John LeClair is in the news. He was hired by the Flyers for a front office job last week.
With that in mind, we came upon this interview he did with prohockeynews.com.
LeClair was hired as a special advisor to hockey operations. He will work with another special advisor, Patrick Sharp, who also was hired last week.
LeClair, 53, is a member of the Flyers’ Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 2014.
He is best remembered as a power forward left wing on the Legion of Doom line with Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg.
LeClair was asked what it felt like to not only dominate play but to have the intimidation factor on your side as a member of the Legion of Doom.
“It’s one of those things where when we got on the ice, we knew we were the attackers,” LeClair said.
“We never felt we were chasing the puck. It felt like as soon as we were on the ice, the other team were playing defense, like the prevent in football. They were just hoping we didn’t score.
“It was an exciting time to come to the rink, even for practice. Practices were high tempo and we pushed each other.
“Playing with players that talented, you were constantly pushing each other to get better. A big part of our success was pushing each other.”
Did you ever chuckle getting on the ice with that line, and maybe you see the eyes get a bit wider on the opposing side as they realize what’s about to happen? the website asked.
“Oh, we had a good time with it,” LeClair said. “We all get along great, too.”
LeClair was asked: “How much does that matter? You hear often that a divided room can kill a team. Can a great team manage different personalities, or do you need to all get along to be great?”
“You don’t have to get along, that’s not part of it,” LeClair said.
“You’ve got to have respect for each other though. There’s a huge difference between those. You run into problems when people don’t respect each other, or think they’re bigger than the team.
“I don’t think I was ever in a locker room where people were at each other’s throats, but not everyone has to be friends.”
The care and handling of a professional sports locker room is an underrated skill-set. Coaches and management deal with highly trained and skilled athletes, many with enormous egos, who are expected to blend in with each other for the common good — the team.
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