Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame: Candidate Power Rankings

Mark Recchi

Mark Recchi presents a complex and interesting case for this honor, as his place in Flyers history is a murky one.

First, the good. He’s in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and his 627 points with the Flyers are more than he scored with any other club during his career. He’s 9th in points in team history and 6th in points per game. And his 123 points in 1992-93 still stand as a single-season Flyers record.

But there is a flip side.

Recchi played for six other teams in the NHL, so he’s hardly Mr. Flyer. He also managed to capture Stanley Cups on three of those stops, including with the hated Penguins. Post-retirement, he’s also worked as a coach with those Penguins, and he’s now currently employed by the Devils.

Yeesh. It seems like he’s done everything short of kicking your dog. All this while, of course, never winning a title in Philly.

But while the factors I’ve cited may be working against him in some capacity, I believe the fact that we’re talking about a Hall of Fame player who amassed more career points in Philly than anywhere else he played tips the scales in his favor.

Maybe the Flyers will never retire his #8, but it’s long past time they put Mark Recchi’s name up where it belongs.

And while I do realize that I downplayed some elements of Recchi’s career while using the same kinds of things to knock Rick Tocchet’s candidacy, let’s all just admit that Recchi was the better player and deserves the honor more in this case. Still, I’ve got one name ahead of ol’ Rex.