This Date in Flyers History

December 8, 1987

Flyers goalie Ron Hextall made NHL history when he became the first goaltender to score a goal by actually shooting the puck into the opposing net. The goal came in the Flyers’ 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins at The Spectrum.

That moment is forever etched in my memory, because my father and I were sitting nine rows from the ice in the corner behind the net the puck went into. At a stoppage of play with about three minutes to go, Dad said we should corral my brother and sister (sitting ten rows behind us) and get going so we could beat the traffic. I told him I wanted to stay, and he reluctantly agreed. Needless to say, we witnessed history. From then on, we never left a game early.

I’m not sure if it’s because I was with my Dad and siblings, that we were all die-hard Flyers fans, or the fact that it was my favorite professional athlete of all time that scored the goal, but December 8, 1987 is without question the most amazing sporting event I’ve ever attended. I thought the roof was going to blow off the building.

And it got me wondering why #27 hasn’t been retired by the Flyers.

Hextall finished his Flyers career with 240 regular-season wins (eight more than the legendary Bernie Parent), 45 playoff wins (ten more than Parent), 18 shutouts, and he won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender and the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the playoffs in his rookie year of 1986-87 when he led the Flyers to a seven-game loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup finals. That series prompted Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky to call Hextall the best goalie he ever faced. Hextall revolutionized the position of goaltender in terms of his ability to handle the puck. In addition to his regular season goal, Hextall was the first goalie to score in the playoffs (April 11, 1989 at Washington). Hextall’s attitude and temper made him a fan favorite in Philadelphia.

I was browsing YouTube looking for the goal so I could show my son and came across this montage of Hextall’s career highlights (including both of his goals). It was so good, I watched it twice. Now more than ever, I feel "27" should hang in the rafters in Philly.