Junior hockey Hextall began his junior hockey career in 1980 with the
Melville Millionaires in the
Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). In the
1980–81 season, his solitary season with the club, he played 37 games with a
goals against average (GAA) of 6.57. Millionaires teammate Mark Odnokon praised his performance, particularly the way "he lived up to his responsibilities and stayed in there until the end." In 2009, Hextall was inducted as one of the inaugural members of the SJHL
Hall of Fame. After his selection, Hextall remained with Brandon for two further seasons. He played 44 games in
1982–83, recording a GAA of 5.77 during a season in which the Wheat Kings did not qualify for the playoffs. The following year was his most successful in the WHL: a GAA of 4.29 across his 46 regular season games, which included 29 wins – more than in the previous two seasons combined. He played in ten of the twelve playoff games, recording five wins and five losses, with a GAA of 3.75.
Professional hockey Hextall arrived at the
Philadelphia Flyers training camp in 1984 with the expectation of playing in the NHL. However, the Flyers subsequently sent him to their
farm team in the
International Hockey League (IHL), the
Kalamazoo Wings. Although disappointed, Hextall was now playing at a higher level than at WHL and made his debut in professional hockey. He played 19 games for Kalamazoo, recording six wins and a GAA of 4.35. During the season, he moved to the Flyers' other farm team;
Hershey Bears of the
American Hockey League (AHL), where he played 11 times, with four wins, and a GAA of 3.68. Hextall lived up to his aggressive reputation in the Conference final, played against the
St. Catharines Saints, fighting three different members of the opposition side during a single
bench-clearing brawl. The Bears advanced to the
Calder Cup final, having beaten the
New Haven Nighthawks 4–1 and the St. Catharines Saints 4–3. In the final, they faced the
Adirondack Red Wings, who won the championship by four games to two. Hextall played 13 games in the playoffs, of which his team won five, and his GAA was 3.23. He was named as the
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award winner, as the AHL's outstanding rookie player. Looking back on his time in the AHL, Hextall reflected that despite his initial disappointment at not being selected to play for the Flyers straight away, "the two years that I spent in the American League got me to the point where I was sure I could be a No. 1 goaltender at the NHL level." Two months after making these comments, Hextall was involved in a fight with opposing
New Jersey Devils goaltender
Alain Chevrier. Having lost to the Devils, the Flyers wanted revenge for
Steve Richmond's punch on
Kjell Samuelsson at the end of the game; Hextall targeted Chevrier in a fight labelled by
Chico Resch as "like a heavyweight against a lightweight." Hextall and seven other players were fined $300 each for their part in the brawl. year in the
NHL earned him the
Vezina Trophy and the pictured
Conn Smythe Trophy. In 66 regular season games during his rookie year, Hextall posted a GAA of 3.00 and recorded 37 wins. He was awarded the
Vezina Trophy for the most outstanding goaltender by the NHL general managers, but he was second in the voting to
Luc Robitaille for the
Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the "player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition". Hextall led the Flyers to top their Conference, and win the
Prince of Wales Trophy. The Flyers progressed to face the Edmonton Oilers in the
Stanley Cup Final, having beaten the
New York Rangers 4–2, the
New York Islanders 4–3, and the
Montreal Canadiens 4–2. Following their series victory over Montreal, Flyers captain
Dave Poulin identified Hextall as the team's leading performer. In the fourth game of the Finals, Hextall received two penalties, first a ten-minute misconduct penalty for "expressing his displeasure at the fourth Oiler goal," and later a five-minute penalty for
slashing Kent Nilsson. In the latter incident, Hextall had received a slash from
Glenn Anderson for which there was no call from the referees, and Hextall sought revenge by striking the back of Nilsson's knees. After the game Hextall expressed remorse for striking the wrong player but not for his action: If somebody slaps you in the face, you're going to slap him back, it's not like he gave me a touch to jar the puck. What's he going to do next, break my arm? I'm sorry it was Nilsson and not Anderson I hit, but I just reacted. At the time, it seemed the right thing to do. The performance of Hextall in the next game tied the series and forced a
seventh game; at the end, the Flyers team surrounded Hextall in congratulation and the Oilers player
Kevin Lowe said that Hextall "held them in it". Between the sixth and seventh games, the Oilers' forward
Wayne Gretzky described Hextall as "probably the best goaltender I've ever played against in the NHL." Edmonton won the final game of the series to take the Stanley Cup. Robin Finn, writing in
The New York Times, said that the team won the title "without their trademark, those endless waves of madcap scoring", primarily due to the "heroics of Hextall". Flyers teammate
Rick Tocchet said that when he realised his side were going to lose, his "first thought was to feel sorry for Ronny Hextall, because he did everything he could to get us here and keep us in it." becoming only the fourth player from a losing side to be awarded the trophy. The Flyers had a difficult start to the
1987–88 season, partly attributed by Keenan to the absence of Hextall. Hextall returned to the Flyers line-up against the
New York Rangers, and made over 40 saves in a 2–2 tie. Just over a month later, on December 8, 1987, Hextall became the
first goaltender to shoot at goal and score in the NHL when he scored an
empty net goal towards the end of a game against the
Boston Bruins. The Flyers led 4–2 which prompted the Bruins to
pull their goaltender in favour of an
extra attacker. The puck was
dumped into the Philadelphia
