Ron Hextall

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Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Nickname(s) Hexy
Height
Weight		 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
200 lb (91 kg/14 st 4 lb)
Pro clubs WHL
 Brandon Wheat Kings
IHL
 Kalamazoo Wings
AHL
 Hershey Bears
NHL
 Philadelphia Flyers
 Quebec Nordiques
 New York Islanders
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada
Born May 3, 1964 (1964-05-03) (age 44),
Brandon, MB
NHL Draft 119th overall, 1982
Philadelphia Flyers
Pro career 1984 – 1999

Ron Hextall (born May 3, 1964 in Brandon, Manitoba) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender most often associated with the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League. He is the grandson of Hall-of-Famer Bryan Hextall, the son of former NHL player Bryan Hextall Jr. and nephew of former NHL player Dennis Hextall.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Hershey Bears

Prior to playing in the NHL, Hextall won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award in 1986 as the top rookie of the American Hockey League, while playing for the Hershey Bears.

[edit] Philadelphia years

Hextall played the bulk of his career in two stints with the Philadelphia Flyers (1986-87 to 1991-92, and 1994-95 to 1998-99). He and Jacques Plante are considered responsible for revolutionizing the position of goaltender, leaving the goal mouth regularly to play the puck with their sticks.

Hextall was known for his aggressive play, something which made him a fan-favorite in Philadelphia. He holds the record for most penalty minutes by a goaltender in one season with 113 in 1988-1989. In the closing minutes of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens that season, Hextall, his team already down 3 games to 2 and trailing 4-2 on the scoreboard, comes out of his crease and slams Canadiens defenseman Chris Chelios into the boards, apparently in retaliation for Chelios' illegal, yet unpenalized, hit that left the Flyers' Brian Propp with a concussion in Game 1. Once Chelios was down, Hextall got on top of him and continued to throw blocker punches at the defenseman until the refs managed to drag him off. Hextall received a five-minute major and a match penalty for the incident, and was suspended for the first 12 games of the 1989-90 season.

Hextall is one of only two goaltenders, along with Henrik Lundqvist, to record at least 30 wins in his first three NHL seasons,[1] which Hextall did from 1986-1989.

[edit] The goal

On December 8, 1987, Hextall became the first goalie in NHL history to score a goal by actually shooting the puck into an open net with the opposing goaltender pulled for an extra attacker. In his post-game interview Hextall quipped,

“ Now before you guys get started I want you to know I was aiming for that corner. ”

(Because of hockey's score keeping rule that credits a goal to the last offensive player to touch the puck, on November 28, 1979, Billy Smith of the New York Islanders was the first NHL goalie to be credited with a goal; Smith was awarded the goal during a game against the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies' goaltender left the ice for an extra skater after a delayed penalty was called on the Islanders. During the ensuing play, Smith made a save, then a Rockies player passed the puck to a vacant point, and it traveled the length of the ice into the empty net.) Hextall replicated the feat in the playoffs on April 11, 1989 against the Washington Capitals, thus becoming the first goalie to score a goal in a playoff game.

Ron Hextall was also the winner of the Vezina Trophy (NHL's Best Goaltender) and the Conn Smythe Trophy (NHL Playoff MVP), as well as being named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 1987 as a rookie for the Philadelphia Flyers, as the Flyers lost to the powerful Edmonton Oilers in seven games during the Stanley Cup Finals. By losing in game seven to both the Oilers and the Capitals, Hextall earned a reputation for losing in the most important games. The Calder Trophy was the only honor that eluded Hextall that year as he finished second behind Luc Robitaille. He was also remembered for a slash on Edmonton's Kent Nilsson in the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals; any Oiler player that approached the Flyers' net would receive welts on their legs from Hextall's stick.

[edit] Quebec, Long Island, and back to Philadelphia

Hextall was traded to the Quebec Nordiques in a trade involving Eric Lindros among several others. He spent the 1992-93 NHL season there, helping the Nordiques to make the playoffs for the first time in several years. Hextall then moved on to the New York Islanders for the 1993-94 NHL season, where he also appeared in the playoffs. The Flyers reacquired him in 1994 and he helped them reach the finals in 1997, although they were quickly swept aside by the Detroit Red Wings in 4 games. He finished out his career with the Flyers in 1999.

