The New England-Philadelphia matchup in Super Bowl LII will settle at least one bid for bragging rights. But even with an objective upshot on the scoreboard, adamancy will find something to latch onto in this Northeastern feud.
Look no further than the legacies of legends who graced both the New England and Philadelphia hockey scenes. The best of the best leave both bases with supposed evidence that a given player’s better years took place in their territory.
This ranking will not bother determining who gets to claim a given player’s defining moment. Instead, it will rank the top New England-Philadelphia hockey connections based solely on their combined achievements in both areas.
To qualify, one must have either been born in one region and made great ripples in the other or made an impact in both. This means excelling for any combination of the Bruins, Flyers, Whalers, Blazers and AHL, NCAA or scholastic programs.
10. Keith Primeau
The return package in the deal that sent Brendan Shanahan to Detroit, Primeau was among the sparse bright spots of the Whalers’ final year. His 26 goals and 51 points were good for second and third on the team, respectively.
As the Carolina Hurricanes, the ex-Hartford franchise sent Primeau to the Flyers late in the 1999-00 season. On that year’s run to the Eastern Conference final, he tied Eric Lindros for the team lead with 13 playoff points. The most memorable of those points ended a quintuple-overtime win at Pittsburgh in the second round.
When Lindros held out the next season, Primeau stepped up to turn in a career campaign (34 goals, 73 points). But he permanently receded to below the 50-point plateau thereafter.
9. Kevin Dineen
Hartford’s third-round draft choice from 1982 went on to catalyze nearly all of its medium moments of NHL glory. Dineen led the Whalers with 13 playoff points in 1986, the only year in which they won a series.
He led them with 40 goals the next regular season en route to first place in the Adams Division. It was the only time Hartford finished anywhere higher than fourth in its circuit.
Dealt to the Flyers in the fall of 1991, Dineen was a sound second-tier scorer. He finished second with 56 points in 1991-92, then fourth with 64 in 1992-93. He would later briefly serve as Philadelphia’s captain, then Hartford’s upon his return there.
8. John McKenzie
Derek Sanderson was arguably the more publicized Bruin to transfer to Philadelphia’s WHA franchise in 1972. But his tenure with the Blazers lasted a mere eight games.
Conversely, despite missing 18 games, McKenzie finished third among the Blazers with 78 points. This after lending Boston crucial depth with 17 points in both its 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cup runs.
The Blazers’ first Avco Cup tournament ended much quicker in a four-game first-round defeat. But none other than McKenzie led them with three goals and four points in that series. He later finished his career New England when the Minnesota Fighting Saints traded him to the Whalers.
Chris Pronger was the Flyers MVP in his only injury-free Philadelphia season. Before that, he was a prolific point patroller for the Whalers while still in his teens. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
7. Daniel Briere
As a Phoenix Coyotes prospect, Briere led all Springfield Falcons skaters and AHL rookies with 92 points in 1997-98. Despite missing 22 games due to call-ups, he fell two points short of the team lead with 71 in 1999-00.
After cramming 46 points into 30 Springfield appearances the next year, he saw no more AHL action. The brief exception was a three-game conditioning stint with the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2008-09.
Otherwise, when healthy, Briere was a crucial cog for the big club in his Flyers tenure. He placed second on the team with 72 points during his first season in 2007-08. Later, he led Philly on its unexpected run to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final with 30 playoff points.
6. Jeremy Roenick
As a senior at Thayer Academy in Braintree, Mass., Roenick tallied 84 points in 24 games. He would go eighth overall in the subsequent 1988 draft, then turn pro after a half-year in major junior.
The Boston native was 12 years into his NHL career when the Flyers signed him in 2001. His task was to make Philadelphia forget about Lindros, who had officially bolted after his year-long holdout.
Roenick answered that charge to the tune of a team-best 46 assists and 67 points. He led the Flyers again with 59 points in 2002-03, then wrapped his Philly stint with 13 points in the 2004 playoffs.
5. Chris Pronger
Bookending his career with Philadelphia and Hartford, Pronger had his best years elsewhere. With that said, the versatile blueliner did chalk up 55 regular-season and 18 playoff points in 2009-10, his first season as a Flyer. That was sufficient for the Bobby Clarke Trophy as the team MVP.
With the wallowing Whalers, a younger Pronger did his part to mature quickly. As an 18-year-old rookie, he placed seventh on the team and second among defensemen with 30 points. He spent one more year in Hartford (a lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign) before going to St. Louis.
4. Mark Recchi
After a late-season trade from Pittsburgh in 1991-92, Recchi played two full seasons in Philadelphia. He added five more after Montreal dealt him there in 1998-99.
Over those seven nonconsecutive campaigns, he would lead the Flyers in scoring five times. Three of those tears yielded the team MVP award in 1992-93, 1999-00 and 2003-04. When he was not jutting above his teammates, it was usually because of Lindros, Roenick or John LeClair.
Mark Recchi and John LeClair capped their Hall-of-Fame pro and college careers, respectively, in New England. In between, they were part of a searing offense in Philadelphia. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
By the time he went to Boston at the 2009 trade deadline, Recchi had turned 41. Yet he retained a top-six position and crossed the 40-point plateau over each of the next two seasons. He capped his Hall-of-Fame career with 14 points in the 2011 playoffs.
3. John LeClair
Both the Vermont and Philadelphia Sports Halls of Fame have inducted LeClair. He still had two years in his decade-long Flyers tenure ahead when the former honored him in 2002.
At Bellows Free Academy in his hometown of St. Albans, LeClair piloted the 1987 state champion with 87 points. Staying close to home with the UVM Catamounts, he sustained his promising caliber despite two injury-shortened seasons. Ultimately, as a senior, he led Vermont by a 15-point margin with 45.
As part of Philly’s fabled Legion of Doom, LeClair won back-to-back Flyers MVP honors in 1996-97 and 1997-98. He broke the 90-point plateau for the third time the next season, then made his fifth All-Star Game appearance the next.
2. Andre Lacroix
Only one person can claim to have led two major-league Philadelphia hockey teams in scoring. Lacroix did it twice with the Flyers and once with the Blazers.
He had blossomed along with the expansion Flyers by leading them with 56 points as a sophomore in 1968-69. He retained his throne with 58 points in 1969-70 before giving way to Bobby Clarke. A subsequent one-year hiatus in Chicago preceded Lacroix’s return to Philly with the Blazers.
At the start of the WHA’s short lifespan, he led Philadelphia and the new league with 124 points. In the circuit’s swan song, Lacroix was second only to defenseman Mark Howe among New England Whalers scorers with 88 points.
Once the WHA folded, Lacroix was back in the league where he had started his career. He closed it by lending Hartford 17 points in 29 games.
1. Mark Howe
Howe joined his father, Gordie, and brother, Marty, in New England for the 1977-78 WHA season. He would finish a close second to Dad on the Whalers production charts with 30 goals, 61 assists and 91 points.
And he had missed 10 games that season. The next year, he eclipsed Lacroix and all Whalers with a 42-65-107 scoring log.
Upon the team’s transfer to the NHL, the dynamic blueliner turned in three more prolific seasons for Hartford. He immediately followed that with a decade in Philadelphia, where he tallied an NHL career-high 82 points in 1985-86. The Flyers also named him their most outstanding defenseman four times.
Besides the Hockey Hall of Fame and its U.S. equivalent, Howe earned enshrinement in the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.
Leave a Reply