Top Players in Flyers’ History: No. 10 Tim Kerr

By Alan Bass

Can you name me a top player in the league right now who was not drafted when he was eligible?How about Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning?

Can you name a similar player from the past?

How about Tim Kerr?

The Philadelphia Flyers signed Kerr at the beginning of the 1980-1981 season as anundrafted forward. The team immediately saw results, as Kerr scored 45 points in 68 games as a rookie in the NHL.

He slightly improved the next year, scoring 51 points, but then dropped to 19 in 1983 as he started to fall victim to the injury bug.

In 1984, though, Kerr exploded offensively, scoring 93 points in 79 games, including his first 50-goal season. He continued his NHL dominance, as he had four consecutive 50-goal seasons, and four straight seasons with 80 points.

In 1985, Tim Kerr set NHL records. He scored four goals in a period in a playoff game on April 13, three of them on the power play.

Both of those were NHL records, as were his 34 power play goals in the 1985-1986 regular season. He also holds the Flyers’ record for most 50-goal seasons, with four.

Unfortunately, his career was cut short by shoulder injuries, and he retired at the young age of 33. He finished his last two NHL seasons with the Rangers and Whalers, respectively, and finished his career with 370 goals and 674 points in 655 NHL games. An extremely impressive accomplishment, considering that he seemed to be perpetually injured.

All in all, he was a great player, and one of the best players behind the Flyers’ Stanley Cup Finals berths in 1985 and 1987. That is what makes him number 10 on the list of top-10 players in Flyers’ history.

This is the first part of a 10 part series. Stay tuned for the rest of the series!