Ron Hextall entered the Flyers' system as a 6th round pick in the 1982 NHL draft. His quiet entry to NHL hockey was nothing like his stay. Hexy always managed to draw the attention of any announcer or fan with his haphazard style, and lightning fast reflexes. Although he wasn't the most technically sound goalie the Flyers have ever seen, he was without a doubt one of the most effective and exciting to watch.

Hextall made a huge bang with his rookie season in Philly. Less than one year removed from the tragic death of Pelle Lindbergh, the Flyers' goaltending future was very uncertain. Hextall came into the Flyers training camp in 1986 and earned a spot on the club. He played 66 games that year, and solidified in everyone's mind that he was indeed the Flyers' goalie of the future. He electrified the crowd with his acrobatic style, and got alot of people talking with his unusual ritual of banging his stick off both goal posts as he took his stance before the faceoff. His terrific play took the Flyers all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they were able to take Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers all the way to a seventh game before losing the series. After that seventh game, Hextall became just the fourth player in NHL history, and the first since Reggie Leach for the Flyers in 1976, to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP despite being on the losing team. He was also presented with the Vezina Trophy, The Sporting News' Rookie of the Year Award, and the Bobby Clarke Trophy that year.

Hextall was also well known and regarded for his unusually good puck handling technique. There were not many goalies to that point who were able to effectively play and pass the puck like Hextall, and he is commonly referred to as the man who brought puck handling into the newer goaltending coaching philosophies. His stick work served him so well in fact, that he became the first goalie in NHL history to actually score a goal by shooting the puck into the opposing net. He would repeat the feat in a 1989 playoff game against the Washington Capitals.

The Flyers from that point were beginning to take a turn toward rebuilding, but Hextall was still considered to be the backbone of the team. However, a young prospect named Eric Lindros became available to the Flyers in 1992, and Hextall wound up being part of the huge package the Flyers sent the other way to get him. Hextall played for both the Nordiques and the Islanders before being dealt back to the Flyers in 1994.

Hexy's second tour of duty with the Flyers would be a much different story than the first. Again, he wound up being the Flyers' #1 goalie, but this time, the team seemed to be back on the upswing as the Flyers' management began to build around Lindros. During the strike shortened season of 1994-95, Hextall played 31 of the Flyers' 48 games, and helped to get the very young, new look Flyers all the way to the Eastern Conference Championship series. Just a couple years later in 1997, Hextall would find himself back in the Stanley Cup Finals, this time sharing the starting duties with Garth Snow. Flyers coach Terry Murray couldn't decide on a #1 goalie, and it may have cost them, as the Flyers were swept in 4 games by the Detroit Red Wings.

Hexy would begin the last stretch of his career after that Finals appearance, and would have to do it amongst questions about his ability to be a reliable #1 goalie. The Flyers had in the meantime parted ways with Garth Snow and Sean Burke, and picked up John Vanbiesbrouck. He played the backup role behind Beezer for the 1998-99 season, and in that year, passed Bernie Parent as the Flyers all-time leader in wins. The Flyers decided to release Hextall after that season, and he was not picked up in the expansion draft. "I didn't want to be a guy who kind of hung on," he said. And so, after 13 years, Hexy decided to call it a career.

Even though his career didn't include a Stanley Cup, and was marked by periods of contraversy, Hextall will remain as one of the Flyers' all-time good-guys and hockey greats. Wayne Gretzky once said in 1987, "Hextall is probably the best goaltender I've ever played against in the NHL. Just when you think you'll bombard him, he comes up with the big saves. We always seem to get a 2-0 lead, then he tightens up, plays really well and doesn't give us anything." High regards from the Great One, and a great indication of just how brilliant Hextall could be between the pipes.