Rick MacLeish Passes

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Published: May 31, 2016 09:16 am EDT

Rick MacLeish, who starred for the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers in the 1970s and was a longtime standardbred owner, passed away late Monday night (May 30) at the age of 66.

“With the passing of Rick MacLeish, the Flyers have lost one of their legends,” said Flyers President, Paul Holmgren. “A good father, grandfather, teammate and friend, Rick will be missed by all who were fortunate to come and know him over the years. His happy and friendly demeanour was front and centre everywhere Rick went. Today, our thoughts and prayers are with Rick’s wife, Charlene, his daughters, Danielle and Brianna along with his grandchildren. May he rest in peace.”

MacLeish spent parts of 12 seasons with the Flyers, including 11 straight from 1970-71 to 1980-81, including the Flyers' Stanley Cup championship teams in 1974 and 1975. He accumulated 697 points as a Flyer, which ranks fourth all time in franchise history, while also recording 328 goals (6th in Flyers history) and 369 assists (T-5th in Flyers history) in 741 games (T-6th in Flyers history).

MacLeish also ranks second in franchise history with 12 regular season hat tricks, only behind Tim Kerr’s mark of 17.

In 1972-73, his first full season in the NHL, he became the Flyers first 50-goal scorer and just the eighth player in NHL history to score 50 goals in a single season. To this day, he is one of six Flyers to ever reach the 50-goal mark.

MacLeish was also a standout in the Stanley Cup playoffs. He led the Flyers in both goals and points in both of their Stanley Cup Championship runs in 1974 (13 goals & 22 points) and 1975 (11 goals and 20 points).

He ranks first all-time in Flyers history with 10 game-winning goals, and scored the game-winning goal in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in a 1-0 victory against the Boston Bruins to claim the Flyers first Stanley Cup title in 1974.

MacLeish is tied (with Bill Barber) for the most playoff goals scored in club history with 53, and ranks fourth all-time in Flyers history with 105 points in 108 playoff games.

“Ricky was the most talented player the Flyers had during the 1970s," said Flyers Senior Vice President and Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke, who played with MacLeish during throughout that decade. "Life after hockey wasn’t fair to Ricky. He left us far too soon.”

MacLeish was inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame in its third year of existence on Mar. 22, 1990. MacLeish settled in New Jersey after retiring from the NHL and worked in the insurance industry.

A native of Cannington, Ont., MacLeish had two passions as growing up: hockey and horses. He'd play hockey in the winter and ride his grandparents' quarter horses in the summer. He became involved with harness horses almost immediately after turning pro.

"When I was 19 I was drafted by the Boston Bruins and I used some of my money to buy a racehorse for around $5,000. I got out for a while and then when we won the Stanley Cup in 1974-75, I met the Stafford family over in Voorhees, NJ, and I have been involved ever since," MacLeish told the Flyers' media team in 2005. "Last year I got a call from [trainer] Ben Stafford and he asked if I would be interested in buying a filly for $7,500. I was very interested but when I tried to pay for the horse the owners changed their minds and wanted to auction off the horse instead because they thought they would get more money. I really wanted the horse so I went to the auction and won the horse for $1,000. Long story short, she is one of the top fillies at Dover Racetrack and has won over $50,000."

That horse was Aint Goin Back, who retired in 2009 with more than $306,000 in purse earnings. MacLeish had one horse racing at the time of his passing, pacing gelding High Joltage. The horse raced on Monday afternoon at, fittingly, Harrah's Philadelphia.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Rick MacLeish.

(with files from NHL.com)

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