zone by the Bruins, and Hextall picked it up without any players near him; his shot fired into the air, bounced and rolled into the net. Hextall had targeted becoming the "first NHL goaltender to score a true goal" over a year earlier, Hextall played 62 of the 67 games for which he was available during the regular season. He recorded 30 wins, and a GAA of 3.50, slightly higher than during his rookie year. In the final two games of the series, which the Capitals won 4–3, Hextall gave up a further 12 goals, and completed the playoffs with a GAA of 4.75. the first time that a goaltender had collected over 100. Hextall completed the 1988–89 regular season with 30 wins, the third consecutive season in which he had recorded so many, and the first time a goaltender had recorded 30 wins in each of their first three seasons in the NHL. The Flyers finished fourth in the
Patrick Division and qualified for the playoffs. They faced the Washington Capitals in the first round, and the teams shared the first four games. The Flyers won the fifth, despite being 5–4 down in the third
period. Flyers' defenceman
Mark Howe credited their victory to Hextall. Late in the game, the Capitals pulled their goaltender, and Hextall scored the second goal of his career. The puck was shot into the Flyers' left defensive zone by
Scott Stevens, and Hextall went around the back of his net, controlled the puck and shot at the goal. He became the first goaltender to score a goal in the NHL playoffs. The Flyers won 8–5, and went on to win the series 4–2, which Joe Sexton of
The New York Times attributed primarily to Hextall's return to form. Against the Penguins in the Patrick Division Final, Hextall's performances were mixed: he under-performed early in the series, and in game five was swapped out of the net and then reinstated twice during a 10–7 defeat for the Flyers. Hextall faced 17 shots in the game, conceding nine of the Penguins goals. After the game, he denied being out of control, despite having assaulted one of the officials and chasing
Rob Brown around the ice. He said, "I like to think I'm strong mentally. Hey, if I was as out of control as people say I am, I wouldn't be in the National Hockey League." The Penguins coach,
Gene Ubriaco, agreed with Hextall's assessment, and believed the goaltender lost control intentionally: "He uses a loss of control to his advantage, in a way. He's the extreme example of controlled violence. And they [the Flyers] live and die with it." Hextall's injury kept him out of the first three games of the series against the Canadiens, during which the Canadiens took a 2–1 lead. He returned for the fourth game, but could not prevent his side losing 3–0. The Flyers won the following game to extend the series to six games, but lost the next game 4–2, and were eliminated. Hextall displayed his violent side during the final minutes of game six, skating out of his
crease to attack
Chris Chelios. Hextall claimed that the attack was in retaliation for Chelios' hit on his Flyer teammate
Brian Propp in game one, when Chelios caught Flyer Propp with a "flying elbow" to the side of the head, rendering him unconscious. Hextall was given a 12-game suspension for his actions, at the beginning of the
1989–90 season. Following the announcement of the suspension, Hextall stated his disappointment, and added that his intention was to fight rather than hurt Chelios.
Contract rebel and injury troubles Prior to the
1989–90 season, Hextall became unhappy that his eight-year, $4 million contract was only earning him $325,000 a year, and hired a confrontational agent,
Ritch Winter, to renegotiate his contract. The Flyers refused to deal with the agent, and at a tearful press conference, Hextall declared his contract invalid and announced that he would not take part in the team's training camp. After negotiations about which neither side revealed details, Hextall returned to practice with the team on October 20, 42 days later. Hextall suffered a slight groin pull during his first game back, and in his second, he hurt his left
hamstring. Just under a month later, while playing for the
Hershey Bears in an attempt to establish his fitness, he was carried off the ice after once more hurting his groin. In total that season, Hextall appeared nine times; once for the Bears in the AHL, and eight times for the Flyers. In the NHL, he recorded a GAA of 4.15, the highest he averaged during any single season of the NHL. The Flyers'
orthopaedist, Dr. Arthur Bartolozzi, suggested a possible reason for his series of injuries: He is in motion anticipating the shot before the guy even hits the puck. So he's already on the ice or doing a split or anticipating the shot well before it's made. That's probably what makes him a great goaltender. But it's also what may predispose him to injury. In
1990–91, Hextall appeared in 36 NHL games, less than half of those played by the Flyers that season. He recorded 13 wins, with a GAA of 3.13. Suspension, further injuries, and a lack of form meant Hextall appeared 45 times for the Flyers. He recorded 16 wins during the season, resulting in his lowest win percentage in the NHL, 35.56%. While negotiating to get the best possible deal, Aubut traded Lindros to both the Flyers and the Rangers, meaning an arbitrator had to rule which club should receive him. During the ten days between the trades being made and the arbitrator's ruling, there was a lot of speculation about which Flyers' and Rangers' players were involved in the potential trades. On July 30, the arbitrator ruled in favour of the Philadelphia Flyers, and Hextall was traded to Quebec, along with five other players, two first round selections (in
1993 and
1994), and $15,000,000 cash for Lindros. Hextall regained some of the confidence he displayed during his first years in Philadelphia, and although a strained thigh muscle kept him out towards the end of the regular season, he helped the Nordiques to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1987. Quebec were eliminated 4–2 by the
Montreal Canadiens in the first round, during which Hextall was praised as being "at the top of his game".
