Mike Richards and the Worst Captains in Philadelphia Flyers History

On September 16th the Philadelphia Flyers made official the naming of Chris Pronger as the team's 18th captain. It was not exactly a surprise.

From the time Pronger arrived in Philadelphia in 2009 there was an apparent rift in the locker room. Pronger, Briere, Timonen and the veterans were on one side. Former captain Mike Richards and his best friend/teammate Jeff Carter on the other.

When Richards and Carter were traded on June 23rd management sent a clear message that it sided with the veteran players—as well as the team's coach who had an icy relationship with Richards.

In doing so it also sent a clear message to the young emerging stars Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk concerning the right way to handle themselves as professionals.

The Flyers have a long storied history of great players, great leaders and great captains. However there have been a few bumps on the road.

Even some great players who were very good leaders in their own right wilted once the C was put on their jersey.

Pronger is a proven leader and has served as a great captain elsewhere. He was a leader on the Anaheim Ducks when they won the Stanley Cup in 2007.

He will be a huge upgrade over Richards, who struggled with his role as captain, was by all accounts not a vocal leader, had a bad relationship with his coach and an even worse relationship with the press.

With that in mind here is a list of the five worst captains in Flyers history.

No. 5: Ron Sutter

Ron Sutter was a great defensive forward for the Flyers during their second era of glory in the 1980s. He lead by example on the ice, always worked hard, played through injury and contributed to the team in many ways that were over his head. He was a team-first guy.

During the 1989-90 season when the Flyers were struggling and management wanted to make a change, coach Paul Holmgren, wanting to send a message to the team, stripped the C from Dave Poulin and named Ron Sutter his successor.

Sutter had huge shoes to fill as Poulin was second only to Bobby Clarke as the franchise's best captain. One can't really fault Sutter for how the team performed as they were a team in transition, but he served as captain to the first Flyers team to miss the playoffs since 1972.

Sutter was team captain for the entire 1990-91 season and the team struggled throughout, once again failing to make the playoffs.

There were some icy relations between Sutter and the front office that offseason and by the time training camp and the preseason started in 1991, the C was no longer on Sutter's sweater.

Just before the season, he and Murray Baron were traded to the St. Louis Blues for Rod Brind'Amour and Dan Quinn.

No. 4: Rick Tocchet

One of the greatest Flyers ever and a huge part of the Flyers' success in the 80s, Rick Tocchet was not a very good captain.

One big problem with his captaincy is not a lot of "great" leaders demand a trade from the team he is leading. Which is exactly what Tocchet did during his sole season as Flyers' captain (1991-92).

His captaincy lasted all of 42 games. The season he was captain for the Flyers he scored only 13 goals over those 42 games, well off the pace of the 40 goals he scored the year before.

He was traded to Pittsburgh before the year was over and went on to win the Stanley Cup. He left behind a captainless Flyers team that once again failed to reach the playoffs.

The team played the entire 1992-93 season without a captain as they tried to right the ship in terms of winning and leadership.

No. 3: Eric Desjardins

When he was brought here in that blockbuster 1995 trade, Desjardins immediately became the Flyers' best defenseman.

He played a significant part in the mid-90s turn around, anchoring the team's defense and contributing greatly to the offense, especially on the power play. Next to Mark Howe he is the franchise's all time best defenseman.

When the relationship between star forward and captain Eric Lindros turned from sour to toxic, GM Bob Clarke famously—and literally—had the C ripped from his jersey and given to Desjardins in 2000.

Desjardins' play did not appear to be affected publicly, but he did not like the way his own on-ice performance was affected by the added responsibility.

He captained only the second Flyers' team in history to lose a series after leading three games to one when the team lost in the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals to the New Jersey Devils. 

The team struggled early in the 2001-02 series and Desjardins gladly resigned the captaincy to Keith Primeau.

No. 2: Derian Hatcher

When Keith Primeau was knocked unconscious in a game early in 2005, the course of the franchise was forever changed. Primeau was forced to retire as a result of the concussion he received from the hit.

The team was left with a leadership void that would undermine the season, lead to the franchise's worse season ever the following year and ultimately contribute to cutting short the Flyers' career of "the future of the franchise."

Ken Hitchcock originally approached Simon Gagne to take over the captaincy. Gagne refused to step up reportedly because he felt it would be disrespectful to Primeau.

Finally midway through the season, Hitchcock named Derian Hatcher captain. The second half of the 2005-06 season saw the team in steady decline.

They ran into the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the playoffs and were humiliated in a six game series that was never as close as you'd suspect a six game series to be.

Hatcher handed over the C in the offseason and it was given to...

No. 1: Peter Forsberg

Peter Forsberg was named the 15th captain in Flyers' history despite his request that he not be named team captain.

Forsberg's season as captain was marked by indifference, injury, his increasing frustration over a bad foot that wouldn't heal, ignoring the Flyers' wishes that he not risk further injury by playing for Sweden in the Olympics and waiving his no trade clause as the Flyers dealt him to Nashville.

When he was actually in the lineup he captained the worst Flyers team to ever take the ice. His leadership skills on the ice and off never came close to equaling his talent.

Of course he did, in not so many words, kind of warn the Flyers that this would happen by his reluctance to wear the C. Unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears.

Related Article: The Five Best Captains in Flyer History

For a list of those who rose to the occasion and are remembered forever as the greatest captains in Flyers' history check this article out:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/800776-the-five-greatest-captains-in-flyers-history