The Flyers family was saddened to learn of the passing of Forbes Kennedy on May 25, 2026. The senior member of the Flyers Alumni, Mr. Kennedy was 90 years old. Born August 18, 1935, in Dorchester, New Brunswick, "Forbie" was best known as virtual royalty in Prince Edward Island: a beloved pillar of the community as well as an iconic figure in the sport of ice hockey.
Hardly a heavyweight, the 5-foot-8 Kennedy was nevertheless considered one of the toughest pound-for-pound players in NHL history. He had a tasmanian devil-like quality on the ice, whether it was battling for a loose puck or throwing rapid-fire punches with surprising force behind them. If he lost a battle, he'd go right back at it the next time out. In fact, Kennedy's opponents grew weary of seeing him come at them repeatedly. There was absolutely no quit in the fiery forward.
Bud Poile, the Philadelphia Flyers’ first general manager, was already familiar with Kennedy at the time the new NHL team selected the forward from the Boston Bruins with the 87th overall pick of the 1967 Expansion Draft. Kennedy had made several minor league stops with the Edmonton Flyers in 1959-60 to the mid-60s. The Edmonton coach: Bud Poile.
While not an “enforcer” in the sense the term would come to mean a decade later, Kennedy was usually among the most frequent combatants in most leagues in which he played.
"It was much better to have Forbie on your side than against you," Flyers Hall of Fame defenseman Joe Watson recalled of his teammate from the first two seasons of franchise history.
"I remember one time -- can still see it -- when we were playing the Blues. Noel Picard, who was huge (6-foot-1, 210 pounds) and mean as could be, riled up our guys. Well, he wasn't afraid of any of us, except Forbie. Forbie went after Picard and he skated away as fast as he could," Watson recalled with a chuckle.
Kennedy could do other things, too. At minor league levels, “Forbie” posted 20-plus goals several times and averaged a little less than a point per game in a few seasons. At the NHL level, Kennedy was a mucker-and-grinder; a solid one who carved his niche and played 603 National Hockey League regular season games (70 goals, 108 assists, 178 points, 888 penalty minutes) and 12 Stanley Cup playoff games. Over the course of his NHL career, Kennedy played for the Detroit Red Wings, Bruins, Flyers, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
As a Flyer, Kennedy led the team in penalty minutes both in the inaugural 1967-68 season (130 penalty minutes, in addition to 10 goals and 28 points in 73 regular season games) and in 59 games (195 penalty minutes along with eight goals and 15 points) in 1968-69. Kennedy, who dressed in all seven games of the Flyers war of a Stanley Cup Quarterfinal series with the St. Louis Blues in 1968, was traded to the Maple Leafs along with Brit Selby on March 2, 1969 in exchange for the reacquisition of Bill Sutherland
along with Gerry Meehan and Mike Byers.
Kennedy made an immediate impression on Flyers fans -- he was one of the favorites at the Spectrum -- and teammates alike.
"When I think of Forbie, I always see him chomping on a cigar -- he always had one. He was very sociable, good with people off the ice. Actually, Forbie was the one who got all our players going to Rexy's even in the early years. He became friends with Pat [Fietto, the owner]. We'd go after practice at the old Cherry Hill Arena. So even after Forbie was gone from the Flyers, we still went to Rexy's. But he's the one that started that tradition," Watson recalled.
Kennedy was also the first Flyer to be suspended or fined by the NHL during the inaugural season. The league imposed a $100 fine for “slashing and provoking fisticuffs” with LA Kings defenseman Dave Amadio in the third period of a 7-1 Flyers road loss on February 16, 1968.
After finishing his playing career in 1970, Kennedy began a minor league and junior level coaching career that intermittently spanned 1974-75 to 1998-99.
Although he only played two seasons with the Flyers, Kennedy held Philadelphia and the team in his heart. Shortly after the formation of the Flyers Alumni Association (then called the Philadelphia Legends) in 1984, Kennedy traveled from PEI to Philly to attend the first-ever alumni reunion get-together. There's a photo of Kennedy with Watson, Andre Lacroix, Don Saleski and Ken Blackburn (an early team executive) smiling together at the event.
In January 2017, Kennedy came back to Philadelphia again. This time, he was there to celebrate the organization's 50th anniversary season and catch up with his fellow surviving members of the 1967-68 team.
"We all reminded Forbie there was one thing he was afraid of: mice. He had a phobia. The boys used to get him all the time with a fake mouse on the floor. Or roll up some tape in his glove. 'Forbie! A mouse!' He'd scream and jump up, cigar in his mouth. He fell for it every time," Watson laughed.
Even at the 50th reunion?
"Naw, we behaved ourselves. No mouse. But we all had a great time that night."
Over the 2024 holiday season, it was the Flyers Alumni's turn to visit Forbie. Joe Watson and Al MacAdam spent the day with him in PEI. It is the first installment of the Flyers Alumni Association's "Housecalls" program in which members of the Alumni travel to spend time with elderly or infirmed fellow former Flyers players.
"I'm the oldest Flyer? I guess that's a good thing," Kennedy joked at the time.
"I'm going to miss Forbie. Everyone will miss him. Just a great guy and a great teammate," Watson said.
