Philadelphia Flyers: Top 10 Controversial Captains

The Philadelphia Flyers have had some great captains. Here’s a look at their 10 most controversial captains of all-time.

Being a professional athlete in Philadelphia is tough. Ergo, being the Captain of the Philadelphia Flyers has got to be tougher than steaks from a horse bound for the glue factory. For whatever reason, their captains just seem to get into trouble, both on and off the ice, and get called out for both.

Current Captain Claude Giroux didn’t wait for the fans to call him out, he did it himself after a game in Carolina, and he has had his share of off the ice woes as well.  Flyers Captains have always been a cut above, so let’s take a look at 10 of the Flyer’s most controversial Captains, in no particular order.

10. Claude Giroux (2012-Current)

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It seems appropriate to start with the current Captain, 30-year-old Claude Giroux. He was selected 22nd overall in the 2006 draft when then General Manager Bobby Clarke famously forgot the newest Flyer’s name.

Giroux didn’t join the big club until 2008, and didn’t garner much attention until the 2010 season that saw the Flyers make it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. It was Giroux’s shootout goal combined with Brian Boucher‘s lights out save that pushed the team into the playoffs on the last day of that magical season.

The playoff run would be his coming out party, and his OT goal in Game Three of the Finals gave the Flyers new life in the series. They would eventually lose the Cup in six games, but the guy known best as “G” had made his presence known.

Giroux was named the Flyers Captain on January 13, 2013, one day after his twenty-fifth birthday. Rumors of heavy drinking, enjoying the company of ladies of ill repute and other boys will be boys activities followed Giroux everywhere, but were just rumors. The rumors that started on July 1, 2014 of Giroux being arrested were actually true.

Giroux spent some time in an Ottawa jail cell after repeatedly grabbing a police officer’s derriere. He was released, and no charges were ever formally filed. He apologized in a written statement, an has kept his hands to himself since that incident. Well, at least off the ice.

9. Lou Angotti (1967-68)

Lou Angotti was the first Captain of the Flyers, voted by the players on that initial team. He was  the first Flyers Captain to stir up controversy, but certainly was not the last. Prior to the team’s first playoff series, then general manager Bud Poile made a bold prediction to a reporter that the team would win in four straight games.

Angotti was asked how he thought the team would do, and he politely disagreed with Poile, that he did not see a sweep happening. He was benched until Game 7 of the series, which was won, along with the series, by the St.Louis Blues. Angotti was traded to those very same Blues during that offseason. Later that same day, the Blues traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

With the Flyers, he put up 49 points in 70 games in his lone season in Philly. Angotti put up 37 points in 71 games with the Penguins in his lone season there. He’s best known for his time with the Chicago Blackhawks. After retiring, he coached for the St. Louis Blues (1973-75). Angotti also coached for the Penguins (1983-84).

Now 80, he returned for the Captain’s Night during the Flyers Golden Anniversary season in 2017 and seemed to revel in telling his tale of controversy.

7. Eric Lindros (1994-2000)

Speaking of Eric Lindros, he was named the captain in September of 1994 and had been through his share of controversy before he ever slipped on any Flyers sweater, let alone one with a “C” on the shoulder. He famously refused to sign with the Quebec Nordiques who drafted him as the #1 overall pick in the 1991 draft. Lindros sat out an entire season, and the Nordiques traded him at the 1992 Draft to two separate teams.

The Nordiques had brokered Lindros to the Flyers as well as the Rangers, and an arbitrator would eventually award him to the Flyers. In exchange, the Flyers sent $15 million, two first-round picks and five players, including Peter Forsberg and Ron Hextall, to the Nordiques. Forsberg would go on to win two Stanley Cups with the Nordiques franchise after they relocated to Colorado.

Eric Lindros; however; would never lift the Cup, in a Flyers sweater or any other. The Flyers were swept by the Red Wings in four games in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals and Lindros had just one goal in his only Stanley Cup Finals series.

The Feud

Lindros’s feud with GM Bobby Clarke was legendary, so much so that it overshadowed his skill. Clarke would question Lindros’s toughness, character, and his allowing his parents to meddle in his career. Lindros’s father called out the Flyer’s medical staff in writing for misdiagnosing a fractured rib that caused a punctured lung, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The Great 88 was stripped of the C in March of 2000  after he publicly criticized the team’s trainers for failing to properly diagnose a concussion. He requested a trade to Toronto after the season; Clarke refused. Lindros sat out the entire 2000-01 season and was eventually traded to the New York Rangers.

