LeClair, Sharp aim to rekindle success of past in Flyers' future

The Philadelphia Flyers are trying to build their future by turning to some of their recent past.

The latest additions were John LeClair and Patrick Sharp, each hired last week as special advisers to hockey operations.

Each cited his time playing for the Flyers as significant in his NHL success, but LeClair said he has seen a slippage in what made it special to wear that jersey.

"The former guys that have been here and lived it understand the culture," LeClair said Wednesday. "I think that's one thing we've talked about, we've gotten away from a little bit of that and we want to get back to the Flyers culture that we had. ... It didn't bring us (Stanley) Cups but we're going to get to that next step and that's what we want to do, is get over that final threshold and get to the Cup and win the Cup.

"It seems like it's gone a little bit away from the culture that we had, that excitement in the building. Just that family feel that we had back when the Flyers were one of the top teams in the NHL. That's what we want to get back in a big way."

LeClair and Sharp each was recruited by Flyers president of hockey operations Keith Jones, who played with LeClair in Philadelphia and worked in broadcasting with Sharp.

They'll work with Jones and Daniel Briere, another former Flyer who was named the full-time general manager May 11, the same day Jones was hired.

Part of Philadelphia's long-standing philosophy was playing for the Flyers was a primary prerequisite for working for them; LeClair is fifth in Philadelphia history with 333 goals in 10 seasons and Sharp played three seasons for the Flyers before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2005.

However it's the people, rather than what uniforms they wore, that is the key.

"When people start talking about Flyers alumni, 'Jonesy' an ex-Flyer, Danny an ex-Flyer ... why do people think that they're diseased?" coach John Tortorella said in May. "If you're an ex-Flyer, you come from the organization, you shouldn't be in this organization? That we need to look outside? I'm not sure who said it here, but it's the person you're looking at. So I'm proud that they are Flyers. ... I think they care. I don't get some of the thinking out in this city, 'Oh, it's an ex-Flyer again, they're doing it the same way.'"

It will be different on the player development side for sure, which is where LeClair and Sharp each will make his biggest impact.

"I think it's a big focus of the organization," LeClair said. "Things aren't good enough right now. We're not where we want to be and we need to get better. And to get better we're going to need some fresh legs and faces to get in there and do that. We have some pretty good talent that we can develop and that's what we want to do. We want to get the most out of those guys, for them and for us."

Philadelphia finished 31-38-13 this season, its third straight missing the playoffs. The Flyers have advanced past the first round of the postseason once since 2010, when they reached the Stanley Cup Final and lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.

Sharp said he already has been back on the ice to get ready for work when Philadelphia holds prospect development camp next month.

He and his family recently moved back to the East Coast, making it easier for him to be hands-on with the Flyers' young players and prospects.

"That's what I'm most excited about today to get involved with, is the development process of Flyers prospects and players, whether that's at the Flyers level, playing with Lehigh Valley (American Hockey League) or prospects that we have playing with their local club teams," Sharp said. "We've got a number of players in New England and on the East Coast that I'll be able to track, monitor their seasons, and try to help in any way."

Sharp believes he wouldn't have had the NHL career he did, including three Stanley Cup championships with the Chicago Blackhawks, were it not for the instruction he had after being selected by the Flyers in the third round (No. 95) of the 2001 NHL Draft.

That includes a Calder Cup championship with the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2004-05. The NHL didn't play that season because of a labor stoppage, so it was the only hockey in town and Sharp felt the Flyers fan base got behind the AHL team.

"I look back at my career as a player and clearly the three Stanley Cups in Chicago stand out and there's other great moments," he said, "but that year in Philadelphia, that deep playoff run, the way that the city got behind us, and just the experiences that I went through individually as a player, challenging myself, being competitive throughout four playoff rounds, that followed me around through the rest of my career.

"It helped me become the player that I later became. ... My experience not only with the Flyers, but most importantly with the Phantoms, is something that I'm looking to pass on to our guys now."

Rekindling that feeling of winning hockey in Philadelphia, of rebuilding that culture, is something Sharp and LeClair, as well as Jones and Briere, are focusing on. It was part of what made Philadelphia and the Flyers so important to their playing careers, and it's what they want to help bring back in their new roles.

"It's a great hockey market and I look forward to having the Flyers get back on top," Sharp said. "I'm excited to see the Philadelphia Flyers and how they continue to grow going forward and I'll be happy to be a part of that in any way that I can."