The Philadelphia Flyers‘ Quarter-Century Teams were announced on Monday, Jan. 13, as a part of an ongoing series in the NHL. Their First Team was comprised of three forwards, two defensemen, and one goalie. Their Second Team was, too. Who made the cut?
Flyers’ First Team
Forwards: Simon Gagne, Claude Giroux, Mike Richards
Defensemen: Eric Desjardins, Kimmo Timonen
Goalie: Roman Cechmanek
Though he battled with injuries, Simon Gagne got himself a nod on the Flyers’ First Team. He started his NHL career at the perfect time, debuting in 1999-00 as a teenager. In the 2000s, he cemented himself as a key player for the Flyers. He spent 11 seasons in Philadelphia and scored 264 goals and 535 points in that time frame. The skilled Quebecois winger is best remembered for two goals, both of which were in the playoffs. The first was scoring the overtime-winning goal in Game 6 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Final, forcing a do-or-die Game 7. The next was a third-period dagger against the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the 2010 Second Round, leading to a 4-3 victory. Originally trailing that series (and the game) 3-0, it marked a historic comeback.
Claude Giroux hardly needs an introduction. The longtime Flyer captain finished the 2010s fourth in point-scoring, and he did it all with the Flyers. For reference, every single Hall of Fame-eligible player in NHL history who has finished fourth or better in points for a certain decade is in the Hall of Fame. There are zero exceptions. Overall, Giroux had 900 points in 1,000 games with the Flyers between 2007-08 and 2021-22, and he has surpassed the 1,000-point mark thanks to stints with the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators. To this day, the 37-year-old is still a tried-and-true top-six player.
Another captain, Mike Richards, also finds himself on the First Team. He only played 453 games with the Flyers, making him the shortest-serving player on the First Team, but he proved that quality means more than quantity. Richards was a consistent Selke Trophy candidate in his prime, combining high point totals with elite defense. He scored 349 points with the Orange and Black. He’ll be remembered fondly for his 23 points in 23 games in the Flyers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010, where he was joined by Gagne (12 points in 19 games) and Giroux (21 points in 23 games).
Getting to defensemen, Eric Desjardins had his Flyers career cut in half due to the “quarter-century” guidelines, but he made the First Team anyway. His tenure in Philadelphia spanned longer, but he had 397 games played and 196 points to go along with it from 1999-00 to 2005-06. His peak was the 1999-00 season. Even though he was already in his 30s, he was one of four defensemen that season to accumulate at least 100 voting points for the Norris Trophy.
Kimmo Timonen was another veteran, but for a different reason as he was acquired by Philadelphia in a trade when he was 32. Most would pinpoint that age as the time when careers start to spiral, but Timonen only got better. He was a pivotal addition to the Flyers in the 2007 offseason, paving the way for an Eastern Conference Final appearance in 2007-08 after a league-worst finish in 2006-07. Amazingly, he stuck around for six more seasons after that. He was one of the best defensemen in the NHL even in his mid-to-late 30s.
Related: Philadelphia Flyers’ Kimmo Timonen Defied the Aging Curve
Finally, we have Roman Cechmanek. He only had three seasons with the Flyers (and four in the NHL), but he was one of the best netminders in the league in that span. His best season came in 2000-01, as he finished fourth in Hart Trophy voting and second for the Vezina Trophy. He, along with Robert Esche and Martin Brodeur, won the William M. Jennings Award in 2002-03 for having 25 games played and being on the team with the fewest goals allowed.
Flyers’ Second Team
Forwards: Daniel Briere, Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek
Defensemen: Chris Pronger, Ivan Provorov
Goalie: Brian Boucher
Daniel Briere was acquired in the same offseason (via free agency) as Timonen and had a similar impact. He put up 283 points in 364 games during the regular season with Philadelphia, but “Mr. Playoffs” is best known for his scoring in the postseason (shocker). In 2010, he had a league-leading 30 playoff points in 23 games, showing up in the biggest moments. He had an excellent run in 2012, too, tying the league lead with eight goals despite a second-round exit.
It’s surprising that Sean Couturier doesn’t find himself on the First Team considering his accomplishments. He’s the only skater here with an award to his name, that being the Selke Trophy in the COVID-19-shortened 2019-20 campaign. On the all-time games played leaderboard, the current Flyer captain is fourth (836). He is also 17th in goals (198), 12th in assists (320), and tied for 13th in points (518). If restricted to the last quarter-century only, he is in the top five in each of those categories.
Jakub Voracek established quite a bit of chemistry with Giroux in the 2010s, becoming one of the league’s best playmakers in his prime. By the All-Star Break of the 2014-15 season, he led the league in points, which is a peak that not many Flyers have had. Overall, he scored 427 assists and 604 points in 727 games with the Flyers. The most assists he put up in a season was 65 back in 2017-18.
Now, for the defense. Chris Pronger, a very brief captain, was far from an iconic Flyer if you look at games played (just 145), but he had a huge impact. In the late stages of his career, Pronger bolstered the Flyers’ blue line and gave them an essential leader both on and off the ice for their 2010 Stanley Cup Final appearance. He scored 92 points in Philadelphia and finished fifth and 10th in Norris Trophy voting in his 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, underscoring his longevity.
Ivan Provorov, the Flyers’ seventh-overall pick in 2015, showed some promise with the team. His best ability was availability, as he only missed three games throughout his tenure in Philadelphia. Provorov scored 217 points in 532 games overall, with his peak coming in a 2019-20 campaign where he finished 17th in Norris Trophy voting. He was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2023 offseason by Briere, a fellow Second Team member turned general manager.
Brian Boucher had three different stints with the Flyers, although most only remember two. The first of them started in 1999-00, when he took control of the Flyers’ crease as a rookie. He led the NHL in goals-against average, finishing ninth in Vezina Trophy voting as a result. He took that momentum in the playoffs, giving his team a 3-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final even with an injury to superstar Eric Lindros. Philadelphia collapsed after that, though, but it was no fault of Boucher—he allowed two goals in Game 7, including a late-game dagger for which the Flyers had no response. He left soon after but returned in 2009-10 for a goalie room that needed a lot of help. He provided that but was unfortunately injured during the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He stayed for another solid season, backing up Sergei Bobrovsky, left, and then came back for a four-game 2012-13 cameo.
The Flyers have appeared in the Stanley Cup Final once, the Eastern Conference Final four times, and the playoffs 16 times since 1999-00. They’ve had some notable players along the way, as shown above.
