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Hall of Fame finally welcomes former Flyers winger Mark Recchi

After being snubbed three times, former Flyers winger Mark Recchi is a Hall of Famer.

Mark Recchi celebrates after scoring for the Flyers in a 1999 game against Atlanta.
Mark Recchi celebrates after scoring for the Flyers in a 1999 game against Atlanta.Read moreJERRY LODRIGUSS

Mark Recchi, a powerful winger who played in 10 seasons with the Flyers, was inducted into hockey's Hall of Fame on Monday night in Toronto.

Recchi was with Boston when he faced some of the current Flyers, and they remember him for his strong play around the net and his work ethic.

"He was the kind of player you didn't like to play against," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said after Monday's practice in Voorhees. "He just tried to outwork everybody — and he did."

In 13 games in the 2010 playoffs with Boston, which ended with the Flyers' overcoming a 3-0 series deficit and stunning the Bruins in seven games, Recchi had six goals and 10 points. At age 42.

The next year, he won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins and contributed five goals and 14 points in 25 playoff games. He retired after that season.

Recchi, now 49 and a Penguins assistant, won Cups with three teams (Pittsburgh, Carolina, Boston) in three decades (1991, 2006, 2011).

With deep admiration, Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds said Recchi was a "a little bit dirty, but you could tell what a competitive spirit he had. Obviously, he's one of the all-time greats. .. With his determination and his size and skill, he combined it all and was just a real bulldog out there."

In 602 games with the Flyers, Recchi had 627 points. Before the latest vote, he was rejected three times for the Hall despite being 12th in NHL history with 1,533 career points.

Flyers goalie Brian Elliott called Recchi a "hard-nosed player who was always in the right spot to bang those pucks home. You see highlights of his memorable goals, and it's always just at the top of the crease."