Today marks the 45th anniversary of the commencement of a terrific professional ice hockey career, which led to a life well lived – Though not without some arduousness along the way, both during said career and after.

Brian Phillip Propp (born February 15th, 1959 in Lanigan, Saskatchewan and raised in Neudorf, Saskatchewan), a terrific minor hockey player in the Melville area, commenced his high level hockey career in Junior A’s with the Melville Millionaires of the SJHL in 1975-76. This campaign was historic for Propp, as he led the league in points with 168. He would be recognized as a member of the SJHL All-Star Team, as well as Rookie of the Year and MVP. Propp subsequently ascended to the major junior level the following season with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WCHL/WHL. His three seasons in the Dub read like the stuff of fiction in his prolificacy and achievements, registering 511 points in 213 games. This was most notably capped off by an absurd 1978-79 season, wherein he totaled 94 goals and 100 assists in 71 outings. Per Justin Giampietro of The Hockey Writers, this sits behind only Ray Ferraro’s 1983-84 campaign with Brandon for most goals in a single WHL season (108) [further citation can be found on QuantHockey]. Propp would be recognized as as Rookie of the Year and a WHL Second Team All-Star in his first campaign and subsequently would earn the Bob Brownridge Memorial Trophy (later known, fittingly, as the Bob Clarke Trophy) in both 1978 and 1979 and First Team All-Star selections in both seasons. He would win a WHL league title (then known as the President’s Cup and now known as the Ed Chynoweth Cup) with Brandon in his final season and reach the Memorial Cup finals, though the Wheat Kings (who featured a strong roster, including the likes of Ray Allison, Laurie Boschman, and future Propp NHL teammate Brad McCrimmon and lost just five games in the regular season that year) would fall 2-1 in overtime to a solid defensive Peterborough Petes team (who were that year’s OHL champs in both the regular season and playoffs and featured Keith Crowder and Larry Murphy amongst their ranks), with Bob Attwell delivering the dagger.

The decorations in Propp’s WHL/CHL career were further complemented by a long string of marks on the WHL record books. Among them, he went down as having the most goals in a single game (7); most game winning goals (16); most assists by a rookie in a single season (80); most goals in a single season by a left wing (94); most assists by a left wing in a single season (112); most points by a left wing in a single season (194); most career playoff points by a left wing (77); most career hat tricks by a left wing (13); and most power play assists by a left wing (59). Additionally, he is one of just four players in WHL to lead the league in scoring more than once, alongside Bob Clarke (Flin Flon Bombers) and Tom Lysiak (Medicine Hat Tigers) before him (1967-68/1968-69 and 1971-72/1972-73) respectively) and joined by Rob Brown (Kamloops Blazers, 1985-86/1986-87) after him. His capabilities as an undersized (standing at just 5’9″), but skilled and still hardnosed (having racked up 374 career PIMs in the Dub, including 200 in his final year) winger who was also a capable penalty killer were recognized by the Philadelphia Flyers organization, with the front office headed by then-GM Keith Allen, opting to take him 14th overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft on August 9th, 1979.

