Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame: Candidate Power Rankings

Rick Tocchet

Look, Rick Tocchet was a good player. He also was part of two Flyers teams who made the Stanley Cup Final but had the misfortune of running up against Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers. So, in almost any other reality, Tocchet would have been a champion in Philadelphia and probably a lifetime Flyer and perennial fan favorite.

In actuality, the guy did become a bit of a nomad, which takes some of the Flyer shine (or grit) off him to a degree. He did come back to finish his career with the team, which was a nice bit of nostalgia for the older crowd but also the first real chance that people around my age had to see him in Orange and Black, so at least he has that going for him.

And then there’s always the penalty minutes. With 1,815 PIM as a Flyer, Tocchet tops the franchise leaderboard and probably will forever, given the way that the game is played today. For a franchise and fanbase so predicated on toughness, the penalty minutes are a huge plus for Tocchet.

In the end, I believe several other candidates are more deserving than Rick Tocchet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go into the Flyers Hall of Fame at some point. And I wouldn’t even be that averse to it.