1970 NHL Amateur Draft Pick
Round Overall
1 4
Rick MacLeish
Selected by Boston from Peterborough (OHA)
Boston Bruins Peterborough Petes
Rick MacLeish
 

5-foot-11, 175 pounds

Left-hand shot

Left Wing

Pre-Draft Statistics

Year Team League GP G A TP PIM
1967-68 Peterborough OHA 54 24 25 49 16
1968-69 Peterborough OHA 54 50 42 92 29
1969-70 Peterborough OHA 54 45 56 101 135

Pre-Draft Notes

Also played center. ... 1969-70 OHA All-Star First Team with Peterborough.
Canadian • Born Jan. 3, 1950 in Lindsay, Ont. • Home: Cannington, Ont. • Died May 30, 2016

Career Vitals

First contract: June 15, 1970
Debut: February 4, 1971
(Philadelphia vs. Chicago)
Final NHL game: April 4, 1984 (playoffs)
(Detroit at St. Louis)
Retired: 1984
Stanley Cup: 1974, 1975
Numbers worn: 21, 19 (Philadelphia); 7 (Hartford);
7, 19 (Pittsburgh); 23 (Detroit)

Career NHL Statistics

Teams: Philadelphia, Hartford, Pittsburgh, Detroit
Years: 1971-1984. Playoffs: 1971-1984

Regular Season
  GP G A TP PIM
14 years 846 349 410 759 434
 
Stanley Cup Playoffs
GP G A TP PIM
11 years 114 54 53 107 38
 
Complete statistics available at NHL.com 

Career Highlights

Played center for majority of his NHL career after being converted to tht position in 1971. ... Scored four goals and added an assist in Richmond's Jan. 12, 1972, AHL win over Providence. ... Became first player in Philadelphia Flyers history to score four goals in a game with four on Feb. 13, 1973, vs. N.Y. Islanders. During that game, he set a Philadelphia record (since broken) for the fastest two goals by one player, scoring twice in 27 seconds during the second period. ... Became first player in Philadelphia Flyers history to score four goals twice in a season when he registered four on March 4, 1973, vs. Toronto. ... Became first player in Philadelphia Flyers history to score 50 goals in a season when he scored No. 50 in team's regular-season finale at Pittsburgh on April 1, 1973. The goal, at 2:02 of the second period, gave the Flyers a 4-1 lead in a game that they went on to lose 5-4. MacLeish became only the eighth player in NHL history to scored 50 goals in a season. ... Set NHL record (since broken) as league's youngest player to score 50 goals in a season when he did it at age 23. ... Named NHL Player of Week for week ending April 1, 1973, after getting three goals and one assist in the season's final four games to reach 50 goals and 100 points for the season. ...  Finished fourth in NHL with 100 points for Philadelphia in 1972-73. ... Scored at 2:56 of overtime for Philadelphia to beat Montreal 5-4 in Game 1 of the 1973 Stanley Cup semifinals at the Montreal Forum for Flyers' only win of the series. ... Led Philadelphia with 13 power-play goals in 1973-74. ... Scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal on the deflection of a shot by Andre Dupont to give Flyers their first championship in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals vs. Boston on May 19, 1974, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. MacLeish's goal was the only one scored in a 1-0 Flyers victory, and it came at 14:48 of the first period. ... Was member of Philadelphia team that lost to Montreal in 1976 Stanley Cup Finals, but was not with team for playoffs due to injury. ... Finished fourth in NHL with 97 points for Philadelphia in 1976-77. ... Won championship of the 1977-78 Hockey Night in Canada Showdown tournament, beating Darryl Sittler in semifinals and Gilbert Perreault in the final round. ... Played on Philadelphia team that set NHL record with 35-game unbeaten streak from Oct. 14, 1979, to Jan. 6, 1980. ... Was member of Philadelphia team that lost to N.Y. Islanders in 1980 Stanley Cup Finals. ... Was only the ninth player in NHL history to reach 300 goals without having ever been named to a postseason All-Star Team. ... Left Philadelphia in 1984 ranked third on team's all-time goals list (328), third on all-time assists list (369), and third on all-time points list (697). He also held Philadelphia record (since broken) for career hat tricks (12). ... Inducted into Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame in 1990.

