Rick MacLeish, Flyers star of 1970s title teams, dies at 66
PHILADELPHIA (AP) Rick MacLeish, who starred for the Broad Street Bullies teams of the Philadelphia Flyers that won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975, has died. He was 66.
The team announced his death Tuesday. The Flyers' Alumni Association said recently that MacLeish was battling an illness.
MacLeish was the leading scorer in the playoffs when the Flyers won back-to-back titles. He scored the Cup winner against the Boston Bruins in 1974.
Former Flyers captain and general manager Bobby Clarke called MacLeish ''the most talented player the Flyers had during the 1970s.''
''Life after hockey wasn't fair to Ricky,'' Clarke said. ''He left us far too soon.''
MacLeish had 349 goals and 410 assists for 759 points in 846 NHL games over 14 seasons for the Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Hartford Whalers and Detroit Red Wings.
The native of Cannington, Ontario, had 22 points in the 1974 playoffs and 20 in 1975.
''Rick was probably the most gifted, natural centerman that the Flyers have ever had,'' former teammate Bob Kelly said. ''Rick was just quiet and simply went out there and played his heart out.''
MacLeish is tied with Hockey Hall of Famer Bill Barber for the most playoff goals in franchise history with 53 and has the fourth-most playoff points with 105. He was inducted into the Flyers' Hall of Fame in 1990.
''The Flyers could have a mediocre game but because of his skills as a player and the athlete that he was, he could carry us,'' former teammate Gary Dornhoefer said. ''I always felt that during the years he played he never got the recognition that he properly deserved. He was that good.''
