The NHL will ring in the new year with a celebration of everything that’s happened since Y2K. The league will be announcing quarter-century teams – three forwards, two defensemen, and one goaltender – for every team (even the three-and-a-half-season-old Seattle Kraken) starting Dec. 30 through the end of January. A league-wide quarter-century team determined exclusively by fans will be voted on in February and announced at a later date.
The Philadelphia Flyers are right in the middle of the announcements list, landing on Jan. 13. The first decade of the 21st century was a promising one since the team reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2004 and 2008 and came within two wins of their first Stanley Cup since 1975 in 2010. But after missing the playoffs only once from the start of the century through 2012, the Flyers have not qualified for the postseason in eight of the last 12 seasons, and they are in danger of tying the franchise-record playoff drought of five seasons.
Even with that downswing, a lot of talent has come through the City of Brotherly Love over the last 25 years. There’s an obvious lock at forward and probably one on defense too. But the other four spots are wide open.
Claude Giroux is on this team. No question. While some may question his leadership as the team only won one playoff series with Giroux wearing the “C,” his resume speaks for itself. He’s one of only two players to play 1,000 games in orange and black and was a key contributor in the team’s 2010 Final run. His 900 regular-season points are nearly 300 more than any Flyer since Jan. 1, 2000, and he’s also the team leader in playoff points during that span.
On the current Flyers’ roster, Sean Couturier has taken the captain’s mantle from Giroux and is quietly on track to join him and Bobby Clarke in the 1,000 games club. He also has two playoff hat-tricks, including one with two assists that he put up with a torn MCL (albeit in a game the team somehow lost). Travis Konecny’s ascension over the last few seasons has pushed him to fifth in goals and points in the century, although his poor playoff track record (one goal, eight points in 22 games) probably knocks him out.
Besides, it would be sacrilege not to include at least one forward from the team’s consistent success during the early 2000s. Plus-minus is a flawed stat, but when you’re plus-70 better than any other forward in regular-season play, that stands out. Add two game-winning goals in the team’s iconic 3-0 series comeback against the Boston Bruins in 2010 (including the Game 7 game-winning goal), and Simon Gagne is a top-tier candidate. The same goes for Daniel Briere, who has one fewer point and 12 more goals than Giroux in 17 fewer playoff games. His work as general manager doesn’t count for his candidacy, although the largely positive reputation he’s developed in the early stages of his executive career can’t hurt.
Though their exits from Philadelphia weren’t the smoothest, and they may be better candidates for the Los Angeles Kings’ quarter-century team, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter deserve mentions. Carter is still the most recent Flyer to eclipse the 40-goal mark (scoring 46 in 2008-09), and Richards scored arguably the team’s most memorable goal since their comeback win in Game 6 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Final with his diving shortie in the 2010 ECF clincher.
Of course, Hockey Hall of Famers Mark Recchi and Jeremy Roenick are second and fourth in points per game among Flyers, with more than 100 games played. But both are more synonymous with other teams and Recchi, in particular, loses a lot of credit here, as his back-to-back 100-point seasons from the 1990s don’t factor in.
If the 2010s are more your style, Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds should also be in contention. Simmonds was long regarded as the platonic ideal of a Flyer, unwilling to give an inch and with a nose for the net. He also rose in big moments frequently, including a two-goal game in the 2016 Playoff clincher and a hat-trick to stave off elimination in the 2014 Playoffs. Voracek was a dynamite playmaker for almost a decade, and the only non-Giroux Flyer of the century (so far) to eclipse 600 points.
Kimmo Timonen feels like the right place to start. While he may not be a lock like Giroux, it’s hard to see a world where he gets left off this team. He’s the team leader in regular season (270) and playoff points (29) and was always regarded for his character. While it’s a shame he had to go elsewhere to get his long-awaited Cup, he’s the clear front-runner for this position.
