5 Dirtiest Philadelphia Flyers Players In Franchise History

By Darrell Samuels

5 Dirtiest Philadelphia Flyers Players In Franchise History

Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers
Getty Images

Since their inception into the NHL in 1967, the Philadelphia Flyers have worked earnestly to contradict being known as a loving hockey team. They played games at the Spectrum and now the Wells Fargo Center on Broad Street. They were nicknamed the ‘Broad Street Bullies’ as they were always known to be a bruising, bone crushing organization that would knock opponents down at every possible opportunity. These guys five were of the team's best at it.

5. Dave 'the Hammer' Schultz

The Flyers won two Stanley Cups with ‘the Hammer’. Schultz was known to put pucks in the back of the net and also punish opponents with deliberate, attacking body checks or punching them into the middle of next week. He had 1,386 penalty minutes over the course of five regular seasons with the Flyers.

4. Chris Pronger

Pronger has played with five NHL teams over the course of his career and played the only way he would knew how -- dirty. He has been suspended eight times, with the NHL disciplinarians throwing the book at him for slashing, high sticks, kicking, stomping on the leg and hits to the head. It didn’t matter your skill level, you were always going to face some sort of dirty hit by the No. 2 overall pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.

3. Mike Richards

Over the course of time, the Flyers were going to make you pay if you were caught with your head down. Mike Richards played six seasons with the organization, and while he was known to be on the Flyers’ score sheets on a nightly basis, he was never immune from delivering hits when players' heads were down.

2. Steve Downie

Everyone has come to accept that fights are part of the game, whether you agree with it or not. The players fight and then the referees will tell them to get to the penalty box. This is an example of a dirty play from enforcer Steve Downie. In this play he and Toronto Maple Leafs’ Jason Blake fight and, as the referees step in trying to hold them back from fighting further, Downie ends up throwing a sucker punch to Blake.

1. Ron Hextall

Hextall was an NHL goalie who spent 11 of his 13 NHL seasons with the Flyers. He was always a goaltender willing to come far out of his net to help his two defensemen. He was also always willing to use his hockey stick like a baseball bat and swing it at anyone who came in his direction. In 489 career NHL games in Philadelphia, he had 476 penalty minutes. He also broke the NHL record for the most penalty minutes for a goalie during the 1988-89 season with 113.

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