New York Islanders (1993–1994) After only one season with the Nordiques, Hextall was traded to the
New York Islanders in return for
Mark Fitzpatrick on June 20, 1993, a move made because the Nordiques could only protect one goalie for the
expansion draft and instead of losing him chose to trade him to Long Island. The two teams also traded first-round draft picks. The move was a surprise for Hextall, who had settled in well in Quebec with his family.
Don Maloney, the Islanders' general manager, described the trade as "too good to pass up". The trade was praised on the Islanders' side by
The New York Times as possibly "the best in the league over the off season". Hextall had a poor beginning to his career as an Islander, conceding 23 goals in 14 periods at the start of the
1993–94 season, resulting in his replacement prior to the third period against the
New Jersey Devils in mid-October. During that game, in which the Islanders were playing at home, Hextall was jeered by the crowd, something to which he had become accustomed during his time with Philadelphia. In contrast to the fans' derision, Hextall's teammates backed him, taking some of the blame themselves, and expressing their belief in their new colleague.
Steve Thomas suggested that Hextall was "one of the best goalies in the league, easily in the top five or 10," while coach
Al Arbour dismissed dropping Hextall, saying that "We're not playing well in front of the goaltender and he can only be as good as the guys in front of him." Any thoughts that Arbour might have had of replacing Hextall as the team's number-one goaltender were limited by the play of his back-up,
Tom Draper, who recorded a GAA of 4.23 in the seven NHL games he played that season. This, coupled with the lack of experienced goaltenders at the club's IHL affiliate, the
Salt Lake Golden Eagles, resulted in Hextall starting 20 games in a row until
Jamie McLennan was called up from the Golden Eagles. The break, and challenge, that Hextall was afforded by McLennan's call-up helped him to recover his form, and in February, he made consecutive
shutouts against the
Ottawa Senators and
Washington Capitals. He recorded another shutout in his next home game, against the Flyers, and was shortly thereafter named as the NHL's player of the week. During the regular season with the Islanders, Hextall recorded a career-best five shutouts, and a GAA of 3.08, the best since his rookie year. The Islanders reached the playoffs, but were swept 4–0 by their rivals, the
New York Rangers. Hextall played three of the four games, conceding 16 goals for a GAA of 6.08, the worst average of his NHL career by some distance. but five months later, Maloney traded Hextall back to Philadelphia. He described the move as being two-pronged: it would appease the fans and prevent the derisory calls when the team was struggling, and it would give McLennan a chance to establish himself as the number-one goaltender. Hextall was traded with a sixth-round draft pick to the Flyers for goaltender
Tommy Söderström on September 22, 1994.
Return to Philadelphia (1994–1999) In the
1994–95 season, his first season back in Philadelphia, Hextall played 31 games and recorded his lowest GAA in a season to that point, 2.89. After defeating the
Buffalo Sabres in the first round, the Flyers faced the New York Rangers in the second. Following the Rangers sweep of the Islanders the previous season, the Rangers' fans chanted "We Want Hex-tall!" during their game-six victory in the first round. The Flyers' coach,
Terry Murray dismissed the chants, stating that "emotionally he's really under control."
The New York Times supported this belief, claiming that "this isn't the same Ron Hextall they remember so fondly". The Flyers won the first two games of the series, and at
Madison Square Garden, Hextall had a quiet game in which he even acted as a calming influence to teammates
Kevin Haller and
Dmitri Yushkevich, a turnaround from the aggressiveness he had displayed earlier in his career. The Flyers swept the Rangers 4–0 and advanced to the Conference Final against the
New Jersey Devils, to whom they lost 4–2. Hextall's statistics in the playoffs were his best since his rookie year: he recorded ten wins with a GAA of 2.81. and the best of Hextall's career. Snow started nine of the ten games during the first two rounds, but Hextall replaced him in game two of the Conference Final, and remained the starting goaltender for the remainder of the series. A loss against the
Detroit Red Wings in the first game of the Stanley Cup Final resulted in coach Murray switching back to Snow for the second game. Hextall returned for games three and four, but the Flyers were swept 4–0 by the Red Wings. In his final two playing seasons, both spent at the Flyers, Hextall made fewer appearances; he played 46 games in , and 23 in . He maintained a sub-3.00 GAA in each year, repeating the achievement in each of his final five seasons in the NHL having failed to do so in the previous eight seasons. and after going unclaimed in the
expansion draft, he announced his retirement on September 6, 1999. ==International career==