I
featured Dan McGillis nearly two years ago when I inducted him as #33 in my
Oilers Numbers Project, but it was time to show him with the team he's most associated with, the
Philadelphia Flyers:
What you got every year from McGillis with the
Broad Street Bullies was close to or more than 300 bone-crushing hits in the defensive zone, usually good for a top-5 or top-10 spot in the NHL. He did so mainly unpunished, however, as he only topped the 100-PIM mark once (109 with the
Edmonton Oilers in 1997-98), with his second-most being the 86 he amassed with the Flyers in 2000-01, when he finished 14th in Norris voting; of note, his teammate
Éric Desjardins finished 10th in Norris voting that year, proving they were a formidable pair.
He would usually hover around 60 penalty minutes per year with a +/- over +15; he also topped the 40-point mark twice in Philly, including his career-high of 49 (14 of them goals) in 2000-01.
He signed two cards showing him wearing the Flyers' white (then-home) 1980s/1990s uniform in blue sharpie; first, here's card #262 from
Upper Deck's
2001-02 Victory set, leading the rush out of his defensive zone:
And there's also card #119 from
Topps' 2002-03 Total set, attempting a pass - likely to Desjardins - to lead the breakout:
The Flyers might be mean, often times dirty, but you have to respect their commitment to their history, their city and their identity, none of which have ever regressed or been on doubt. They are unapologetic, in-your-face and hard to play against, a trait that was true in the days of
Bobby Clarke, of
Ken Linseman, of
Eric Lindros and even now with
Radko Gudas keeping opponents honest around their talented crop of young blue-liners.
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