Background In the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons,
Mark Recchi (jersey #8), Lindros (#88) and
Brent Fedyk (#18) had formed the productive "Crazy Eights" line. Renberg split his time playing left wing with Lindros and right wing with
Rod Brind'Amour. Despite a strong start to the 1993–94 season, and emergent talents such as Lindros and Renberg, the Flyers fell apart in the second half of the year and narrowly missed the playoffs, the fifth consecutive time that the club didn't reach the postseason. This led to the firing of head coach
Terry Simpson and general manager
Russ Farwell. They were succeeded by
Terry Murray and
Bobby Clarke, respectively.
Formation The line was formed in the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season when the
Montreal Canadiens traded
John LeClair,
Eric Desjardins, and
Gilbert Dionne to the Flyers in exchange for
Mark Recchi. Renberg was moved from
Rod Brind'Amour's left wing and placed on Lindros' right wing. Murray then placed LeClair as the left wing to form the trio. LeClair was expected to use his physical prowess to make room for Lindros, and went on to exceed all expectations as LeClair's scoring totals jumped dramatically compared with his time with the Canadiens. The line registered its first point on Saturday, February 11, 1995, in a game against the
New Jersey Devils at the
Meadowlands Sports Complex. The line made an immediate impact, as it helped the Flyers defeat the Devils 3–1. Before the formation of the line, the Flyers had struggled out of the gate, going only 3–7–1 through their first 11 games while being outscored 34–22. However, in their final 37 games (including the one on February 11 against the Devils), the Flyers went 25–9–3 and outscored their opponents 128–98 en route to capturing the Atlantic Division title and an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals (a six-game loss to the Devils). The Legion went on to score 80 goals and collect 96 assists that season for Philadelphia. Eric Lindros, with a total of 70 points, tied the
Pittsburgh Penguins'
Jaromir Jagr for the scoring lead that season, but the
Art Ross Trophy was given to Jagr as he had 32 goals to Lindros' 29. Lindros, however, was named the league MVP, winning the
Hart Memorial Trophy and the
Lester B. Pearson Award. Both Lindros and LeClair earned NHL First-Team All-Star honours.
1995–96 season The line stayed together for the
1995–96 season, which would turn out to be their most productive, as they scored 121 goals and picked up 134 assists.
1997 Stanley Cup Finals Their last season together was
1996–97, where they scored 104 goals and collected 131 assists. The Legion's offensive production was down due to injuries to Renberg. They also led the Philadelphia Flyers to the
1997 Stanley Cup Finals, collecting 26 goals and 32 assists in their play-off run, as they beat the
Pittsburgh Penguins,
Buffalo Sabres, and
New York Rangers in five games each. However, they were upset by the
Detroit Red Wings, who swept them four games to none. Detroit head coach
Scotty Bowman surprised Flyers head coach
Terry Murray by using the finesse-oriented defense pairing of
Nicklas Lidström and
Larry Murphy, rather than the rugged
Vladimir Konstantinov, against the Legion of Doom. Lidstrom and Murphy's puckhandling abilities helped them neutralize Philadelphia's vaunted forechecking. LeClair and Lindros only scored one goal each during the Finals series; LeClair scored the Flyers' only goal as they lost 6–1 in Game 3, while Lindros finally managed to put the puck in the net during the dying seconds of Game 4 to cut the Wings' lead to 2–1. Many hockey fans remember the unyieldng and often violent response to their aggressive forechecking as the key to the series. In particular, Konstantinov and defensive partner Viacheslav Fetisov were brutally effective in their own zone.
Breakup Terry Murray's contract as head coach was not renewed due to accusing his team of
choking during a closed-door meeting with his players following their 6–1 loss in Game 3 of the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals, which exposed the fragile confidence of the team, though he remained with the Flyers as a pro scout and later as an assistant coach. ==Legion of Doom statistics==