[edit] Post-retirement

In June 2006, the Los Angeles Kings named Ron Hextall as Assistant General Manager. In addition, Hextall will serve as the General Manager of the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, the Kings’ primary affiliate.

On February 6, 2008, Hextall became the 19th member inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame in a ceremony during the first intermission.

[edit] Awards

[edit] Media rankings

  • Named NHL Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News in 1987
  • Named to The Sporting News All-Star second team in 1987
  • Rated #14 in Hockey Stars Presents "The Top 50 Netminders in Pro Hockey", November 1993
  • Rated #29 in Hockey Stars Presents "The Top 50 Netminders in Pro Hockey", November 1994
  • Rated #29 in Hockey Stars Presents "The Top 50 Netminders in Pro Hockey", November 1995

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season

   
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1981-82 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 30 12 11 0 1398 133 0 5.71 .864
1982-83 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 44 13 30 0 2589 249 0 5.77  ??
1983-84 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 46 29 13 2 2670 190 0 4.27 .883
1984-85 Kalamazoo Wings IHL 19 6 11 1  ??  ?? 0 4.35  ??
1984-85 Hershey Bears AHL 11 4 6 0 555 34 0 3.68 .888
1985-86 Hershey Bears AHL 53 30 19 2 3061 174 5 3.41 .894
1986-87 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 66 37 21 6 3799 174 1 3.00 .894
1987-88 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 62 30 22 7 3560 208 0 3.51 .885
1988-89 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 64 30 28 6 3756 202 0 3.23 .891
1989-90 Hershey Bears AHL 1 1 0 0 49 3 0 3.67 .880
1989-90 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 8 4 2 1 419 29 0 3.67 .880
1990-91 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 36 13 16 5 2035 106 0 3.13 .892
1991-92 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 45 16 21 6 2668 151 3 3.40 .883
1992-93 Quebec Nordiques NHL 54 29 16 5 2988 172 0 3.45 .888
1993-94 New York Islanders NHL 65 27 26 6 3581 184 5 3.08 .898
1994-95 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 31 17 9 4 1824 88 1 2.89 .890
1995-96 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 53 31 13 7 3102 112 4 2.17 .913
1996-97 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 55 31 16 5 3094 132 5 2.56 .897
1997-98 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 46 21 17 7 2688 97 4 2.17 .911
1998-99 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 23 10 7 4 1235 52 0 2.53 .888
NHL Career Totals 608 296 214 69 34,749 1,723 23 2.98 .895

[edit] Playoffs

   
Season Team League GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1981-82 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 3 0 2 103 16 0 9.32 -
1983-84 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 10 5 5 592 37 0 3.75 -
1985-86 Hershey Bears AHL 13 5 7 780 42 1 4.27 -
1986-87 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 26 15 11 1540 71 2 2.77 .908
1987-88 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 7 2 4 379 30 0 4.75 .847
1988-89 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 15 8 7 886 49 0 3.32 .890
1992-93 Quebec Nordiques NHL 6 2 4 372 18 0 2.90 .915
1993-94 New York Islanders NHL 3 0 3 158 16 0 6.08 .800
1994-95 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 15 10 5 897 42 0 2.81 .904
1995-96 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 12 6 6 761 27 0 2.13 .915
1996-97 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 8 4 3 443 22 0 2.97 .892
1997-98 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 1 0 0 20 1 0 3.00 .875
NHL Career Totals 93 47 43 5456 276 2 3.03 .897

[edit] International play

Season Team League GP W L T SO GAA
1986-87 NHL All-Stars RV-87 - - - - - -
1987-88 Canada CC - - - - - -
1991-92 Canada WCh 5 1 2 1 0 2.86

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dellapina, John. "Goalie coach Benoit Allaire has knack for keeping Henrik Lundqvist up", Daily News", 2008-03-09. Retrieved on [[2008-03-10]]. 
Preceded by
John Vanbiesbrouck		 Winner of the Vezina Trophy
1987		 Succeeded by
Grant Fuhr
Preceded by
Mark Howe		 Winner of the Bobby Clarke Trophy
1987-1989		 Succeeded by
Rick Tocchet
Preceded by
Patrick Roy		 Winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy
1987		 Succeeded by
Wayne Gretzky


Persondata
NAME Hextall, Ron
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH 1964-5-3
PLACE OF BIRTH Brandon, MB, CAN
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH