Mark Recchi will retire a champion, having hoisted the Stanley cup for the third time in his long NHL career. Sadly, none of those came with the Flyers despite two memorable tenures in Philadelphia. Puck Daddy ran a feature that included perspectives from each of Recchi's NHL homes, even the small ones, and our own Rev contributed the Flyers portion. Here's Rev's portion, and a link to the rest of the post back at Puck Daddy. Definitely worth a look at the others, especially if you remember his time here well.
There are certain iconic numbers in Flyers history. Say the numbers 1, 2, 16, and 88 to a Flyers fan and it'll immediately trigger a response of Bernie, Howe, Clarke, and Lindros. Without question, all four players are associated with the Flyers. What may surprise you, considering the fact that over the course of his career he played for six other teams, is that Mark Recchi appeared in more games in the orange and black than all of the names listed above save for Clarke.
For a generation of Flyers fans, the image of Recchi wearing the No. 8 jersey and darting down the right wing while rocking a visor is just as iconic. The casual fan may not immediately think of Recchi as a Flyer, but in addition to appearing in 602 games in the orange and black he still holds the franchise record for points in a season with 123 (50 goals, 73 assists) back in 1992-93.
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It could be argued that over a period of 15 years Recchi had as much influence on the fortunes of the franchise as any player. In the early 90's, as a member of the "Crazy Eights" line (along with Lindros and Brent Fedyk), he helped to right the ship of a floundering franchise. He was later shipped to Montreal in exchange for franchise cornerstones John LeClair and Eric Desjardins. After being reacquired during the 1998-99 season he helped to lead the Flyers to Game 7's in the 2000 and 2004 Eastern Conference Finals.
I can't say there was a signature Recchi play or goal from his time as a Flyer. For me it was his ridiculous consistency. It was his pitter-patter skating style as he'd elude a defenseman looking to close down his angle as he crossed the blue line. Twenty years from now you could slap on a tape of Recchi wearing a Carolina Hurricanes jersey (which he wore for all of 20 regular season games) skating down the wing and I could pick him out in no time. It was his willingness to go into the corner at full speed and use his low center of gravity to separate his man from the puck. It was that patented right-to-left move where he'd dip the shoulder and somehow get off a ridiculous wrist shot.
Despite winning three Stanley Cup rings with three separate conference rivals he'll always be appreciated by Flyers fans.
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