Prolific scoring winger Mark Recchi, was born on February 1, 1968 in Kamloops, British Columbia. A star in the Western Hockey League for Ken Hitchcock's Kamloops Blazers, for whom he compiled a staggering 61 goals, 93 assists and 154 points during the 1987-88 season, a 20-year-old Recchi was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fourth round (67^th overall) of the 1988 NHL Draft after first being eligible for the Draft in 1986.

Recchi was undersized in stature (5-foot-10) and had an awkward-looking skating style but was a supreme offensive talent with outstanding hockey sense. He went on to become of the NHL's top offensive players from the early 1990s through the mid-2000s in a career that spanned a portion of the 1988-89 season to the 2010-11 campaign.

Along the way, the player compiled a strong case for eventual inclusion in the Hockey Hall of Fame. He had the career offensive numbers (577 goals, 956 assists, 1,553 points), the longevity (1,652 regular season games, 189 playoff games), gaudy individual seasons (three 100-plus point seasons, a 97-point season and a 91-point season, one 50-goal season and four with 40-plus points), the team honors (Stanley Cup rings with three teams), and the respect of his former teammates. While often described as a sniper for his wrist shot and quick release, Recchi was arguably even better as a playmaker.

Many of the best years of Recchi's career were spent in Philadelphia. He enjoyed two stellar stints as a Flyers after being acquired in trades with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens. Recchi recorded 627 points (232 goals and 395 assists) in 620 regular season games as a Flyer. He dressed in 65 playoff games, all in his second stint, posting 19 goals and 39 points.

The Flyers made a blockbuster trade with Pittsburgh on February 19, 1992. Philadelphia gave up team captain Rick Tocchet, stalwart defensive defenseman Kjell Samuelsson and goalie Ken Wregget plus a 1992 third-round pick (used on the selection Dave Roche). In return, the Flyers received Recchi, defenseman Brian Benning and a 1992 first-round pick (used on the selection of defenseman/winger Jason Bowen) originally belonging to the LA Kings.

Recchi, who was a member of Pittsburgh's Stanley Cup winning 1990-91 team and enjoyed his first career 100-point season that year (40 goals, 73 assists, 113 points), had produced 33 goals and 70 points for Pittsburgh in 1991-92 up until the time of the trade to the Flyers. Upon his arrival in Philadelphia, Recchi posted an additional 10 goals and 27 points overall the final 22 games of the season.

During the summer of 1992, the Flyers made arguably the biggest and certainly the most controversial trade in club history as they acquired the rights to teenaged franchise player Eric Lindros from the Quebec Nordiques. The troika of Lindros, Recchi and center Rod Brind'Amour became the Flyers' nucleus.

In 1992-93, primarily playing right wing on a unit with Lindros and Brent Fedyk dubbed "the Crazy Eights" line, Recchi set a team single-season scoring record with 123 points (53 goals, 70 assists) in 84 games and won the Bobby Clarke Trophy as Flyers' most valuable players. His 70 assists were the third-highest single-season total in Flyers' history.

The next year, with rookie Mikael Renberg taking over a top line spot along with Recchi and Lindros, Recchi enjoyed a 40-goal, 107-point season. The Flyers, however, remained on the outside of the playoff picture as their drought of missing the postseason reached five straight season.

Following a lockout that forced the cancellation of the first half of the 1994-95 season, the Flyers got off to a slow start in the 48-game schedule that was created after the end of the work stoppage.

On February 9, 1995, the Flyers made another blockbuster trade. This time, Philadelphia traded Recchi and a 1995 third-round pick (Martin Hohenberger) to the Montreal Canadiens for forward John LeClair, defenseman Eric Desjardins and forward Gilbert Dionne.

Although Recchi remained a fine player during his time with the Canadiens, the trade proved to be a boon to the Flyers. Philadelphia transformed, almost instantly, from a non-playoff team to a Stanley Cup contender.

Recchi was eligible for unrestricted free agency after the 1998-99 season. Increasingly pessimistic about the player remaining in Montreal, the Canadiens traded Recchi back to the Flyers on March 10, 1999 in exchange for young forward Dainius Zubrus, a 1999 second-round pick (Matt Carkner) and a 2000 sixth-round pick (Scott Selig) originally belonging to the New York Islanders.

A late-March concussion slowed Recchi for the rest of the season, although he returned to the Flyers' lineup after missing just three games. On May 10, 1999, Recchi signed a five-year contract extension with the Flyers to pre-empt his impending unrestricted free agency.

The 31-year-old player was no longer a 100-point player (scoring was in decline leaguewide) but was a more well-rounded and versatile forward than he was during his first go-round with the club.