The Flyers family mourns the passing of Ed Van Impe. He was 84. The Flyers Hall of Fame defenseman passed away on Tuesday night, surrounded by family members.
"My dad sent his love to his friends and teammates," son Greg wrote by email. "We walk together forever!"
Ed Van Impe was an original Flyer and the second captain in franchise history. The Flyers selected the rugged blueliner from the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1967 Expansion Draft. Van Impe served as captain from 1968-69 through midseason 1972-73, when he ceded the role to young superstar Bobby Clarke.
Van Impe remained a team leader after his captaincy. The three-time NHL All-Star Game selection was a mainstay on the Broad Street Bullies teams that won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. In 1975-76, the Flyers reached the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year.
On January 11, 1976, Van Impe played a central role in the Flyers’ historic 4-1 victory over the Red Army team at the Spectrum. Late in the first period, Van Impe exited the penalty box and delivered the “hit heard around the world” on Russian star Valeri Kharlamov in open ice. The Red Army pulled their team off the ice, arguing that Van Impe deliberately elbowed Kharlamov. Referee Lloyd Gilmour did not call a penalty.
After a 15-minute delay, the Russian team returned to the ice. The Flyers dominated the rest of the game, scoring four unanswered goals on the legendary Vladislav Tretiak.
After his playing days, Van Impe became a television commentator on Flyers’ broadcasts. Off the ice, he was a devoted husband and father with scores of friends. Along with old friend and teammate Joe Watson, Van Impe was one of the leaders in forming the Flyers Alumni Association in 1984.
“A Flyer always gives more than he (thinks he) has, does what he has to do to win. He does it game in and game out, not just every fourth or fifth time he plays,” Van Impe told Hockey Hall of Fame writer Jay Greenberg in Flyers at 50.
Van Impe and wife Diane lived in the Delaware Valley for many years after his playing days ended. He served as a television broadcaster from 1980 to 1985.
Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Mark Howe cites Van Impe as one of his best teachers. At age 25, Howe made a mid-career switch from left wing to the blueline. Van Impe offered him useful advice that he put into practice.
"I played defense like a forward, because it was all I knew. Ed Van Impe helped me reframe my approach to playing as a defenseman," Howe said.
Away from hockey, Van Impe worked in the insurance business until his retirement. In his later years, the Saskatoon native relocated to British Columbia.
Increasingly frail health prevented Van Impe from making the grueling trip to Philadelphia in January 2024 to attend the golden anniversary reunion with his surviving Stanley Cup teammates.
Earlier this year, old teammate Orest Kindrachuk visited Van Impe in Canada as part of the Flyers Alumni’s new House Calls program in which Alumni arrange in-person visits to elderly or ailing teammates.
