Bobby Clarke and Ron Hextall — seen here as executives — round out the All-Irish Flyers team. (Photo Courtesy of examiner.com)
St. Patrick's Day has come and gone (featuring yet another season of glorious merchandise). To try and capture the spirit of the holiday, I've taken a look and assembled the Flyers' all-Irish team. No player born in Ireland has ever laced them up for the Orange and Black (the last Irish-born players last played in the NHL in 1954, 13 years before the Flyers expanded — unless you count Owen Nolan from Northern Ireland, who was never a Flyer), so with that said, here's the Flyers' all-Irish team:
C: Bobby Clarke
The epitome of the Flyers franchise. Not much more needs to be said about the ultimate Philadelphia Flyer.
LW: Patrick Sharp
Though he's enjoying his best years in Chicago, Patrick Sharp still cut his teeth in the Orange and Black. Didn't his linemate trade him once? I'm sure it's all water under the bridge at this point.
RW: Tye McGinn
'Roadhouse' has only played 26 games as a Flyer thus far, but the best has still yet to come. His prowess in a line brawl as a Phantom in February can provide some physicality to go along with Clarke.
D: Dan McGillis
McGillis was a solid defender on a blue line that also featured Eric Desjardins and Chris Therien throughout the late 1990s-early 2000s.
D: Brad McCrimmon
You've got to be a solid defender to be paired with Mark Howe, and 'The Beast' was.all that and more during his five seasons as a Flyer.
G: Ron Hextall
No goaltender has played more games as a Flyer than Ron Hextall, and playing on the all-Irish Flyers team can pad that stat. Who knows, perhaps the assistant GM can influence the addition of more Irish players.
Overall, a fairly solid lineup for the Orange and Black/Green. A team that surely can play physical and with five Stanley Cups between them, a team that knows how to win.
Rob Riches is a contributor for Flyerdelphia, and his Flyers Five appears every Wednesday here and on Sports Source on Cavalier Radio 89.1 WYBF-FM. You can follow Rob on Twitter @Riches61.
