When you think of Flyers from the team's famed Broad Street Bullies heyday, names like Bob Clarke, Bernie Parent, Bill Barber and Dave Schultz are often the first names to come to mind.
When you think of the team's best defensemen, you think of players like Mark Howe, Eric Desjardins and Kimmo Timonen.
For either category, Jimmy Watson may not be the first name thought of. But he still made significant and meaningful contributions to the Flyers — carving out a legacy as one of their all-time greatest defensemen — and those contributions will be recognized on Monday, when he becomes the 25th inductee into the Flyers Hall of Fame.
Watson — who spent his entire 10-season, 613-game career with the Orange and Black — may not have been the most prolific scorer or the smoothest skater, but he had a tendency of doing the little things right. Not only was he a valued defenseman for the Flyers, but he was revered in the rest of the league as well — which was reflected in five All-Star Game appearances in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1980.
Watson joined the Flyers as a fresh-faced 20-year-old rookie in 1972, after spending four years with the WCHL's Calgary Centennials and the bulk of the season with the Flyers' American League-affiliate Richmond Robins. His first full season, 1973-74, saw him score two goals and 20 points coupled with 44 penalty minutes and a plus-33 rating. He added a goal and two assists along with 41 penalty minutes in the playoffs, as the Flyers claimed their first Stanley Cup.
His best season as a pro came in 1975-76, when he set career-highs in assists (34), points (36) and plus-minus (plus-65). He received his first Barry Ashbee Trophy that season, and became the first person to receive the award multiple times when he won in the 1977-78 campaign.
Watson retired at the end of the 1981-82 season, which saw him record three goals, 12 points and a whopping 99 penalty minutes in 76 games. He currently ranks 10th among defensemen in scoring with 38 goals and 186 points, and his plus-295 rating is second only to Howe for defensemen (and fifth overall, behind Clarke, Howe, Barber and Brian Propp).
Watson also joins his brother, Joe, in the Flyers Hall of Fame, becoming the first pair of siblings to be inducted. Joe Watson was previously inducted back in 1996.
To this day, Watson still has ties to the area. He operates the Joe Watson Hockey Camp out of the IceWorks Skating Complex in Aston, Pa., and leads their coaching staff as well. Additionally, he has served as a coach for the Delco Phantoms, and has occasionally suited up in Flyers alumni games.
Jimmy Watson was a stalwart defensemen on the Broad Street Bullies teams of the 1970s and was instrumental in helping them earn their two Stanley Cup titles, but yet he has gone down as one of the more underrated and unsung players from those teams. As one of the franchise's best defensemen, he finally gets his due tonight, and earns his long-awaited induction to the Flyers Hall of Fame.
Rob Riches is a contributor to Flyerdelphia and Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter @Riches61
