PHILADELPHIA — You could see clear through to the scalp of the 55-year-old Mark Recchi, who sported a full head of hair during an illustrious, two-tenure, 10-year tour with the Flyers.
More importantly, you could see into his heart.
After thanking seemingly every player, coach, trainer, and staffer around in his career with the Flyers, who inducted him into their Hall of Fame Saturday, and after expressing his sincere gratitude for being in the employ of the late Ed Snider, after giving a special thanks to his parents, his family, and wife Kim, Recchi thanked the fans.
That was emotional not just for Recchi but for the crowd still filing into the Wells Fargo Center before the early afternoon game with the Boston Bruins.
“We don’t get to play this game we absolutely love without the help of you guys coming to the rink and every day supporting us,” Recchi said during his induction speech. “Philadelphia fans are above and beyond everybody. They’re passionate. They’re fiery. You go through the dog days of January and February and you guys are our sixth player on the ice. You guys mean that much to us.”
In a lot of ways, some current Flyers are a chip off the block of Recchi, who learned how to sacrifice and what it took to win with a moderately young, energetic collection of players.
Recchi worked in the “dirty areas,” in front of the net and in the corners. Now an assistant coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets, it’s been fun for him watching this Flyers team begin to bond from afar.
What Recchi was reminded of in his return to South Philly is that the memories don’t fade. The gift of being a Flyer is you just pick up where you left off. So it was when Recchi shook hands with the invited members of the Flyers’ Hall of Fame who surrounded him for the ceremony at center ice.
There was Bob Clarke, who both traded and traded for Recchi. Paul Holmgren, who coached Recchi in his first Philly stay. Reggie Leach, who played in the 50th Stanley Cup alumni game Friday along with Mark Howe, John LeClair and Eric Lindros.
Recchi, Clarke, Lindros and Howe are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. You would never know it because Flyers aren’t the kind of boys to rub that in your face.
“Your teammates, you can’t do it without them,” Recchi said. “They’re your heartbeats. They’re in the trenches with you and I can’t thank them enough for their support. I used to ride to the rink with Robert Esche. You’d think he was this hard guy. But he listened to Elton John before the games and I was like, ‘Wow.’ I was expecting AC/DC not Elton John.”
Recchi’s only real regret during his two stints with the Flyers was being unable to win a Stanley Cup. He has three Stanley Cup champion rings earned with Pittsburgh (1991), Carolina (2006) and Boston (2011) over the course of his 22 NHL seasons.
“We had some unbelievable years,” Recchi said of his Flyers teams. “We didn’t quite get the job done. But we got to the semis twice. We had a couple of great runs. But I always remember those teams because we were so tight. We were incredibly tight. I miss the hot stoving after games, having a few beers together.”
Recchi tallied 577 goals and 1,533 points in 1,652 NHL games. He broke Clarke’s single-season club scoring record with 123 points in 1992-93. It took considerable pain to sideline Recchi, who averaged 60 games a season in his Flyers career and stepped out of his role with Columbus to implore the current Flyers team to kick the butts of the Bruins, to the applause of fans.
Of course, that wasn’t quite the case as the Bruins did the stomping with four goals on just 13 shots to grab the lead for good in the first period. David Pastrnak, who ranks among the NHL leaders in goals scored, buried two in the back of the net. The 6-2 setback obviously wasn’t what Recchi or the Flyers wanted. But it’s where you’re headed, not where you’ve been, and that is something Snider imparted on the players back in the day.
“Very fortunate to have an owner like that,” Recchi said. “Again, it was family. Everything was about family, and I know right now he’s looking down at (CEO) Dan Hilferty, Danny Briere, (Keith Jones), Torts, me. They’re bringing family back to this organization and I know he would be really proud of what’s going on.”
The Flyers would be wise to heed the words of Recchi and feed off the fans.
“Never change, Flyers fans,” Recchi said. “You guys have been unbelievable. It’s a great place to play. It’s a great city. And thanks to you guys we get to do this and play this every day. Thank you.”
Contact Bob Grotz at rgrotz@delcotimes.com
Source: Berkshire mont
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