This is truly a sad day in Flyers history. Eric Desjardins, a former Captain and the second all time best defenseman in franchise history behind Mark Howe, has decided to call it quits and retire.
Along with John LeClair, Desjardins was part of the famed 1995 post lockout Mark Recchi trade, which will go down as one of the best trades in Philly history. After nine years of prolonged greatness, injuries unfortunately took their toll on Rico causing him to become a shell of his former self and an object of fan consternation last season. However, during his Flyers "hay day" from 1995 to 2003, Desjardins was always a top 10 NHL defenseman and no one made me feel more at ease when he was on the ice.
Rico was a calming influence on the entire team when he was on the ice. He excelled in the offensive and defensive zones, and was a staple on the first unit power play and penalty killing groups. To fully explain his greatness, all one has to do is recall how he carried his parnter, Chris Therien, who everyone will agree was a complete stiff, and made him look like an above average NHL defenseman from 1995 to 2002. I will also remember how he came back from a partially torn ACL to play in the 1999 playoffs. He wasn't the most physical guy in the world, but he was tough as nails and always led the team in ice time.
Good luck in life, Rico. This Flyer fan truly appreciate all you did for the Orange and Black.
1 comment:
Nice article. Desjardins was always one of the smoothest defensemen in the league. I chose his number when I started playing competitive roller hockey as a defenseman 10 years ago. I still wear it in 2006.
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