What those of us who covered Rick MacLeish as a Flyers player remember most are his skating and nonchalance.
MacLeish was a fast, effortless skater. Forty two years later, I can still see him gliding across the opponent’s blue line with the puck, often swerving left, leaning as if he might tumble to the ice and flicking a wrist shot past the goalie. It seemed as if MacLeish was on cruise control.
That style, however, isn’t how he scored one of the biggest goals in Flyers history. Stationed in front of Boston goalie Gilles Gilbert in Game 6 of the 1974 Stanley Cup finals at the Spectrum, MacLeish tipped in Andre “Moose” Dupont’s shot with 14:48 gone in the first period, giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead they preserved to clinch their first Stanley Cup.