Rick MacLeish showed he was a star long before he helped the Philadelphia Flyers to consecutive Stanley Cup championships in the 1970’s. He was a star as a junior in the Ontario Hockey Association under the leadership of the great Roger Neilson.
Rick MacLeish – The Junior Star
MacLeish played in the OHA (now the Ontario Hockey League) for four years from 1966-67 to 1969-70. His first year consisted of just two games with the London Nationals. The following three were played with the Peterborough Petes.
In 1968-69, Rick finished third in the OHA with 50 goals and tied for eighth with 92 points. In his final season, he placed fourth with 45 goals and fourth with 101 points. In that 1969-70 season, MacLeish also finished tied with Jim Schoenfeld for ninth in the OHA with 135 penalty minutes. This was a rarity for Rick. Including his days with the Broad Street Bullies, the most MacLeish sat in a single National Hockey League season was 69 in 1972-73.
Rick MacLeish – The NHL Star
At the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft, Rick was taken fourth overall by the Boston Bruins. The three ahead of his were Gilbert Perreault (Buffalo Sabres), Dale Tallon (Vancouver Canucks) and Reggie Leach (Boston Bruins). Of course, Leach would eventually make it to Philadelphia for the Stanley Cup party, by way of California. Rick never played for the Bruins.
Rick MacLeish Collection
Between 1970-71 and 1983-84, MacLeish played 846 regular season games in the NHL with the Flyers, Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. He scored 349 goals and assisted on 410 for 759 points.
Rick played an additional 114 games in the post season, scoring 54 and assisting on 53 for 107 points. In his final year in the NHL, 1983-84, he started the season with the Red Wings and was shipped to the Flyers for his swan song with the team he’d enjoyed so much success with.
MacLeish’s greatest offensive season came in 1972-73 when he scored 50 and assisted on 50 for 100 points over 78 regular season games with the Flyers. He was one just three to score 50 or more and one of four to total 100 points or more. He finished third in goals behind Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins and Mickey Redmond of the Detroit Red Wings. MacLeish finished fourth in the race for the Art Ross Trophy behind Esposito, teammate Bobby Clarke and Bobby Orr of the Bruins.
Of course, Rick has his name on the Stanley Cup twice as Philadelphia won the prize in 1973-74 and 1974-75. The first year, it was a win over the Boston Bruins in the finals and in the second year the victim was the Buffalo Sabres.
Rick MacLeish – The Rookie Card
The Rick MacLeish rookie card appears as number 207 in the 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee set and is worth 5 times that of a common card. He did not appear on a Topps card until 1973-74. His number 135 card from that set is valued at around twice that of a common.
Rick MacLeish Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1966-67 | London Nationals | OHA | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1967-68 | Peterborough Petes | OHA | 54 | 24 | 25 | 49 | 16 |
| 1968-69 | Peterborough Petes | OHA | 54 | 50 | 42 | 92 | 29 |
| 1969-70 | Peterborough Petes | OHA | 54 | 45 | 56 | 101 | 135 |
| 1970-71 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 26 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 19 |
| 1970-71 | Oklahoma City Blazers | CHL | 46 | 13 | 15 | 28 | 93 |
| 1971-72 | Richmond Robins | AHL | 42 | 24 | 11 | 35 | 33 |
| 1971-72 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 1972-73 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 78 | 50 | 50 | 100 | 69 |
| 1973-74 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 78 | 32 | 45 | 77 | 42 |
| 1974-75 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 80 | 38 | 41 | 79 | 50 |
| 1975-76 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 51 | 22 | 23 | 45 | 16 |
| 1976-77 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 79 | 49 | 48 | 97 | 42 |
| 1977-78 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 76 | 31 | 39 | 70 | 33 |
| 1978-79 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 71 | 26 | 32 | 58 | 47 |
| 1979-80 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 78 | 31 | 35 | 66 | 28 |
| 1980-81 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 78 | 38 | 36 | 74 | 25 |
| 1981-82 | Hartford Whalers | NHL | 34 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 16 |
| 1981-82 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 40 | 13 | 12 | 25 | 28 |
| 1982-83 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 6 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| 1983-84 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 29 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 4 |
| 1983-84 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 25 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 |
| NHL Totals | 846 | 349 | 410 | 759 | 434 |