Flyer great, John LeClair, among class of 09 US HoF inductees

Made official today, alongside the 1998 United States women’s Olympic hockey team, Tony Amonte and Tom Barrasso and inventor Frank Zamboni, John LeClair will be inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame. While it’s a step short of the real Hall of Fame in Canada, it is certainly a huge accomplishment for LeClair.

The former Flyer, who was acquired on February 9th, 1995 along with Éric Desjardins and Gilbert Dionne in exchange for Mark Recchi, spent 10 seasons with the orange and black. During those ten seasons, LeClair was the left winger on the infamous “Legion of Doom” line which was centered by Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg on the right-wing. Not only was the Legion of Doom a dominant scoring power, but they were also known for their over the top physical presence. In 1998, at a game I personally attended, LeClair became the first American-born NHL player to record three consecutive 50-goal seasons and was the second Flyer ever to do so, behind Tim Kerr.

Scoring 333 career goals and an additional 35 in the playoffs, John LeClair is good enough to be considered one of the top ten best Flyers goal scorers of all time.

As a result of the new CBA in 2005, the Flyers were forced to buy out LeClair’s contract, and he would eventually sign with the Pittsburgh Penguins where he ended his career. Although LeClair is not officially a retired player, a return to the NHL as a player is highly unlikely.

I, personally, would love to see John sign a 1-day contract with the Flyers and retire in Philadelphia where he made all of his great memories, broke and set records, and became a fan favorite in a town that’s crazy about their sports teams. And then, hopefully one day, we’ll see his name etched into the Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with all of the other hockey greats.

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