Happy Birthday Ron Hextall

Today May 3rd is the 48th birthday of former Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ron Hextall.  Now normally I wouldnt acknowledge a former Flyer since I am a Penguins man but I will make and exception today.   Hextall was no ordinary goalie, he played like a ticked off bull moose and had no problems fighting anyone or slashing anyone with his stick, much like Billy Smith of the Islanders.
Hextall was called by Wayne Gretzky.."the greatest goaltender I have ever played against".


In his rookie year of 1987 Hextall led the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals against Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers and pushed the high scoring Oilers to 7 games.   That effort in goal earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs and became only the 4th player from the losing team to be named MVP.  Later that summer Hextall was awarded the Vezina Trophy as the NHLs top goaltender for the 1986-87 season.
He was also a 3 time winner of the Bobby Clarke Trophy as the Flyers MVP (1987,1988,1989)


Today he is the General Manager of the AHL Manchester Monarchs, the top minor league affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings.