United States Hockey Hall of Fame and Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame left winger John LeClair was born July 5, 1969 in St. Albans, Vermont. LeClair possessed both a rocket of a slap shot and an uncanny ability to collect goals off rebounds and deflections in front of the net. Once he parked his 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame in front of the net, the power forward was virtually impossible to budge.

LeClair was originally drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round (33^rd overall) of the 1987 NHL Draft. Attending the University of Vermont, LeClair played all four seasons of his collegiate eligibility and posted 25 goals and 45 points in 33 games as a senior in 1990-01. He turned pro at the end of the season, suiting up in 10 NHL games for the Canadiens.

During much of his stay in Montreal, LeClair was used as a third-line center, although he also played left wing as needed. In 1992-93, he earned a Stanley Cup ring in Montreal. The young forward played an important part in the team's accomplishment as he scored two overtime goals in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final against the Los Angeles Kings.

LeClair and was acquired by the Flyers from the Canadiens in a blockbuster trade on February 9, 1995 that sent Mark Recchi to Montreal and brought LeClair, Eric Desjardins and Gilbert Dionne to Philadelphia.

Shortly after his arrival, Flyers head coach Terry Murray tried out LeClair on left wing of a line with center Eric Lindros and right wing Mikael Renberg. The coach hoped that the LeClair could open up space for his high-scoring linemates with his strong forechecking game and use his strength along the walls to bolster the line's puck-cycling ability.

Little did Murray - or even LeClair himself - suspect at the time that LeClair would almost immediately blossom into a goal-scoring machine in his own right while also contributing the assets for which he was put on the line in the first place.

The trio, dubbed the Legion of Doom, quickly became the most dominant line in the NHL.

LeClair recorded 25 goals and 24 assists for 37 points in 49 games over the rest of the 1994-95 season, and then went on to produce one of the best four-year stretches of any player in Flyers history by recording 371 points (195 G, 176 A) in 322 games, including consecutive seasons of 50, 51 and 50 goals respectively in the 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98 campaigns.

For the Philadelphia portion of LeClair's NHL career, the forward racked up 333 goals and 643 points in 649 games. Along with Tim Kerr, LeClair is the only player in Flyers' franchise history to score 50 or more goals in three straight seasons. LeClair's stellar production came during an era in which clutch-and-grab hockey and heavily use of neutral zone trapping systems contributed to a league-wide decline in scoring on almost an annual basis.

Although he did not play a particularly "mean" game and tended to be slow to anger, LeClair was plenty physical. It was a common sight for opposing players to be left sprawled on the ice near LeClair. He simply had to dip his shoulder and it was almost always the opponent who took a seat. LeClair was also blessed with a howitzer of a slapshot and would score about six to eight goals per season by winding up and blasting an overpowering shot past the goaltender from anywhere from the blueline to the mid-slot.

For many years, LeClair seemed almost indestructible. He appeared in 90 percent or more of the Flyers' games in eight of his 10 seasons with the club, scoring at least 23 goals in all of those eight seasons. He played in all 82 games on five occasions, including three seasons in a row from 1995-96 to 1997-98.