It’s easy to pinpoint one moment in Simon Gagne’s career as a Flyer that stands above everything else.
That would be Game 4 of the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston.
The Flyers' left wing broke his right toe the previous series against New Jersey and was re-entering the lineup against the Bruins in a series the Flyers were trailing, 3-0.
Gagne’s overtime goal marked the start of an historic, improbable comeback in the Flyers' playoff run to the Stanley Cup Final against Chicago.
He later scored a game-winning power-play goal that clinched Game 7 in Boston.
On Monday morning, the 35-year-old forward officially retired after 14 NHL seasons, 11 of which were spent in orange and black.
“I have so many good memories with the Flyers,” Gagne said. “We always bring back the ones, but there are too many good memories in Philly to tell you them all. The playoffs in 2010, the way things happened, breaking my foot, coming back in Game 4 and scoring the overtime goal.
“Slowly coming back in that series after going down 3-1, and then in Game 7 scoring that power-play goal, it was a team effort … That year was really special. It’s just too bad at the end we were a little bit out of gas. Definitely, my best moment with the Flyers.”
The Quebec native also had some brief stopovers in Tampa Bay, Los Angeles and Boston. He won a Stanley Cup with the Kings in 2012.
“Simon had a wonderful career,” Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said. “He was a terrific hockey player and played a long time. Certainly, a good Philadelphia Flyer.”
Gagne first appeared here as a centerman, coming out of Roger Neilson’s 1999 training camp in Peterborough, Ontario.
The fall before, he was emotionally devastated in camp when general manager Bob Clarke told him he would have to go back to junior because the organization had made a mistake promoting 18-year-olds in the past (Dainus Zubrus in 1996) and didn’t want to repeat it with him.
It took Gagne years to understand Clarke did the right thing.
“I knew that the Flyers wanted to send their players back to junior the first camp,” Gagne recalled. “I don’t think I was ready mentally or physically to jump right away. The best thing for me was going back to my junior team.”
Once a Flyer, Gagne jockeyed back and forth as a center for a few seasons before finally becoming a full-time left wing.
In 691 career games as a Flyer, Gagne scored 264 goals with 271 assists for 535 points. He ranks ninth on the Flyers' all-time list in goals, 10th in points and games played. Among Flyers left wings — his primary position — he is fourth in both goal scoring and points.
Gagne was bothered sporadically throughout his career by groin pulls and especially post-concussion syndrome, which saw him miss a significant number of games.
“It interrupted his career for sure,” Hextall said of the numerous concussions. “If he wouldn’t have had that and maintained the level he achieved, he'd probably be looked at as an even better player.”
His first NHL game was Oct. 2, 1999, in Philadelphia against Ottawa. He centered Mark Recchi and Mikael Renberg as Neilson broke up the Legion of Doom to start that season, using Eric Lindros between John LeClair and Mark Greig.
Gagne’s finest two NHL seasons were consecutively between 2005 and 2007. Playing left wing on Peter Forsberg’s line with Mike Knuble in 2005-06, Gagne notched career highs in goals (47) and points (79).
“Definitely, the best line I ever played on,” Gagne said. “If you look at the numbers, the numbers don’t lie. I think at that point when I got the call in the summer from Clarke he told me ‘I’ve got some news for you, I just signed you a centerman. It’s Peter Forsberg and you’re going to play with him.’
“At that point I knew that my career was going to change. I had a good season before that, but I had a different role. At that point, I knew that I was going to be a top left winger playing with a player like that.”
The following season, Gagne scored 41 goals, playing with "Foppa" and later Jeff Carter.
“His numbers are great,” Hextall said. “Sometimes, the more distance you get from a player, the more you forget how good he was. He was a real impact player for us.
“He was one of those guys who scored big goals, a lot of goals. His speed. If Simon was 20 years old right now, we’d be excited. His game really transitioned from then to now. He was a helluva player.”
Gagne was traded to Tampa in July 2010. Two years later, he won a Cup in L.A. and then returned to the Flyers during the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season.
Hextall was the assistant GM in L.A. when Gagne won his only Cup.
“He played in the Final and wasn’t playing before that as he got hurt,” Hextall recalled. “It was pretty neat when a player like that — Kimmo (Timonen) — that’s the perfect scenario to end, right? Well, Simon … it’s pretty damn good when a guy puts in time and gets to lift a Cup. It was neat.”
Overall, Gagne scored 601 points in 882 career games.
As fond as he is of the Flyers, there was a two-year period of acrimony between him and the club stemming from Gagne trusting then-GM Paul Holmgren to re-sign him after the lockout-shortened season.
Instead of listening to other offers as his agent Bob Sauve wanted, Gagne waited out the Flyers. When Holmgren didn’t offer him a contract, he was jobless and sat the next season out.
“You can understand, at times, when you’re getting older that hockey is a business,” Gagne said. “It was a tough day. I’m not going to lie to you. It was definitely a bad memory with the Flyers that I would like to forget, but it’s there.
“At the same time, time heals and what happened with my dad last year and what the Flyers did after that I had a good talk with Paul Holmgren. There are definitely more important things in life than hockey and that was one of them.
“You realize hockey is a business and it’s nothing against Paul Holmgren. I’m always going to be a Flyer for the rest of my life and I want to be a part of that future.”
Gagne recalled that Holmgren went out of his way in December 2014 when his father, Pierre, died of liver cancer. The two resolved their differences during that grief-stricken time.
Gagne would like to pursue a job in hockey broadcasting, but for now, is focused on his wife, Karine, and raising their three children.