats, Eric Lindros and John LeClair were inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame Thursday night, prior to the Flyers’ game against the Minnesota Wild.
Two of the best players to wear the orange and black in recent memory were inducted into the Flyers’ Hall of Fame, and rightfully so. Both Lindros and LeClair deserve to be recognized for the exceptional hockey that they played in Philadelphia in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Lindros and LeClair had similar styles. They could both score, they could both pass, they were both big bodies, and they would both fight. That is how a unique hockey player can be recognized: the ability to produce offensively, and at the same time being able to play physical hockey and willing to fight. Combine that with right winger Mikael Renberg and the Flyers found themselves with a high octane top line that could not only score, but could dominate teams physically.
This line, referred to as “The Legion of Doom” was the main source of offensive production for the Flyers during the three season that this line stayed together. It was formed when the Flyers acquired LeClair in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens in which the Flyers also received defenseman Eric Dejardins for star winger Mark Recchi.
Though Lindros had a very good career, all of the notable things he did in the NHL were done while wearing the orange and black. Lindros won the Hart Trophy for the NHL’s Most Valuable Player in the strike-shortened 1994-95 season. He and Bobby Clarke are the only players in Flyers history to be recognized as the NHL MVP, Clarke won the award three times.
He was a six-time All-Star and three-time Olympian, playing for Canada in 1992, 1998, and 2002. He averaged over a point per game throughout his NHL career, however, his career unfortunately was cut short due to a series of concussions in the early 2000s. So, it remains to be seen if he will ever be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, something that seemed like a foregone conclusion in the early stages of his career.
Lindros’ left hand man, LeClair, made two Olympic teams, playing for the United States in 1998 and 2002, and he was also a five-time NHL All-star, all in his tenure as a Flyer.
Between 1995 and 1998, LeClair recorded at least 50 goals in each of those three seasons. Unlike Lindros, LeClair was able to stay pretty healthy throughout his career, being able to play a total of 15 seasons, compared to 13 for Lindros, although the final three seasons Lindros played in less than half of his team’s games.
As of now, it looks like LeClair has a chance of making it into the Hockey Hall of Fame, while Lindros’ chances are slim. The case for Lindros to be in the Hall of Fame is a tough one to make because he was not successful for a long period of time. His success was great, but it was short-lived.
These two were the faces of Flyers hockey in the 90s. They were always on the ice together, as two-thirds of the Legion of Doom, so it is only fitting that they were, once again, on the ice together Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center to see their names hung from the rafters with the likes of Ron Hextall, Clarke, and Bernie Parent, just to name a few.
Unfortunately for the fans, the best part of the night was seeing Lindros and LeClair, since the Flyers failed to win for the fourth straight game. The Flyers managed to keep it close, tying the game up at two a piece on a goal scored by Claude Giroux in the third period, but the Wild managed to score the go-ahead, game-winning goal with less than a minute left in regulation to deflate the Wells Fargo Center and leave a smudge on what otherwise would have been a fantastic night at the rink.
An encouraging sign was that the Flyers out-shot the Wild 39-29, so they were able to sustain consistent offense, they simply failed to put the puck in the net. That happens, but the shot differential is very encouraging.
With this losing streak, the Flyers are starting to dig themselves a pretty deep hole. If they want to improve upon last season’s finish, a first round exit, but a playoff birth none the less, the Flyers will have to snap this losing streak fast, and string together some points.
With two new names hanging from the rafters of the Wells Fargo Center the Flyers will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at home on Saturday, before traveling to New York to play the Islanders on Monday.
Billy Reardon is a third-year student majoring in communications with a minor in journalism. He can be reached at WR783095@wcupa.edu