Former Flyer Mark Recchi Joining Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017 Class

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

One year after Eric Lindros got the call to the Hockey Hall of Fame, another former Flyers forward is joining.

Mark Recchi, who played parts of 10 seasons with the Orange and Black, has been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as part of the 2017 class.

Recchi will be joined by Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya, Dave Andreychuk, Danielle Goyette and builders Clare Drake and Jeremy Jacobs.

Recchi started his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1988-1992, winning the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 1991. He was traded to the Flyers during the 1991-92 season, playing 22 games and scoring 10 goals and 27 points.

Recchi played the next two full seasons with the Flyers, putting up 123 points in 1992-93 and 107 points in 1993-94. The 123-point season remains a Flyers single-season record.

In the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, Recchi played in 10 games with the Flyers before being involved in the blockbuster trade with Montreal that brought the Flyers John LeClair and Eric Desjardins. Recchi spent the next four seasons with the Canadiens, before being reacquired by the Flyers late in the 1998-99 season.

Back with the Flyers for the 1999-2000 season, Recchi spent the next five seasons with the Orange and Black. He had 91 points in 1999-2000, including a league-leading 63 assists. His points production wavered over the next four seasons, but he remained a consistent 20-goal scorer.

Recchi's time with the Flyers ended after the 2003-04 season. When teams returned from the lockout, Recchi signed on to play in Pittsburgh again, but was sent to Carolina where he was part of the 2005-06 Stanley Cup champions. He returned to Pittsburgh in 2006-07 and started the season in 2007-08 with Pittsburgh but was placed on waivers early in the season and claimed by the Atlanta Thrashers. 

Recchi signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2008-09 season and was traded at the deadline to the Boston Bruins. He played the entire 2009-10 season and 2010-11 season with Boston, winning the Stanley Cup in 2011 before retiring.

Recchi has served as a player development coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins since 2015 and was recently named director of player development earlier this month.

In his Flyers career, Recchi played in 602 games, scoring 232 goals and adding 395 assists for 627 points. In his career, Recchi played in 1,652 games, scoring 577 goals and adding 956 assists for 1,533 points. Recchi was also a seven-time All-Star and was named All-Star Game MVP in 1997.

Recchi also had 61 goals and 86 assists for 147 points in 189 playoff games, including 39 points in 47 playoff games with the Flyers.

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