When even the most casual sports fan thinks of hockey in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Flyers undoubtedly come to mind. Founded in 1967, the Flyers became one of the NHL’s storied franchises in the 1970s and 1980s, winning two Stanley Cups and six Conference championships between the two decades. The Flyers have also had their fair share of Hall of Famers; Bernie Parent, Mark Howe, Barry Ashbee, Bill Barber, Bobby Clarke, and Eric Lindros are just a handful of the legends to wear the burnt orange, black, and white over the years.
What many, even die-hard fans of the game in Philadelphia, don’t realize is that the World Hockey Association (WHA) once had a professional team in the city for one season. The Philadelphia Blazers played their home games at the Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center during the 1972-73 season. The team had several notable and fan-favorite former NHL players on their roster that season, including Parent, Derek Sanderson, John McKenzie, and André Lacroix.
Philadelphia Flyers
Prior to joining the Blazers, center Lacroix played five seasons in the NHL with the Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks. His call-up from the minor leagues to the Flyers during the 1967-68 season was secured thanks to his outstanding play with the organization’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Quebec Aces. Like most other stops during his professional career, Lacroix was loved by the Quebec fans.
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“The Aces fans were upset with the Flyers when they called me up to finish the season with them during the 1967-68 season. I was leading the AHL in scoring by a wide margin. I also tied the record for most hat tricks in a season with six, and I had about 20 games left to beat the record. The team was in first place, and we had a chance to win it all. So, the fans were not happy with the Flyers,” Lacroix recalled in an interview with THW.
Lacroix was a star player during his tenure with the Flyers, leading the team in scoring during the 1968-69 and 1969-70 seasons. His linemates for those seasons were fellow former AHL Quebec Aces’ teammates Jean-Guy Gendron and Simon Nolet. When asked by THW what his fondest memory was of playing in Philadelphia, Lacroix said, “It was the opportunity to play for owner Ed Snider. He was the best owner I ever played for.”
Ed Snider, a beloved figure in Philadelphia Sports history, co-founded the Flyers in 1966. He founded and served as the chairman of Comcast Spectacor, the entertainment company that owns the Flyers. Snider died on April 11, 2016.
Philadelphia Blazers
Following the 1970-71 season with the Flyers, Lacroix was traded to Chicago. There, he appeared in 51 games, scoring only four goals and recording seven assists. Lacroix recalls that he was not happy to be traded to the Blackhawks but understood the business side of the game. However, this disappointing season in Chicago provided him with the opportunity to return to Philadelphia the next season and join the upstart WHA Philadelphia franchise the Blazers. This opportunity was the rebound his career needed.
The WHA, founded in 1971, was arguably the only league in modern times to come close to challenging the supremacy of the NHL in the professional hockey market. Throughout its brief history, many of the league’s teams were financially unstable with numerous franchises folding or changing markets. The level of play in the WHA was considered competitive to that of the NHL. Several future NHL stars started their professional hockey careers in the WHA, including Mark Howe, Wayne Gretzky, Mike Gartner, Mike Liut, and Mark Messier. The league ceased operations following the 1979 season.
In the WHA’s only season in Philadelphia, Lacroix scored 50 goals and tallied 74 assists in 78 games. During his season with the Blazers, Lacroix had the opportunity to play with Danny Lawson, a veteran of five professional seasons leading up to the 1972-1973 season, including 218 games in the NHL.
Related: The WHA – A Look Back at the Upstart Hockey League
“I had a lot of great teammates in Philadelphia, but my best teammate was Danny Lawson with the Blazers. He was a great goal scorer who helped me win the scoring title the first year of the WHA with the Blazers,” Lacroix said to THW.
Lacroix’s two stops in Philadelphia with the Flyers and Blazers made him a fan favorite in a city that does not lack passion for the game. Former players like Lacroix continue to be hockey folk heroes amongst the Philly faithful. This admiration from fans has never been lost on him. “The fans in Philadelphia have always been great to me. I had good years with the Flyers and a great season with the Blazers. I spent a lot of time with them signing autographs and answering questions. They were very loyal,” Lacroix told THW.
Life After Philadelphia
Lacroix remained in the WHA for the next six seasons, spending time with the New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights, San Diego Mariners, Houston Aeros, and New England Whalers. He is the defunct league’s all-time points leader with 798, 251 goals, and 547 assists, in 551 games played. Besides Philadelphia, Lacroix told THW he considers San Diego one of his favourite stops during his career.
“I loved the weather, and I had great years with the San Diego Mariners. You go to practice in shorts and T-shirts and come back home and jump in the pool. That is not a bad life.”
In his final season of professional hockey, Lacroix played in 29 games for the Hartford Whalers, recording 17 points during the team’s inaugural 1979-80 NHL season. After hanging up his skates, the Whalers kept Lacroix in the organization as a radio color commentator. In this role, he worked with notable and longtime Whalers and later Hurricanes, radio play-by-play man Chuck Kaiton. Lacroix also remained active in hockey on the local scale coaching, running programs, and owning a rink in his adopted home state of Ohio.
Stories from Lacroix’s life and playing days in Philadelphia, both in the NHL and WHA, are splendidly told in his 2020 book, After the Second Snowfall: My Life On and Off the Ice. Lacroix describes this book as something he always wanted to do. The book, which took about two years to complete, is an intimate look at the life, both on and off the ice, of a hockey great who made friends and fans in just about every town he played in.
