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The first time I ever saw Ron Hextall play hockey I was about 7 or eight years old. All I remember from this game is that Hexy, true to his early reputation, was in a fight. I beleive it was against Patrick Roy. I also remember that Hexy won. Because of my young age I don't have too many specific memories of this game, but I do remember being very intrigued by Hexy.
From then on, I always knew where Hexy was playing, how he was doing and what he was up to. However I never really cheered for him because I was a Montreal Canandiens fan. The only reason I cheered for Montreal was because John LeClair was my boy. When Johnny got traded to Philly, I finally got the oppotunity to be a full time Hexy fan.
Since the big trade, I have seen Ron play live 3 times and once with him backing up Beezer.
The first time I saw Hexy was John LeClair's first game back in Montreal. Johnny put on a show, scoring a hat trick and Ron also put on a great show. Hexy had a shut out in a 7-0 Flyers victory. The moment I remember from that game was a play involving Mark Recchi as a Montreal Canadien. Somehow there was dump-in and there were no Flyers defenseman anywhere to be found in fact the only two players in the area were Ron Hextall and Mark Recchi. Hexy's thought process seemed to be "Either let Recchi get the puck and score on me or take care of this myself." Hexy took care of it. Hexy skated over to the corner where Recchi was picking up the puck. Hexy then proceeded to drop his shoulder and flatten Recchi. Ron just got back up and skated away from the faleen and very hurting Recchi. No penalty was given out on the play and every Flyers fan in the Old Forum jumped to their feet in resounding applause.
The second time I saw Ron play was once again against Montreal. I remember going straight from my own hockey game in Boisbriand, Quebec to the Molson Centre. Unfortunately the Flyers lost this game 6-5 because of Pat Jablonski's incredible play at the opposite end of the ice. I still remember being very entertained by Hexy as usual.
The third time, as always, against Montreal was the final time I saw Ron play live. The Flyers won 7-4 thanks mostly to John LeClair's hat trick and Eric Lindros's 5 points. Hexy was nothing to scoff at of course. Ron was left defenseless quite a few times during this game and was still able to hold on for the Flyers to get a win.
The final time I ever saw Ron live he was backing up Beezer in Boston on April 3rd, 1999. This day was already a bad one for every Flyers fan. Eric Lindros had just suffered his life-threatening lung injury two days earlier. For the Flyers fans at the Fleet Center that day there was very little to be happy about. John LeClair, Mark Recchi, Eric Desjardins as well as Eric Lindros were all injured. By the end of the day the Flyers had a 3-0 loss, but I was smiling. The reason I was smiling even though all my favorite players never played in the game was because of Ron Hextall. Hexy didn't play but he was still able to entertain. My last memory of Ron Hextall was because of my prompting. I had a ton of signs for that game. One for Eric Lindros, one for John LeClair and one for Ron Hextall. The two for Eric and John were useless because neither of them were there, but the best one I had was the one for Hexy. I had seats 8 rows back in the corner to the right of the goalie. Anytime there was a faceoff in the corner near me I raised my sign proudly, hoping that Ron would see it. Huge orange letters outlined by black reading "Hexy You're So Sexy!" is very hard to miss. And Ron definitely didn't miss it. Initially I couldn't tell if Ron was looking in my direction but I could see his shoulders kind of shaking, soon enough he was getting all of his teammates' attention and pointing at me.
Ron Hextall's 1998-99 season was full of ups and downs, but it was dominated by downs. First he took a pay cut and a demotion to the back up goalie position. Ron's explanation: He's a Flyer, and didn't want to go anywhere else. Ron's season started well with a 5-2 win over the Lightning. He capitilized his season by beating Bernie Parent's record as the winningest Flyers goalie in history. Ron's record stands at 240 wins with Philly. Part way through the season it became evident that despite the promise that Ron would play 30 games in the season, it was unlikely that he would reach that mark.
Ron finished the season ten games shy of the 30 game promise. The off season proved to be no better. Ron was left unprotected for the expansion draft, but was not picked up. Then, while on a fishing trip, he learned that he had been released by the Flyers. Nothing had been discussed with him. For Ron the question had to be whether to sell himself to teams around the NHL and move his wife and four children to an unfarmiliar city or if it was worth it. On September 6, 1999 Ron decided it wasn't worth it. Labor Day of 1999 will go down as the day the best goalie in Flyers histroy retired.
Ron will forever be remembered by this fan as the most entertaining and passionate goalie to play the game. Ron's development from a wild rookie to a reliable veteran has to be one of the best examples in NHL history. While many people will remember Ron's crazy days of fighting, I prefer to remember his dedication to hockey and the Flyers. A man who would take a pay cut to be demoted is unlikely to ever be seen again when the majority of team personnel are money motivated. Ron was motivated by his love of the game. Win or lose you know Ron was doing what he loved. He expressed the interest to play atleast five more seasons, showing that his passion for the game wasn't close to burning out.
Hopefully Ron can look back at his last season as somehing positive. He beat Bernie Parent as the best Flyers goalie, earned the love and respect of countless Flyers fans who watched him take his disappointing season with a smile, and he received a nice ovation from a college girl(me!) who held the sign "Hexy you're so sexy!". If I could have I would've fit "Hexy You're so Sexy! You're also the best, most inspiring and loved Flyer and you'll always be the number one goalie to every Flyers fan."
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