Several years ago, when CSNPhilly.com asked fans to vote on an All-Time Flyers team, by position, they chose Mark Howe as their No. 1 defenseman.
Their second choice?
Eric Desjardins.
On Thursday, the 45-year-old Desjardins, who runs a spa business these days in Quebec, will join Howe and be enshrined into the Flyers' Hall of Fame as its 23rd member.
Former teammates John LeClair and Eric Lindros were enshrined in November.
“It’s a great honor, there’s no doubt about it,” Desjardins said. “I was surprised a little bit when I got the call.
“For me, it’s a nice closure of my career. It means that I did pretty good for the time I was in Philly. It’s going to be a great night, an emotional night I’m sure, but it should be fun.”
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Desjardins was a fluid-skating, shutdown defenseman, who delivered offensively and played 11 of his 17 years in the NHL in orange 'n black after having won a Stanley Cup. He won the Cup in Montreal in 1993, when he became the first — and to this day, the only — defenseman to register a hat trick (Game 2) in a Cup Final.
“He was so smart, so calm, no panic in his game,” said Chris Therien, his partner of nearly 11 seasons.
“He had a tremendous stick, a great passer and shooter. In that era, he was not a loud guy and didn’t make much noise around the league.
“People talk about what Nick Lidstrom meant to Detroit. Well, Eric Desjardins was the most important guy on our team every year he was here.”
Desjardins says he will always identify himself as a Flyer.
“I won a Cup in Montreal, but all the stuff that I experienced personally in Philly — my place on the team, being more of a leader,” he said. “I had my two kids there, I lived with my wife in Philly.
“The people who are still in the organization are the people who were there when I was there. All that, when you add it all, it’s a pretty big deal for me.”
For a decade, Desjardins and Therien were the Flyers' top pair, a true rarity in the modern era of hockey. Desjardins was traded here in February of 1995 and began his Flyers career with Kevin Haller before quickly being linked up with Therien.
“We saw coaches, players come and go,” Therien said. “Me and Eric were the only constants.”
Even today, there are no D-pairs in the league that have anywhere near the longevity that Desjardins-Therien had as Flyers.
“It was a lot of fun,” Desjardins recalled. “It was challenging because we had to play against the top lines most of the games, and playing with Chris was easy, too, for me because he was a guy who was really vocal and was asking for the puck.
“My style was more moving the puck ahead, so playing with him, he was always available, always involved in the game. So I really enjoyed it at that time. You’re right, I can’t remember how many years, but it was a long time.
“When you have a chance to play with one partner for so many years, there are so many automatics. There are plays you know are there, and you don’t have to even question. It helps your game, and it helps the team, too, because there’s more stability. Sometimes it can prolong your career.”
Therien nicknamed him “Rico” as in the fictitious gigolo, “Rico Suave,” from the hit song of the same title by Gerardo.
“Eric was just such a slick guy like Rico,” Therien said. “Slick dresser.”
Among those Flyers clubs of the 1990s and early 2000s, because of LeClair, Lindros and Desjardins, there was never a question about making the playoffs, but rather, would the Flyers win a Cup.
Terry Murray’s 1996-97 club was swept by Detroit in the Final. The Roger Neilson/Craig Ramsay 1999-00 team blew a 3-1 lead to New Jersey in the Eastern Conference Final, Lindros' last season as a Flyer. Ken Hitchcock’s All-Star-laden club of 2003-04 with Mark Recchi, Jeremy Roenick, Keith Primeau and Tony Amonte was decimated by injuries on defense, using Sami Kapanen by default.
Desjardins missed the playoffs with a fractured right arm playing catch with his son. His partner, Therien, was traded at the deadline.
Their absence on the blue line crippled the Flyers in losing the conference title to eventual Cup-winner Tampa Bay.
“If we had had Rico, we would have won,” Hitchcock always said.
Desjardins said the 1996-97 Lindros-led club was the Flyers team best-suited to win a Cup.
“A pretty good team, pretty balanced team,” he said. “Defensively we were really strong, and in net we had two goalies (Robert Esche and Sean Burke at the end) that could do their job. Again, in the semifinal against Tampa Bay, we had a pretty nice team that was really strong offensively and defensively. I think we were well balanced there, too.”
Howe (480 points), Desjardins (396) and Kimmo Timonen (270) rank 1-2-3 all-time as the Flyers' top point leaders on defense.
“Mark was a lot more offensive than me and Kimmo,” Desjardins said. “He played a style that had a lot of speed and had a great wrister. That’s one thing I remember from him, and great hockey sense. All around, maybe that’s where I can compare myself with Kimmo.
“I think Kimmo’s more of an all-around defenseman, more offense than defense, really good positional player, didn’t run around for no reason. That was my kind of game.”
And it made him a Flyer Hall of Famer.