RON HEXTALL

'Ron Hextall' (born May 3, 1964 in Brandon, Manitoba) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender most often associated with the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League. He is the grandson of Hall-of-Famer Bryan Hextall, the son of former NHL player Bryan Hextall Jr and nephew of former NHL player Dennis Hextall.

Contents

Playing career

Philadelphia years

The goal

Nordiques years

Post-retirement

Awards

Media rankings

Career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

International play

See also

References

Playing career

Philadelphia years

Hextall played the bulk of his career in two stints with the Philadelphia Flyers (1986-87 to 1991-92, and 1994-95 to 1998-99). He and Jacques Plante are considered responsible for revolutionizing the position of goaltender, leaving the goal mouth regularly to play the puck with their sticks.
Hextall was known for his aggressive play, something which made him a fan-favorite in Philadelphia. He holds the record for most penalty minutes by a goaltender in one season with 113 in 1988-1989. In the closing minutes of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens that season, Hextall, his team already down 3 games to 2 and trailing 4-2 on the scoreboard, whacked his stick and blocker pad at Canadien defenseman Chris Chelios, apparently in retaliation for Chelios' illegal, yet unpenalized, hit that left the Flyers' Brian Propp with a concussion in Game 1. Hextall received a five-minute major and a match penalty for the incident, and was suspended for the first 12 games of the 1989-90 season.

The goal

On December 8, 1987, Hextall became the first goalie in NHL history to score a goal by actually shooting the puck into an open net vacated when the opposing team replaced their netminder with an offensive player. (Because hockey's score keeping rule always credits a goal to the last offensive player to touch the puck, on November 28, 1979, Billy Smith of the NHL's New York Islanders was the first goalie to be credited with a goal; however, the puck was accidentally shot into the net by a defensive player as in an ''own goal''.) Hextall replicated the feat in the playoffs on April 11, 1989 against the Washington Capitals, thus becoming the first goalie to score a goal in a playoff game.
Ron Hextall was also the winner of the Vezina Trophy (NHL's Best Goaltender) and the Conn Smythe Trophy (NHL Playoff MVP), as well as being named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 1987 as a rookie for the Philadelphia Flyers, as the Flyers took the powerful Edmonton Oilers to seven games during the Stanley Cup Finals. The Calder Trophy was the only honor that eluded Hextall that year as he finished second behind Luc Robitaille. He was also remembered for a slash on Edmonton's Kent Nilsson in the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals; any Oiler player that approached the Flyers' net would receive welts on their legs from Hextall's stick.

Nordiques years

Hextall was traded to the Quebec Nordiques in a trade involving Eric Lindros among several others. He spent the 1992-93 NHL season there, helping the Nordiques to make the playoffs for the first time in several years. Hextall then moved on to the New York Islanders for 1993-94. The Flyers reacquired him in 1994 and he helped them reach the finals in 1997, although he did not have a strong series as he let in several soft goals. He finished out his career with the Flyers in 1999.

Post-retirement

In June 2006, the Los Angeles Kings named Ron Hextall as Assistant General Manager. In addition, Hextall will serve as the General Manager of the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, the Kings’ primary affiliate.
Prior to playing in the NHL, Hextall won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award in 1986 as the top rookie of the American Hockey League, while playing for the Hershey Bears.

Awards

★ Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award — 1986

★ Named to AHL First All-Star Team — 1986

★ NHL Rookie of the Month of November — 1986

★ Vezina Trophy — 1987

★ Conn Smythe Trophy — 1987

★ NHL All-Rookie Team — 1987

★ NHL First All-Star Team — 1987

Media rankings

★ Named NHL Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News in 1987

★ Named to The Sporting News All-Star second team in 1987

★ Rated #14 in Hockey Stars Presents "The Top 50 Netminders in Pro Hockey", November 1993

★ Rated #29 in Hockey Stars Presents "The Top 50 Netminders in Pro Hockey", November 1994

★ Rated #29 in Hockey Stars Presents "The Top 50 Netminders in Pro Hockey", November 1995

Career statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1981-82	Brandon Wheat Kings	WHL		30	12	11	0	1398	133	0	5.71	.864
1982-83	Brandon Wheat Kings	WHL		44	13	30	0	2589	249	0	5.77	??
1983-84	Brandon Wheat Kings	WHL		46	29	13	2	2670	190	0	4.27	.883
1984-85	Kalamazoo Wings	IHL		19	6	11	1	??	??	0	4.35	??
1984-85	Hershey Bears	AHL		11	4	6	0	555	34	0	3.68	.888
1985-86	Hershey Bears	AHL		53	30	19	2	3061	174	5	3.41	.894
1986-87	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		66	37	21	6	3799	174	1	3.00	.894
1987-88	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		62	30	22	7	3560	208	0	3.51	.885
1988-89	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		64	30	28	6	3756	202	0	3.23	.891
1989-90	Hershey Bears	AHL		1	1	0	0	49	3	0	3.67	.880
1989-90	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		8	4	2	1	419	29	0	3.67	.880
1990-91	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		36	13	16	5	2035	106	0	3.13	.892
1991-92	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		45	16	21	6	2668	151	3	3.40	.883
1992-93	Quebec Nordiques	NHL		54	29	16	5	2988	172	0	3.45	.888
1993-94	New York Islanders	NHL		65	27	26	6	3581	184	5	3.08	.898
1994-95	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		31	17	9	4	1824	88	1	2.89	.890
1995-96	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		53	31	13	7	3102	112	4	2.17	.913
1996-97	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		55	31	16	5	3094	132	5	2.56	.897
1997-98	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		46	21	17	7	2688	97	4	2.17	.911
1998-99	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		23	10	7	4	1235	52	0	2.53	.888
NHL Career Totals				608	296	214	69	34,749	1,723	23	2.98	.895

Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1981-82	Brandon Wheat Kings	WHL		3	0	2	103	16	0	9.32	-
1983-84	Brandon Wheat Kings	WHL		10	5	5	592	37	0	3.75	-
1985-86	Hershey Bears	AHL		13	5	7	780	42	1	4.27	-
1986-87	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		26	15	11	1540	71	2	2.77	.908
1987-88	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		7	2	4	379	30	0	4.75	.847
1988-89	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		15	8	7	886	49	0	3.32	.890
1992-93	Quebec Nordiques	NHL		6	2	4	372	18	0	2.90	.915
1993-94	New York Islanders	NHL		3	0	3	158	16	0	6.08	.800
1994-95	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		15	10	5	897	42	0	2.81	.904
1995-96	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		12	6	6	761	27	0	2.13	.915
1996-97	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		8	4	3	443	22	0	2.97	.892
1997-98	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		1	0	0	20	1	0	3.00	.875
NHL Career Totals				93	47	43	5456	276	2	3.03	.897

International play

Season	Team	League	GP	W	L	T	SO	GAA
1986-87	NHL All-Stars	RV-87	-	-	-	-	-	-
1987-88	Canada	CC	-	-	-	-	-	-
1991-92	Canada	WCh	5	1	2	1	0	2.86

See also

★ Notable families in the NHL

★ NHL Goaltenders

★ List of retired NHL players

★ List of NHL seasons

References

★ Career statistics

★ Hextall Scores 1st Goal

★ Legends of Hockey

★ More Career Stats