Across the National Hockey League, organizations are announcing their "quarter century teams" of top players from the last 25 seasons.
Across the National Hockey League, organizations are announcing their “quarter century teams” of top players from the last 25 seasons. In each city, a specialized panel was convened to select a First Team and a Second Team of the quarter century group. Each panelist voted independently, and the results were compiled by the NHL according to the overall consensus.
Inevitably, voters had to make several tough choices as to whom to include (and whether to place him on their personal First Team or Second Team). When voting, panelists were not privy to one another’s ballot choices.The entire exercise is designed to honor each of the chosen players but also to spark fan discussion and debate.
Below is the Flyers 1st Team based on the collective panel vote: Three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender.
Drafted by the Flyers in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1998 Draft, Gagne broke into the NHL as a center but was soon moved to left wing for the vast majority of his career.
Gagne made an immediate mark as a rookie and quickly established himself as one of the team’s top offensive threats throughout the 2000s. He played in two significantly different eras of the franchise before and after the 2004-05 lockout and was an impact player in both scenarios. His clutch performances at critical times in the playoffs and regular season will particularly be remembered for years to come.
Overall, Gagne played in 11 seasons for the Flyers over two NHL stints with the club (1999-2000 to 2009-10 and 2012-13).
Over the entire course of Flyers history, only franchise icon Bobby Clarke played more games or recorded more assists than Giroux. “G” also had the longest continuous stretch as team captain in the history of the organization.
Drafted as a right winger by the Flyers in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Giroux made the rare-switch from young winger to full time center during his third pro season. Later in his career, he made a highly successful switch from center to left wing. Wherever he played, Giroux was the Flyers No. 1 offensive catalyst throughout his years in Philadelphia.
Overall, Giroux played all or portions of 15 seasons with the team including a two-game emergency recall in 2007-8.
Drafted by the Flyers with the latter (24th overall) of their two first-round picks in the landmark 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Richards epitomized a heart-and-soul leader on the ice during his Philadelphia career. Although he was far from the biggest, fasted or more dynamically skilled player on the team, Richards’ competitive drive and well-rounded game made him the backbone of the forward corps for most of his prime years.
Laconic off the ice, Richards’ play spoke volumes about his will to win and sheer hustle. At his peak, he was an elite penalty killer and power play regular in addition to absorbing some of the toughest matchups at five-on-five.
The lone player on the Flyers’ Quarter Century Team who was a notable player on the roster prior to the 2000s, the Flyers Hall of Fame defenseman and seven time Barry Ashbee Trophy winner’s career in Philly could be divided into two separate periods.
In the early 2000s, Desjardins played through a partial ACL tear in his knee. Robbed a full stride of his previous silky smooth mobility, the cerebral defenseman took a bit of time to readjust aspects of his his style. Thereafter, he re-emerged as the Flyers best all-around and top offensive defenseman until the final stage of his NHL career following the 2004-05 lockout.
For purposes of the Quarter Century Team, we will look only at Desjardins’ Flyers career highlights from the 2000s.
Acquired on June 18, 2007 from Nashville, Timonen immediately stepped in and became one of the best all-around defensemen in franchise history. Timonen’s powerful lower body, puck skills, ability to make smart plays away from the puck, heart, desire and two-way hockey sense more than made up for
anything he lacked in size.
The Finnish stalwart’s presence on the blue line anchored five consecutive seasons of success that included seven playoff series victories, the 2010 trip to the Stanley Cup Final and a run to the Eastern Conference Final in 2008.
From the standpoints of regular season success and statistical accomplishments,Cechmanek’s three-season run (2000-01 to 2002-23) as the Flyers starting goaltender saw him post some lofty accomplishments in a short period period of time.
Cechmanek’s size and highly unorthodox playing style — including signature “cranium carom” method of deliberately using the crown of his mask to deflect pucks to safety and the multiple times in which he came up with saves while seemingly caught too far out of position or seated on the ice facing into his net — made him unpredictable for opposing attackers and teammates alike.
In the playoffs, Cechmanek’s high-wire act had mixed results. Some outings were debacles, others were brilliant. It should be noted that, during the Flyers 2002 and 2003 playoff series against Ottawa (losses in five and six games), Cechmanek did not receive more that two goals of support in any of the 11 games. Yet he won three of the games, all by shutout. He also bested Hall of Famer Ed Belfour by the end of the epic 2003 first-round playoff series against Toronto.
All time in Flyers history, Cechmanek ranks second to Bernie Parent in regular season shutouts, No. 1 in goals against average in the regular season (minimum 25 or more career games), tops in save percentage, and tied for sixth in wins.
With the last quarter century, only Steve Mason (104 in 231 games) and Carter Hart (96 in 227 games) had more wins among Flyers goaltenders than Cechmanek’s 92 wins in 163 games.

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