Flyers Winter Classic Alumni Game Roster Announced; Thoughts on Who'll Be There, Who'll Be Missed

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We've been eager to find out which former Flyers would lace up the skates and once again don the winged P when the team's alumni face off with the old men of the New York Rangers on New Year's Eve. We knew Eric Lindros and John LeClair were scheduled to appear, but that Mikael Renberg wouldn't be available to complete the Legion of Doom Voltron.

Today, the Flyers announced the full roster is it currently stands, with a nice cross-section of previous eras. Let's take a look at the guys who will be there, as well as those we wish could be.

Courtesy our folks over at CSN, here's who'll skate for the Flyers.

Coaches
Coach Pat Quinn
Asst coaches Keith Primeau, Mike Nykoluk

Damn shame that Primeau is only listed here, and not with the forwards.

Wish They Were Here: Bill Dineen, Roger Nielsen (RIP)

Goalies
Neil Little
Mark LaForest

Overall, not a very distinguished pairing. What more would you expect from a Flyers team that has seen so little success between the pipes since Bernie Parent retired due to injury? Little actually played just two games as a Flyer, but he spent his whole career in the organization, spanning season with the Hershey Bears and Philadelphia Phantoms. He later spent some time as an assistant coach for the Phantoms and a goaltending scout for both the Phantoms and the Flyers. LaForest played all of 38 career games as a Flyer, swinging the door for a young starter Ron Hextall for parts of two seasons. Hopefully he still has that great Trees mask

Wish He Was Here: Hexy, Pelle (RIP)

Defense
Chris Therien
Derian Hatcher
Kjell Samuelsson
Larry Goodenough
Eric Desjardins
Terry Carkner
Joe Watson
Brad Marsh
Mark Howe

Here we have a list including the Flyers' current radio color man and their most recent addition to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and plenty in between. Hatch is a former Flyers captain and currently serves as a development coach. Desjardins is one of the best Flyers defenders of all time, perhaps second to Howe? Carkner was the man in his day as well, and who can forget the giant Kjell Samuelsson? Watson, now 68 years old, was an original Flyer with the team from '67 to '78, winning two Cups, one alongside Goodenough, who is 10 years his junior. Marsh was a Flyers blueliner for six seasons in the mid-80s.

Wish They Were Here: Brad McCrimmon (RIP)

Forwards
John LeClair
Jeremy Roenick
Eric Lindros
Mark Recchi
Bobby Clarke
Rick Tocchet
Shjon Podein
Jim Dowd
Orest Kindrachuk
Dave Poulin
Bob Kelly
Reggie Leach
Bill Barber
Ken Linseman
Brian Propp
Al Hill

Another nice representation of multiple Flyers generations. The LCB Line will skate again, and Lindros and LeClair will join as 2/3 of the Legion of Doom, with a nice array of options to man the other wing. Lindros and Recchi were two-thirds of the Crazy Eights line, who knows where Brent Fedyk is. JR brings even more star power to the mix, and with any luck will see a Propper Guffaw.

Wish They Were Here: Tim Kerr, Keith Jones, and Peter Zezel (RIP)

The Rangers aren't bringing as much to the table, with no Gretzky or Messier highlighting the absences. John Vanbiesbrouck will face his former club though, and Brian Leetch will anchor their defense. See the Rangers roster here.

Who else do you wish had made it for the Flyers? We purposely left our lists small so you could fill in the blanks.

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