Top 5: Unbreakable Flyers Records

In the Flyers 53 years of existence there have been some incredible achievements. Sometimes a player goes on a tear that ends up being legendary and sets the benchmark for the rest of time. There are a few records that, no matter how good you are, may never be broken.

Number 5- Hat Tricks (Tim Kerr 17)

In the modern day NHL, hat tricks aren’t something you see everyday. If a player gets one in their career it’s a big deal, let alone two or three, so touching 17 is almost impossible. Tim Kerr has held the record since 1991, and also holds the record for most hat tricks in a single season with five. Top put that record into perspective, Eric Lindros and John LeClair only had 11 each. Scott Hartnell is the most recent Flyer to crack the top 10, sitting in eighth place with six hat tricks. Pretty safe to say Kerr’s record is safe for the foreseeable future.

Number 4- Powerplay Goals (Tim Kerr 144)

To say Tim Kerr was a beast on the powerplay is putting it mildly. The modern day Flyers have had a couple prolific scorers on the powerplay, and they never even came close. Wayne Simmonds had 91, Claude Giroux currently sits at 80, and even John LeClair only had 102. Tim Kerr’s 144 powerplay goals is good enough for 56th in NHL history. There are a couple current players that have passed, or are close to passing him, Patrick Marleau, Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeni Malkin, and Sidney Crosby, to name a few, but it seems like your casual player won’t hit that record anytime soon.

Number 3- Shutouts (Bernie Parent 50)

It’s a record that has stood since 1979 and no one has even come close. Obviously the game was much different 40 years ago, and the position of goaltender has evolved greatly. Parent’s 50 shutouts sits 23rd in NHL history, and the only current goaltenders to hit that mark are Henrik Lundqvist (64), Marc-Andre Fleury (61), and Pekka Rinne (58). With those numbers, it’s not impossible to get there, but the closest Flyer was Roman Cechmanek who registered 20 in 163 games in Philadelphia. If Carter Hart can’t do it, maybe no one can.

Number 2- Goals Against Average (Roman Cechmanek 1.96)

In one of the more surprising records in Flyers history, Roman Cechmanek is atop the leaderboard in goals against average. Cechmanek suited up for 163 games as a Flyer and was best known for his impressive regular seasons and his lackluster post season performances. He is the only Flyer to sit at at a sub-2 GAA, with John Vanbiesbrouck sitting in second place with 2.20. Steve Mason was at 2.47 and Michal Neuvirth was at 2.66. Carter Hart currently has a 2.59 GAA in his young career, but hasn’t played enough games yet to make the list. Will he be able to break the record? Time will tell.

Number 1- Penalty Minutes (Rick Tocchet 1,815)

Do you know how much of a badass you have to be to lead a team with the nickname “Broad Street Bullies” in penalty minutes? The fact that 10 different Flyers have hit the 1,000 PIM mark and yet never got close to Tocchet is pretty telling. Tocchet played 621 games as a Flyer over the course of 11 seasons and hovered around or above the 200 penalty minute mark in nine of those seasons. Second place belongs to Paul Holmgren with 1,600, and the closest modern day Flyer is Wayne Simmonds who had a measly 784 minutes, over 17 hours less than Tocchet!

Honorable mentions

Goals (Bill Barber 420)

If you take a look around the league, there are players who have hit the 400 goal mark. Steven Stamkos, for instance has 422 goals in his career, so it’s not an impossible record to hit, but it sure is difficult. One of the best goal scorers in recent Flyers history was Simon Gagne, who only was able to register 264. Claude Giroux is closest modern player, and he sits at 268. If the Flyers somehow stumble on a generational talent, it could endanger the record, otherwise Barber’s record will continue to stay safe.

Short-Handed Goals (Bobby Clarke 32)

Reality is, the Flyers had a great penalty killer in Mike Richards for six seasons and he was only able to scrounge up 23 goals. In the decade since he was dealt to the Kings nobody else has even broken the top 10, which is held by Simon Gagne with 11 goals. Kevin Hayes had four shorties during the 2019-20 season, but he’s got a long way to go before he even threatens Clarke’s record.

By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)

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