We’re in the thick of the most boring portion of the NHL offseason, and there’s only one possible way to combat the dearth of hockey happenings:
We’re going to remember some dudes.
It’s fun to look back at random people who once evidently played hockey for the Philadelphia Flyers. There’s just something incredibly nostalgic about hearing a name you haven’t heard or even thought of in many years. And given the state of the Flyers over the last decade, there are quite a few absolute randos who have donned the orange and black sweaters fairly recently who almost everyone on the planet has completely forgotten about.
The Broad Street Hockey staff was given the assignment to think of the most random former Flyer they for some reason have an attachment to and then write about them.
Here are the random dudes chosen for this exercise…
Ryan Q: Ryan White
I’m a big fan of people named Ryan. In my completely unbiased opinion, most people named Ryan are super cool and also very handsome and fun. I’m not sure Ryan White would fit into the handsome category (sorry, king), but he was certainly cool and fun.
The Flyers signed White and his luscious locks to a one-year contract in August of 2014. He didn’t play much during the 2014-15 season due to a torn left pectoral muscle, but with six goals and 12 points in just 34 games, he was actually pretty productive for a fourth-line enforcer! The Flyers apparently agreed, so they signed him to another one-year contract the following offseason.
During the 2015-16 season, he set career highs in goals (11), points (16) and penalty minutes (101) in 73 games. Did his presence make the Flyers a better team? Probably not. But they were certainly more fun when he was around. A maniac on the fourth line who scores goals sometimes and beats the hell out of everyone? Yes, please.
Unfortunately, the Flyers decided not to bring him back for a third season. White then took his talents to the desert, earning a one-year contract with the Arizona Coyotes. He was later traded to Minnesota, where fun and excitement famously go to die. That was virtually the end of the road for White as an NHLer.
Ryan White was nothing special, but the dude was a spectacular vibe. Mr. White, wherever you are now, rock on, brother.
Jason M: Jiri Latal
Perhaps before a lot of current Flyers fans’ timeline, Jiri Latal was slated to be the next big thing for the roster in the late ‘80s. Originally drafted by Toronto, Latal, a native of Czechslovakia, was traded to Philadelphia in 1989 for a seventh-round pick in the 1991 NHL Draft. Given the geopolitical climate at the time, it was going to be a stretch to see Latal in a Flyers uniform.
However, he defected while playing exhibition games in West Germany. The defection was helped allegedly by members of the Flyers organization, namely Andy Murray who was in West Germany watching Latal play. The daring escape resulted in Latal playing 32 games in the 1989-90 season for the Flyers, scoring six goals and adding 13 assists for 19 points. Latal was playing on a one-year visa which, thanks to the changing political climate and the fall of the Eastern Bloc, enabled Latal to see his wife and then one-year old-daughter arrive in the U.S.
Sadly, that promise as an offensive blueliner never materialized as Latal ran into a huge rash of injuries. In December 1989 he ended up with cracked ribs (the result of a Dale Hunter crosscheck to his rib cage). In November 1990 he ended up missing time with a bruised shoulder. Roughly six weeks after the shoulder problem he reinjured the shoulder. On Dec. 20, 1990, Latal bruised his tailbone. In January 1991 he bruised his foot. Then the following month he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, causing him to miss at least four weeks. Latal slid into the end boards during a game against the Devils which caused that injury. Despite all these injuries, Latal managed to play 50 games in 1990-91, scoring five times and getting 21 assists for 26 points.
Whether it was not adjusting to the North American game or being able to avoid injuries like he did, Latal played only 10 games in 1991-92, scoring a goal and adding two assists for three points. The blueliner never played another NHL game, finishing his career with 92 games for the Flyers, scoring 12 goals and with 36 assists for 48 points. Latal played a season in Finland. He then played four seasons in the Czech league, although two of those seasons saw him play a combined three games. He finished his playing career in the playoffs for Olomouc HC, scoring two goals and adding two assists for four points in four games.
In 2009, Latal wore the hat of general manager for the Czech Republic team at the World Junior Championships. But the promise of Latal was one that never came to fruition. A sad ending to what started initially as a daring escape for a new way of life and new chapter in his hockey career.
Jacob R: Michal Handzus
Growing up as a young Flyers fan in the early 2000s, Michal Handzus was the original Scott Hartnell, at least visually. That frizzy expanse of hair emanating from his helmet was a crazy visual, and Handzus actually amassed some pretty solid production with the Flyers as well. Acquired from Phoenix in the trade that sent Brian Boucher to the desert, Handzus found a spot in the middle-six of some very good Flyers teams.
He had his best offensive years in Philly, including a 58-point season in 2003-04 that would remain the high-water mark for his career. In that year, he also had five goals and 10 points during a memorable Flyers playoff run that ended in the Eastern Conference Final.
A solid 237 games in the orange and black for a veteran who could give you a little bit of everything at his best.
Joe D: Gerry Mayhew
I’m a more recent Flyers fan (jumped on in 2020), so I don’t have a vast pool of guys to pull from. My second choice was Hayden Hodgson, simply because he was not good but has built a career on discourse: Torts didn’t like him and management did, he hammered Mark Stone in a preseason game, and sent a guy out on a stretcher in an AHL game. Whew! But, I digress, because we’re here to talk about the one, the only: Gerry Mayhew.
Who can forget Mayhew Mayhem? The Mayhewligans? The wonderful Winter of Gerald? In a miserable 2021-22 season that saw the Flyers implode after a big offseason (traded for Ryan Ellis and Rasmus Ristolainen, shipped out Shayne Gostisbehere, swapped Jake Voracek for Cam Atkinson), AHL depth forward Gerald Mayhew brought a bit of warmth to a miserable winter. I know you, intelligent reader, remember that Mayhew scored six goals–and zero assists–in his 25 game stint with the Flyers that year, even getting some power play time (because who else was capable).
All that to be unceremoniously waived at the trade deadline and claimed by… the Anaheim Ducks, where he played an additional 15 games and registered another five goals and one (1) assist. Mayhew hasn’t touched NHL ice since, and most recently played for the Rockford Ice Hogs–the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. He may never crack the NHL again, but his memory lives on in those of us who remember that one time Mike Yeo had a top line of Cam Atkinson, Claude Giroux and Gerald Mayhew.