Ron Hextall was the third generation in his family to play in the NHL, following in his father and grandfather's footsteps. Bryan Hextall Sr. played 11 seasons with the New York Rangers and won the scoring title in 1941-42. His son, Ron's father, played nine years before retiring in 1976. Ron's Uncle Dennis also played in the league. Ron, however, was the first Hextall to venture into the net.
Ron would become perhaps the game's most mobile goalie of all time. Hextall's style was physical, aggressive and unheard of. He would chase the puck anywhere in his own end, and his own players routinely shot the puck back to him when killing a penalty. So good was his play with the puck that he developed a desire to something no goalie had ever done before - score a goal. On December 8, 1987, in a game against the Boston Bruins, the Flyers had a two-goal lead and the Bruins pulled their goalie in the last minute. Hextall got the puck near the side of his net and fired all the way down the ice and into the opposing net. Billy Smith of the Islanders was once credited with a goal for being the last player to touch the puck before the other team scored into its own goal, but Hextal was the first to ever shoot and score. Remarkably, on April 11, 1989, against the Washington Capitals, Hextall again fired the puck into an open net, thus becoming the first goalie to score in a playoff game.
Along with being a goal scorer, Hextall also set every possible penalty-minutes record for a goalie. On two occasions he collected more than 100 in a season.
In his rookie season, 1986-87, Hextall took the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Final against the dynasty of the Edmonton Oilers. He played heroically in defeat and earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
In the 1989 playoffs, he committed a foul late in the Flyers' final game against the Montreal Canadiens. Hextall skated into the corner and attacked Montreal defenceman Chris Chelios, hitting the surprised player repeatedly with his blocker. For that Hextall received a 12 game suspension to start the 1989-90 season, and upon returning he suffered a series of small injuries that limited him to eight games for the year.
And his stickwork wasn't confined to the enemy. He was invited to Team Canada's camp for the 1987 Canada Cup and during practice he chopped Sylvain Turgeon's arm because he was apparently too close in front of Hextall's goal. Turgeon's forearm was fractured and he missed the tournament. Hextall didn't play in that Canada Cup, but he did play at the World Championship in 1992, his only international participation.
After being traded to the Nordiques and the Islanders, Hextall finished his career once again with the Flyers, taking the team to the 1997 final before losing to the Detroit Red Wings, the closest he ever came to the Cup. After retiring, he was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in the fall of 2001.