The second spot is a bit of a toss-up. The case for Chris Pronger to be included is very similar to why the Philadelphia Phillies chose to retire the late Roy Halladay’s number. Both are Hall of Famers who had short but successful stints in Philadelphia. Pronger’s 0.73 points per game in the playoffs is nearly 0.2 ahead of second place Eric Desjardins, and he did so averaging almost 28 minutes a game, a full minute more than second place (also Desjardins).
But the fact that he only played 145 regular season and 26 playoff games opens the door to other blueliners. There are two categories for most of the remaining candidates: modern players who are good regular-season point producers with virtually no playoff success (Shayne Gostisbehere, Ivan Provorov, and Travis Sanheim) and solid players from the previous era who don’t have as much in counting stats (Braydon Coburn, Matt Carle).
Desjardins is also an intriguing option, although the first half of his Flyers tenure came before the turn of the century and, therefore, doesn’t count for his candidacy for this team. But he’s still top five in regular season and playoff scoring even with that caveat, and one of five Flyers defensemen with 40 playoff games in the 21st century under their belt.
Oh boy. This exercise shows how rough the Flyers’ goaltending has been post the Ron Hextall era (player, not GM), especially when you try to find a clear number one from the last 25 years. Steve Mason is the only Flyer in that span to hit 100 wins (and even he just barely hit that milestone at 102). It feels absurd that a goalie with two playoff wins could even be a candidate for such a prestigious honour, but then again, Mason’s .918 save percentage (SV%) ranks second in the last 25 years, so…maybe?
Roman Cechmanek is a contender in his own right. He has a slight edge in regular season and playoff save percentage compared to Mason and has 23 playoff games under his belt, tied for third among candidates. Robert Esche’s case looks much better if you start with the playoffs (.907 SV%, and his 13 playoff wins rank second) than the regular season (.901 SV%, eighth with 60 wins and 121 games played). Martin Biron put up good numbers in the regular season (.915 SV%) and playoffs (.908 SV%, ranked third with 11), but longevity hurts him as he only played two and a half seasons in Philly.
But the leader in the clubhouse should be Brian Boucher. What he lacks in regular season SV% (.904) he makes up for with playoff success (fourth with a .911 SV% and first in wins and games played by wide margins with 21 and 42, respectively). The two most memorable goaltending moments (well, positive, memorable goaltending moments) in the last 25 years of Flyers hockey are his sprawling save on Patrick Elias in the 2000 ECF and stopping Olli Jokinen to seal a playoff spot on the last day of the 2010 regular season in a winner-takes-the-last-playoff-spot-shootout, something the NHL has never seen before or since.
The forward core starts with Giroux. Gagne feels like the perfect fit as he combines the success of the early 2000s team alongside Recchi, Roenick, Desjardins, and others with the triumphant 2010 Cinderella team. The last spot is up for grabs. If not for injuries, this would likely be Couturier’s place to lose, but I’m going in a slightly different direction with Briere. The playoff production is just too incredible to pass up, as he, Giroux, and Gagne are the only Flyers with more than 20 goals in the postseason, and only Richards and Scott Hartnell have hit 40 points. Simmonds is my last man out here.
The 2010 team gets more representation on the backend, with Timonen and Pronger patrolling on defense. Pronger did enough to make up for his injury-shortened tenure with the team by being everything they could have hoped for when trading two first-round picks and more to acquire him in the summer of 2009. Desjardins earns honorable mention status.
Related: Dear Santa: Philadelphia Flyers’ 2024-25 Wish List
Finally, we’re calling Boucher down from the broadcast booth and getting him back in the crease for this team. There’s no official backup spot, but if there was, Cechmanek would get the nod. Here’s hoping the bar for the No. 2 goalie on the Flyers’ half-century team is higher than three solid regular seasons and single-digit playoff wins, though.
Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. Updated hourly, with analysis, commentary and features from hundreds writers worldwide, our articles are read over 5 million times every month.
