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Tocchet inducted into Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame

November 6, 2020, 11:02 AM ET [116 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Congratulations go out to two-stint Flyers Alum and current Arizona Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet for his induction into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. The ceremony took place remotely on Thursday. Other inductees in the Class of 2020 include the late Kobe Bryant, boxer Tim Witherspoon, longtime Eagles offensive lineman Jerry Sisemore, tennis player Lisa Raymond, boxing promoter Russ Peltz, the late 1910s-20s era Phillies outfield star Cy Williams, and the late longtime Phillies executive David Montgomery.

One of the toughest power forwards of his era, hard work and determination enabled Tocchet to become a perennial overachiever in the National Hockey League in an 1,144-game career that included separate stints with the Flyers at the beginning (1984-85 to 1991-92) and end (1999-2000 to 2001-2002) of his playing career. The Scarborough, Ontario native was originally a sixth-round pick (121st overall) in the 1983 NHL Draft.

Previous Flyers inductees into the Philadelphia Hall include Bobby Clarke (2004 inaugural class), Bernie Parent (2004), Ed Snider (2005), Gene Hart (2006), Bill Barber (2007), Fred Shero (2008), the entire 1973-74 and 1974-75 Stanley Cup winning Flyers teams (2009), Ron Hextall (2010), Mark Howe (2011), Eric Lindros (2012), John LeClair (2013), Brian Propp (2014), Rick MacLeish (2015), Lou Nolan (2015), Jim Watson (2016), Tim Kerr (2017), Reggie Leach (2018) and Eric Desjardins (2019). To date, there are have been two non-Flyers inductees with local ties who have also been selected for enshrinement: the late Hobey Baker (2010) and Mike Richter (2014).

Tocchet's intense competitiveness and work ethic was what turned him from a third-line caliber forward best known for his fighting prowess into one the NHL's top power forwards of the late 1980s to mid 1990s. He hustled up a pair of 40-goal seasons and four seasons with 30-plus goals and was a member of two Flyers teams (1984-1985 and 1986-87) that reached the Stanley Cup Finals.

For his two-stint Flyers career, Tocchet scored 232 goals 508 points in 621 regular season games. He is franchise's all-time time leader in penalty minutes (1,817). In 95 career playoff games, he produced 27 goals, 33 assists, 60 points and 349 penalty minutes. He is the all-time franchise leader in Gordie Howe Hat Tricks (nine).

From an offensive standpoint, Tocchet's best Flyers career seasons came in 1988-89 (45 goals, 81 points in 66 games played), 1989-90 (37 goals, 96 points in 75 games) and 1990-91 (40 goals, 71 points in 70 goals).

During the mid-to-late 1980s, Tocchet was one of the team's resident heartthrobs along with Peter Zezel. Tocchet was named Flyers captain on Oct. 2, 1991 and served until he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 19, 1992 in a blockbuster trade that brought Mark Recchi to the Flyers.

Tocchet returned to the Flyers on March 8, 2000 in one-for-one trade with the Phoenix Coyotes that brought former Legion of Doom right wing Mikael Renberg's second Flyers stint to an end. Tocchet finished his playing career with the Flyers, retiring after an injury-plagued 2001-02 season in which he was limited to 14 games.

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