Today is a milestone day for the Philadelphia Flyers. It’s the 30th anniversary of the only other time that the franchise started a season without a captain.
Yes, that’s right, in 51 seasons of Flyers hockey they’ve gone without a captain only once. 1992-1993 was the year, and it’s a familiar story even if you don’t know it.
In 51 seasons of Flyers hockey they’ve gone without a captain only once.
On Feb 19, 1992, the 9th team captain and future Flyers Hall of Fame winger, Rick Tocchet was traded to the Penguins. While the Flyers would miss the playoffs for the 3rd straight year, Tocchet would finish the season hoisting the cup for Pittsburgh.
Tocchet wasn’t the first Flyers captain to be traded away and he wouldn’t be the last. Of the 19 players to wear the “C”, 6 ended their captaincies by being traded away. Chris Pronger, or more specifically his contract, was also traded but that was well after his playing days.
This past season, Claude Giroux would become the most recent to lose the “C” via trade when he was sent to the Florida Panthers on March 19. Unlike Tocchet, his playoff run would not end as well, with the Panthers getting swept by in the second round.
Since G’s departure, a new captain has not been named. The likes of Couturier, Atkinson, Hayes and even Laughton have been bandied about as the heir. Faithful fans have debated who they think should get the honor, although many have said the team shouldn’t name one. New Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella seemed to echo that sentiment a month ago, “I’m in no rush to name a Captain, so there’s that.”
“I’m in no rush to name a Captain, so there’s that.” – Flyers Head Coach, John Tortorella
The obvious question to follow is how long will it be until we see another Flyers Captain?
For Tortorella, it’s not anytime soon…. “I haven’t even thought about it. Right now, I don’t even think I’m going to have a captain. There won’t be a captain once the season starts, I’ll tell you that right now.”
In 1992, that wait would be a long one as three players were named Alternate Captains. Keith Acton, Trey Carkner and Kevin Dineen would wear the “A” for the entire season. One could make the assumption that it wouldn’t have looked good for Head Coach Bill Dineen to name his son would have been a bad look in the middle of an already bad run for the team.
Instead the focus was on finding a new direction for the team and there would be no captain that year. The Flyers would end up missing the playoffs again…and again…and again…creating the longest playoff drought in team history.
It would be 595 days after Rick Tocchet’s departure for the Flyers staff to decide who would be the 10th team captain. On Oct 5, 1993, Kevin Dineen would get that short-lived honor. He would step down the following September to usher in the Lindros era.
Fast forward to today, and Philadelphia is in a similar situation having missed the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years. The team’s bad luck, poor play, and obvious chemistry issues have resulted in one the worst periods of Flyers hockey. With Tortorella focused on rebuilding the culture and getting the team playing the right way, how many days will it take this time?
How long will it be for a new captain to step up?
It’s been 209 days so far. Will someone step up and help make the decision quicker for Torts?
If that’s the case, I think we’d all be happy with it because it would mean the team is gelling and showing they can play the right way. Until then, Torts is the de-facto team captain.
But it sure would be nice if there was a Lindros waiting in the wings…
Tom Sloan is a writing contributor at HW Hockey
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Matt Rourke
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