It was thought that all was forgiven between Lindros, Clarke, and the Flyers organization. The Flyers feted Lindros when they retired his #88 sweater, and Lindros made a lovely speech, thanking the fans, his teammates, and his family. Quite obviously absent from his speech were Bobby Clarke and Ed Snider, leading one to believe that perhaps not all has been forgiven.

6. Rick Tocchet (1991-92)

Rick Tocchet‘s captaincy with the Philadelphia Flyers was short, less than one season. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992, where he would win a Stanley Cup. Tocchet would have a second go-round with the Flyers, in 2000, but he wasn’t given the C. In 2000, there was enough going on in that department with the boys in Orange and Black.

“Operation Slapshot’

So, where exactly is the controversy? Tocchet’s controversy, thankfully, happened AFTER he was a Flyer. In 2006, Tocchet was charged in an illegal gambling sting called “Operation Slapshot”. Also named in the indictments were Janet Jones, wife of Wayne Gretzky, and a New Jersey State Trooper named James Harney.

The scandal rocked the NHL, and Tocchet’s future in the league was in doubt. The gambling ring included NHL players, but Tocchet vehemently denied that there was ever any gambling on the actual NHL games. He was exiled from the NHL by Gary Bettman, who apparently was not concerned with what games were involved. Tocchet eventually pled guilty to conspiracy and promoting gambling, and received two years probation. The original charges could have resulted in a lengthy prison sentence.

Rick was reinstated by the NHL in 2008 and won two more Stanley Cups with the Penguins as a member of their coaching staff. He is currently the head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. Tocchet still holds the Flyers record for Gordie Howe Hat Tricks, with nine.

5. Eric Desjardins (1999-2001)

Poor Rico. The seven-time winner of the Barry Ashbee Trophy as the Flyers Best Defenseman, two time NHL All-Star as a Flyer, and 1999 Class Guy Award winner found himself smack dab in the middle of an office bru ha ha for the ages.

When the Flyers stripped the C from Eric Lindros, it was handed to Desjardins. The “C” apparently wore heavily on Rico, and it showed in his play. He resigned the C on October 23, 2001, the first and only Flyer to do so. He retired as a Flyer in August of 2006 after the team did not offer him a contract.

Rico was inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame on February 15. 2015. One has to think he will soon grace the NHL Hall of Fame as he remains the only defensemen to record a hat trick in a Stanley Cup Final game.

Desjardins spent 11 seasons with the Flyers. In 738 games, he put up 396 points, including 303 assists. In 1998-99 and 1999-00, Desjardins finished in the top five in the Norris Trophy voting. He also spent seven years with the Montreal Canadiens before coming to the Flyers.

4. Dave Poulin (1984-90)

Dave Poulin‘s six-year stint as the Philadelphia Flyers captain started with controversy and ended with it as well. Poulin was an undrafted former figure skater who caught the eye of Ted Sator while playing in Sweden.

Sator got him to the Flyers and Poulin quickly impressed,  making a two-goal debut on the last day of the 82-83 season. He was given the C after Darryl Sittler, who had been poised to be the new Captain, was traded to the Red Wings on the eve of the 1984 season. The trade was made by former player new GM Bobby Clarke, whom Sittler would have been replacing as Captain.

Poulin led the 1985 Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals, famously scoring a spectacular 2 man down shorthanded goal in Game 6 of the Wales Conference Championship versus the Quebec Nordiques. The Flyers, wracked with injuries, lost in seven games to Edmonton in the Finals.

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No Explanation

During his time with the Flyers, Poulin won the Selke Trophy and was a two time All Star. He was loved by the fans, respected by his team mates and feared by opponents. Poulin was inexplicably stripped of the C and traded to the Boston Bruins during the 89-90  season. Poulin would be in familiar territory, losing another Stanley Cup Final to the Oilers with the Bruins. He would end his playing career with the Washington Capitals in 1995.

Poulin has participated in several Flyers alumni games, and was inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame on February 23, 2004.

3. Mike Richards (2008-11)

Mike Richards was groomed to be the Philadelphia Flyers captain practically from the moment he was drafted 24th in the 2003 Entry Draft. Not wanting to pressure the youngster that was being called the future of the organization, the Flyers brought in journeyman Jason Smith as Captain in 2007, and he took Richards under his wing. When Smith left to sign with Ottawa after the season, it was Richard’s turn to take hold of the team.

