Philadelphia Flyers Hire Another Franchise Legend
The Philadelphia Flyers continued their organizational overhaul with the announcement of John LeClair as a new Special Advisor to Hockey Operations. He joins Patrick Sharp, who received the same title…
Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
The Philadelphia Flyers continued their organizational overhaul with the announcement of John LeClair as a new Special Advisor to Hockey Operations.
He joins Patrick Sharp, who received the same title on Tuesday, June 13th, in the new-look front office.
John LeClair
LeClair spent 10 of his 16 NHL seasons in Philadelphia from 1995-2004 after winning the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
The Flyers acquired him along with Eric Desjardins and Gilbert Dionne in one of the best trades in franchise history.
He used his 6-foot-3 frame to become the perfect goal-scoring complement to Eric Lindros during the "Legion of Doom" era during the 1990s.
"Johnny Vermont" is one of 19 players in NHL history to score 40 or more goals in at least five straight seasons. He sits fifth in franchise history with 333 goals in orange and black.
He also played a key role for Team USA in international competitions, especially in the 1996 World Cup, the 1998 Winter Olympics, and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Flyers Making Changes
The "New Era of Orange" under newly-appointed CEO of Comcast Spectacor Dan Hilferty includes general manager Danny Briere, President of Hockey Operation Keith Jones, and head coach John Tortorella.
“Adding in John LeClair to work in conjunction with Patrick Sharp and the rest of our hockey operations group will be a powerful combination with their vast hockey knowledge and a ‘team-first’ mentality. John has been around the NHL and the game for a long time and knows what it takes to bring the core ethics of our foundation to the Philadelphia Flyers,” Jones said in a statement released by the organization.
“I’m most looking forward to being a part of this group and ensuring our number one priority is to bring the Stanley Cup to Philadelphia,” LeClair added.
His primary responsibilities will involve prospect development, with a heavy emphasis on the organization's recent changes.
The Flyers also hired Alyn McCauley as Assistant General Manager, Riley Armstrong as Director of Player Development, and Nick Schultz as Assistant Director of Player Development last week.
Elliotte Friedman of SportsNet reported in March that the Flyers were looking to make Lindros a part of the organization in some capacity.
You May Also Like:
The Flyers are in rebuild mode. And there are two new faces in charge of overseeing that rebuild. Though those two new faces are actually quite familiar. Danny Briere and Keith Jones. Briere has been assistant GM for the past few seasons and was one of the Flyers' star players for years. Jones used to play for the Flyers but is perhaps even better known for being the TV Color Commentator for the Flyers for the past two decades. Keith Jones was named the Flyers' President Of Hockey Operations a few weeks back.
Today, Flyers President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones joined The Anthony Gargano Show to talk about the future of the Flyers. He was on with Anthony for 3 segments and took calls from Flyers fans. They talked about the Flyers' need for a true superstar who can put up 100 points. Why he is confident in the group of guys they have in the building to fix this thing and the need for them to regain the trust of the fans after years of bad hockey.
You can listen to the full interview with Keith Jones below...
Here is some of what he had to say in his conversation with Anthony Gargano, along with some photos of Keith Jones around The Fanatic Studio.
Keith Jones is confident in the group of guys they have in front office
Photo by Colin Newby for 97.5 The Fanatic“It's not just me, it's a really good group of hockey people that know what it is to be a Philadelphia Flyer, and what it means to play in this city no matter what the sport is. To appreciate all the other teams as well, but to make sure you don't lose your spot. And we lost our spot. So we've got a lot of work to do to try to regain the trust from our fan base to make sure that they understand that we're not doing this alone, that we're going to keep them involved in what we're doing and just relay the message like just and show them and show them that this team is good press. That's what we need to do.”
He is also grateful for the all the things Philadelphia as a city has done for him
Photo by Colin Newby for 97.5 The Fanatic"Without this city, I really have nothing. Like I ended my career here. I came in already previously injured. We don't want to add any Keith Joneses to the lineup, I can tell you that. Squeezing the toothpaste till the end. But I so much appreciate what has happened to me here. The fact that the fans, you know, accepted me. They enjoyed in all my commentary, my humor."
Thinks the Flyers need a lot more talent
Photo by Colin Newby for 97.5 The Fanatic"You need talented players that want to grab it by the horns and make something happen and have the skill set to be able to do that. We have some guys that can, but we need more. And that's something that is really going to be at the forefront of what we're trying to do here. We're trying to get younger at the same time. Which was started last year"
Flyers have to keep developing the young guys they have
Photo by Colin Newby for 97.5 The Fanatic"We're trying to continue to develop players like Owen Tippett that showed great strides last year. Morgan Frost Second half way better than the first half. So that tells you that something's starting to click and you have to be careful with some of your younger players. You don't you don't want to miss on one and let them go too soon, and all of a sudden they're playing for the Stanley Cup the next year, right? So we we have a pretty good feel for what is necessary to get us where we need to go. And we're just going to ask for patience, but not for long. We understand we get it."
Travis Konecny Is a guy to build around
Photo by Colin Newby for 97.5 The Fanatic"But for Travis, he's a star, like he is a star player and he has it like he had it when he arrived. He's someone that I think extremely highly of and I don't want to talk to in depth about individual players, but he makes me smile. I get over a lot of fans that will pull me aside and tell me, Hey, make sure that guy doesn't go anywhere, you know? And then, of course, there's others that feel differently and want us to get younger faster and know that he's a great asset. But he is one player that stands out to me that has exactly what we're looking for."
