No other person in Philadelphia Flyers’ history has worn as many different hats in the organization than Paul Holmgren. A longtime player, coach, and executive with the franchise, Holmgren dedicated over 40 years of his life on and off the ice to the Flyers. A household name for generations of Flyers’ fans, the St. Paul, Minnesota product’s opinions on hockey operations continue to be important factors in decision-making carried out by franchise brass.
Before the NHL
Holmgren played a season of junior hockey with his hometown St. Paul Vulcans of the Midwest Junior Hockey League. During the 1973-74 campaign, he established a reputation as a tough guy that would follow him throughout his hockey career. In 55 games with the Vulcans, his 81 points (22 goals and 59 assists) were complemented with 183 penalty minutes. In 1974, he was selected to represent Team USA at the World Junior Championship in Leningrad, Soviet Union. The United States finished fifth out of a field of six teams in the tournament. This experience was the first of many contributions Holmgren made to the national team as a player, advisor, and general manager.
After playing one season with the University of Minnesota, where he recorded 31 points and 108 penalty minutes, Holmgren turned professional. Selected 67th overall in the 1974 World Hockey Association (WHA) Amateur Draft by the Edmonton Oilers, the right-winger’s rights were traded to the Minnesota Fighting Saints. In his first season of professional hockey, Holmgren scored 14 goals and tallied 16 assists. He added 121 penalty minutes to his WHA totals, before departing the team in late February, 1976. With financial issues negatively impacting the Fighting Saints’ organization, Holmgren signed with the Flyers, the franchise that had drafted him in the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft.
During the 1975-76 season, Holmgren played in one NHL game with the Flyers, recording two penalty minutes in March 1976. He also saw time in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) with the Johnstown Jets and American Hockey League’s (AHL) Richmond Robins. He made a statement in limited appearances with the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, Richmond, by recording eight points (four goals and four assists) in six games.
Holmgren’s Long Flyers Playing Career
Holmgren became a regular with the Flyers during the 1976-77 season, appearing in 59 games. His 26 points (14 goals and 12 assists) were dwarfed by his 201 penalty minutes that season. During his time in Philadelphia, he became a physically-intimidating presence in the Flyers’ lineup who also contributed offensively.
Holmgren appeared in the playoffs in seven of his nine seasons with the franchise. During the 1979-80 campaign, he had a career-high 65 points (30 goals and 35 assists) in 74 regular-season games. He also made his presence on the ice known to opponents by notching 267 penalty minutes. A career highlight came during the 1980 playoffs when he became the first U.S.-born player to record a hat trick in a Stanley Cup Final game. This offensive feat came during Game 2 of the series against the New York Islanders. The Flyers were ultimately defeated by the Islanders in six games (4-2).
During the 1980-81 campaign, Holmgren was selected to his first and only NHL All-Star Game in Los Angeles. That season, he recorded a career-high 306 penalty minutes in 77 games. He also supported the Flyers’ offensively with 59 points (22 goals and 37 assists) as the team again marched into the playoffs, ultimately falling to the Calgary Flames in Game 7 of the quarterfinals. In the playoffs, Holmgren had 49 penalty minutes and 14 points in 12 games.
His 1,600 penalty minutes with the Flyers stood as a franchise record until Rick Tocchet broke the record during the 1991-92 campaign. He is also the Flyers’ all-time leader in playoff Gordie Howe hat tricks (a goal, assist, and fight in the same game) with two.
Holmgren’s Stint With the Minnesota North Stars
Midway through the 1983-84 season, Holmgren was traded by the Flyers to the Minnesota North Stars. His professional return to his home state was limited, appearing in 27 games over parts of two seasons. Despite these limited appearances in a North Stars’ jersey, the St. Paul-native recorded 14 points and 84 penalty minutes. He also appeared in a total of 15 playoff games for the North Stars, that included a trip to the Campbell Conference Final against the Oilers. Holmgren hung up his skates for good following the 1984-85 season.
Coaching With the Flyers
Holmgren returned to the NHL as an assistant coach with the Flyers during the 1985-86 season. He remained an assistant until the 1988-89 season when he was promoted to head coach, a position he served in until midway through the 1991-92 campaign. His best season behind the Flyers’ bench came during the 1988-89 campaign when the Flyers fell in the Wales Conference Final to the Montreal Canadiens (4-2). After a rough start to the 1991-92 season that saw the Flyers go 8-14-2 in their first 24 games, Holmgren was fired.
Coaching With the Hartford Whalers
Holmgren’s time away from coaching did not last long. Leading up to the 1992-93 season, he was hired as the 10th head coach of the Hartford Whalers during their run in the NHL. He coached 161 games for the Whalers during parts of four seasons, going 54-94-14. His time as head coach was broken up due to periods in which he assumed general manager responsibilities, faced legal issues, and entered addiction rehabilitation programs. On Nov. 6, 1995, Holmgren was fired as head coach of the Whalers after another weak start to the season.
Holmgren’s Time As a Hockey Executive
During the 1996-97 season, Holmgren returned to the Flyers as the director of professional scouting. This was the start of 26 seasons as an executive with the franchise as he went on to fill other roles such as director of player personnel, assistant general manager, general manager, president, and senior advisor. Holmgren replaced another Flyers legend, Bobby Clarke, as general manager when the latter resigned one month into the 2006-07 campaign.
Related: Bobby Clarke: The Ultimate Philadelphia Flyer
Holmgren served as Flyers general manager between 2006 and 2014 and was the architect of six playoff teams. Most notable were the 2007-08 Flyers that lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final (4-1) and the 2009-10 team that fell to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final (4-2). As general manager, one of Holmgren’s finest player-related moves was the signing of fan-favorite and current Flyers’ general manager, Daniel Briere.
On May 7, 2014, he was promoted to president of the Flyers as franchise-great goaltender Ron Hextall succeeded Holmgren in the role of Flyers’ general manager. That year, Holmgren received the Lester Patrick Award, an honor presented annually by USA Hockey and the NHL to an individual who contributed to ice hockey in the United States. Following the 2018-19 season, the hockey lifer transitioned to the role of senior advisor for the Flyers, a position he continues to hold in the organization today.
Holmgren’s Honors
In 2021, Holmgren’s years of contributions to the Flyers and hockey in the United States were officially recognized when he received the call for two halls of fame. He joined the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2021 with journalist and broadcaster Stan Fischler and longtime player and color analyst Peter McNab. In Nov. 2021, Holmgren and Tocchet were inducted into the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame. This induction was an appropriate honor for a man who has dedicated well over half of his life to the organization.