Richards feuded with the media in Philadelphia, refusing to speak to them on a regular basis. Richards and best friend Jeff Carter were regular targets of a local blog that delighted in publishing pictures of the duo partying. The rumors of “maintenance days” being hangovers combined with his refusal to speak to the media seemed only to fuel the media’s interest. Richards was known to get into heated exchanges with reporters that he claimed were hounding him.

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The Comeback

Mike earned his place in history as the Captain of the Flyers team that made the historic comeback from 0-3 down to Boston in the 2010 playoffs. He was also the Captain that watched the Stanley Cup be handed to the Chicago Blackhawks in his house that very same year. Right or wrong, much of the blame for that loss was laid at his feet.

Coach Peter Laviolette issued a “dry island” challenge, trying to encourage a healthier lifestyle for his young players, apparently a challenge Mike Richards did not embrace,. There were also rumblings that Richards and veteran defensemen Chris Pronger were involved in a power struggle for control of the team. It was Pronger who would often step forward and speak to the media when Richards refused. It was also Pronger who appeared to be mentoring the younger players, a role that traditionally fell to the Captain.

The Trade

June 23, 2011, was a day that rocked Broad Street. Richards and Carter were traded to Los Angeles and Columbus, respectively. The trades were made only moments apart, so close in fact, that many Flyers fans thought sure that they were hoaxes. Both players were stunned, Richards had signed a 12-year contract in 2007-08, and had been assured he was indeed a “franchise” player.

Richards won two Stanley Cups with the Los Angeles Kings, along with Jeff Carter, who begged the Blue Jackets to trade him to LA. For Richards, the drug accusations came home to roost when he was terminated by the Kings on June 29, 2015, for breach of contract. Richards had been arrested in Canada for possession of oxycodone, a controlled substance, without a prescription.

The termination was disputed, and the Kings eventually settled the dispute with Richards, leaving him an unrestricted free agent. Richards’ last contract was a one year deal with the Washington Capitals, signed in 2016. The drug charges in Canada were stayed, and prosecution was dropped.

Ed Van Impe (1968-73)

Ed Van Impe was an original Flyer, having been claimed from the Chicago Blackhawks in the original expansion draft. He assumed the role of Captain when Lou Angotti was traded following the Flyers first-round playoff loss to the St. Louis Blues. Other than the Flyers play that would earn the team the now famous nickname “Broad Street Bullies”, Van Impe’s Captaincy was relatively free from controversy.

Van Impe’s claim to bad boy fame came later after he had relinquished the C to Bobby Clarke. In 1976, the Flyers were a part of the Super Series 76, and would play a game against the Soviet lion’s Central Red Army team.

The Flyers were the defending Stanley Cup Champions at the time, and while they were the most hated team in the NHL on a daily basis, the entire United States was rooting for the Flyers on January 11, 1976, in hopes that the Bullies could finally beat the hated Russians.

The Hit

As a Broad Street Bully blueliner, Van Impe was known for his thundering hits, and he did not disappoint in the game against the Soviets. After being released from the penalty box for a hooking infraction, Van Impe set his sights on Soviet superstar Valeri Kharlamov, and unloaded a hit so brutal that it left Kharlamov unconscious on the ice.

The hit was not called as a penalty, causing the Russians to leave the ice in protest. The Soviet team returned only after being told they would forfeit payment for the series if they did not complete the game.

Meanwhile, the Flyers won the game by a score of 4-1, and were the only team to win a game against the Red Army Team during the series.

1. Bobby Clarke (1972-79, 1982-84)

The only Flyers Captain to ever be handed the Stanley Cup, to be feted by the City of Philadelphia with a Championship Parade; Bobby Clarke is the standard to which all Captains of the Philadelphia Flyers will forever be held.

There are plenty of topics to cover with Clarke…The Broad Street Bully Image, the well known partying, being an assistant coach and player, taking the C back after he stepped down as a coach, the Lindros feud and the many coaches he fired as an executive. All of those are forgiven and forgotten; the image that remains in Flyers fans memory is Clarke, toothless and grinning from ear to ear, lifting Lord Stanley’s Cup.

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Perhaps it is this image, this LEGEND, that has weighed on every Flyers Captain since Clarke. A legend that massive casts a tremendous shadow, one that cannot be easy to live in. He will cast that shadow until another Captain raises the Cup above his head while wearing an orange and black sweater.