NHL Awards and Honors

1973-74:Playoffs Points Leader (22), Playoffs Goals Leader (13)
1974-75: Playoffs Points Leader (20)
1975-76:All-Star Game
1976-77: All-Star Game
1979-80:All-Star Game

Team Awards and Honors

(with Philadelphia)
1972-73Goals Leader (50)
1973-74Playoffs Points Leader (22), Playoffs Goals Leader (13)
1974-75Playoffs Points Leader (20), Playoffs Goals Leader (11)
1976-77:Points Leader (97), Goals Leader (49), Playoffs Points Leader (13, tie), Playoffs Assists Leader (9)
1977-78:Playoffs Points Leader (16), Playoffs Goals Leader (7), Playoffs Assists Leader (9)


Team Records

Philadelphia Flyers Records
Most goals, one game: 4 (2x) (shares record)
(2/13/73 vs. N.Y. Islanders)
(3/4/73 vs. Toronto)
Most goals, one period: 3 in second period on 2/13/73 vs. N.Y. Islanders)
(shares record)
Fastest four goals
by one player:
19:47 (2/13/73 vs. NYI)
(goals at 6:30 of second, 6:57 of second, 13:25 of second, and 6:17 of third)
Most career playoff goals: 53 (shares record)
Most career playoff
game-winning goals:
10
Most career playoff hat tricks: 3
Most hat tricks, playoff year: 2 in 1975

Milestones

300th Goal:December 14, 1980
(Philadelphia vs. St. Louis)
100th Playoff
Game:
April 12, 1981
(Philadelphia at Quebec)
100th Playoff Point: April 12, 1981 (goal)
(Philadelphia at Quebec)
50th Playoff Goal: April 17, 1981
(Philadelphia vs. Calgary)
100 Point-Seasons:1972-73 (100)
50-Goal Seasons:1972-73 (50)

Transaction History

Jan. 31, 1971 -- Traded by Boston to Philadelphia in exchange for Mike Walton to complete three-way deal between Boston, Philadelphia and Toronto that had begun on Jan. 21, when Boston traded Danny Schock to Philadelphia in exchange for future considerations (the MacLeish-Walton deal, which was completed after Philadelphia obtained Walton in a separate trade with Toronto involving Bernie Parent). July 3, 1981 -- Traded by Philadelphia with Blake Wesley, Don Gillen, 1982 first-round pick (Paul Lawless), 1982 second-round pick (Mark Paterson), and 1982 third-round pick (Kevin Dineen) to Hartford in exchange for Ray Allison, Fred Arthur, 1982 first-round pick (Ron Sutter), and 1982 third-round pick (Miroslav Dvorak). Dec. 29, 1981 -- Traded by Hartford to Pittsburgh in exchange for Russ Anderson and 1983 eighth-round pick (Chris Duperron). Nov. 9, 1982 -- Released by Pittsburgh after team bought out his contract. Oct. 6, 1983 -- Signed with Philadelphia as an unrestricted free agent. Jan. 8, 1984 -- Traded by Philadelphia to Detroit in exchange for future considerations. June 1984 -- Released by Detroit.

Life Outside the NHL

Full Name: Richard George MacLeish
Nickname: "Hawk"

Other Post-Draft Teams: Oklahoma City (CHL); Richmond (AHL)

Career Beyond Hockey: Remained in the Philadelphia area (southern New Jersey) and went into financial services and insurance business after retirement, working at Equitable Financial Services in Cherry Hill and later as one of the partners at Financial Options Inc. in Linwood, N.J.

Family: Younger brother of former minor-leaguer Dale MacLeish.

Significant Injuries

Missed part of 1971-72 season with torn ligaments in arm, an injury suffered during Richmond's Feb. 8, 1972, AHL game vs. Baltimore. ... Missed remainder of 1975-76 regular season and entire 1976 playoffs with torn ligaments in left knee, suffered when checked by Harold Snepsts during Philadelphia's Feb. 5, 1976, game vs. Vancouver. ... Suffered fractured vertabra in serious off-season accident where he flipped his van, skidding on a wet street on May 4, 1977. Bob Dailey, also in the van, was not hurt. MacLeish was hospitalized for nearly a week and had to wear a full body cast for six weeks. He was healed in time for training camp. ... Was severely injured during Philadelphia's April 1, 1978, game at Los Angeles when his neck was cut in two places by Marcel Dionne's skate. While killing a penalty, MacLeish had slid right into Dionne's skate on the play, and the two cuts (one and inch long and the other three inches long) required 80 total stitches to close. He did not return until the April 9 regular-season finale vs. Minnesota.

Miscellaneous:

Selected by New England Whalers in 1972 WHA Draft, the first WHA Draft, February 1972. Selected by Houston Aeros in 1973 WHA draft of established professional players. Shifted from his natural position of left wing to center with Richmond (AHL) in 1971-72. Regularly played at left wing for Philadelphia on the power play in 1972-73.
Signed with Kloten (Switz.) in 1983, but then returned to Flyers instead of playing in Europe. Came to Philadelphia's 1983 camp on a tryout basis and made the opening-night roster. Was an avid harness racing fan who owned standard-bred horses during and after playing days. Widely recognized as having one of the best wrist shots in hockey during his playing days.
SNAPSHOT '70
Total Selected: 115
Forwards: 67
Defense: 36
Goaltenders: 12
Major Junior: 87
College Players: 18
Canadian: 109
Euro-Canadian: 0
American: 6
European: 0
Reached NHL: 62
Won Stanley Cup: 12
Hall of Fame: 3
All-Star Game: 11
Year-end All-Star: 4
Olympians: 2
Picks Traded: 13


OTHERS DRAFTED IN 1970

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