From the very beginning of his NHL career, Propp would establish a habit of showing up for deep playoff runs. In his very first season, he tallied 15 points in 19 postseason games as the Flyers made it to the Stanley Cup Final for the fourth time in their fairly short history (having been established in 1967, beating the Bruins and Sabres in 6 games in the 1974 and 1975 finals while making an appearance in 1976 wherein they were swept by the Canadiens in the first of Les Habitants’ four consecutive Cup victories to end the 1970’s). Though Propp was impressive, tallying 6 points in the effort (at the time a modern era NHL record for a rookie, since surpassed by Ville Leino and Brad Marchand who had 9 and 7 in the 2010 and 2011 Finals for Philadelphia and Boston, respectively), the Flyers would fall in 6 games to the New York Islanders in controversial fashion as a squad featuring the likes of Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith, Clark Gillies, and Butch Goring launched a dynasty that won four straight titles and a North American professional sports record 19 playoff series after having been consistently competitive for the past half-decade. This would establish something of a pattern for Propp and the Flyers. After registering a career-best 97 points in 76 regular season games in 1984-85 (which he would match in 72 games the following season, but never surpass), wherein the Flyers had the league’s best record and charged by a terrific Vezina winning performance in the crease by Pelle Lindbergh, Propp tallied 18 points in 19 games, but the Flyers would fall short in the finals again, this time by the Gretzky/Messier-led Edmonton Oilers who were the defending champions after dethroning NYI. The Flyers had been perhaps the biggest thorn in the side of the Oilers prior to that series, having a great track record against them in recent times, but were banged up due in no small part to having had an arduous series against the very physical Quebec Nordiques in the last hurdle before the championship round, which pitted them against a talented team. Two years later, they would find themselves in a somewhat analogous situation. This time, Edmonton were the Presidents’ Trophy winners, and the Flyers were now backstopped by a very passionate and intense rookie named Ron Hextall (having taken the reins from Lindbergh’s former tandem partner Bob Froese, with Froese having ascended to the primary goaltender after Lindbergh’s tragic death in the early phases of the 1985-86 season but being beaten out by Hextall for the starting job and appearing in just three games for the Flyers before being traded to the New York Rangers for D Kjell Samuelsson and a 1989 second round selection) who had a decorated campaign of his own, winning the Vezina and being selected to the NHL’s First All-Star and All-Rookie teams. The Flyers would ultimately fall in seven games in a hard-fought series, as Edmonton captured their third Stanley Cup as they further carved out their legacy and imprint on that era of hockey history. For his part individually, Propp, after having been limited to just 53 regular season appearances wherein he tallied 67 points, gathered 28 points in 26 games on the run to Game 7.

Two seasons later, the Flyers embarked on yet another playoff run, wherein they defeated the Patrick Division champion Washington Capitals (then spearheaded by the likes of Geoff Courtnall, Mike Ridley, Dale Hunter, Scott Stevens, Dave Christian, and Dino Ciccarelli and were led by Rod Langway as he approached the end of his career) in six before snatching victory from the jaws of defeat against a high-powered iteration of in-state rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins (whose offensive firepower included Mario Lemieux, who had his historic 199 point season that year, Rob Brown, who had 115 points that year, and former Oilers wizard of an OFD Paul Coffey, who had the overwhelming most points by a blueliner that season with 113), winning in 7 games after trailing 3-2 in the series by beating Pittsburgh 6-2 at home at The Spectrum in Game 6 and defeating the Pens 4-1 in the Pittsburgh Civic Center to complete the comeback. Propp was very much involved in these last two games, finishing the scoring in Game 6, opening it in Game 7, and registering a secondary assist on Dave Poulin’s eventual series winner (with D Mark Howe having the primary assist), as he built an impressive playoff statistical output yet again. All told, he had a 23 points (14g+9a, the former setting a record for most goals by a player to not make the Stanley Cup Finals in a single playoff season) in 18 games run which ended with the Canadiens defeating the Flyers in six games for the Prince of Wales Conference crown. This series marked the beginning of the sequence that would eventually lead to Propp’s downfall, as he was the recipient of a check to the head by Habs D Chris Chelios (which Hextall responded to in kind). The next year, Bob Clarke, who was Propp’s teammate to begin his NHL career and had since effectively replaced Keith Allen as GM (with Bob McCammon also having served in this role for just under a calendar year between them), would trade Propp to commence a rebuild as Philadelphia was approaching its nadir period which saw them miss the postseason five years in a row. He went to Boston, joining Poulin, who had been traded there not long before in exchange for former Flyer/Oiler Ken “The Rat” Linseman, in exchange for a second round pick in that year’s draft. The Bruins, powered by Ray Bourque, Cam Neely, Craig Janney, and goaltending tandem Andy Moog and Reggie Lemelin, were in a competitive window and won the Presidents’ Trophy that season. Propp was an asset to the team the rest of the way, tallying 12 points in 14 regular season appearances and 13 points in 20 postseason games. The Bruins would defeat regional rivals the Hartford Whalers in seven games, their biggest historical adversaries the Montreal Canadiens in five (marking their second playoff victory over their arch-rivals in three seasons after having a historic drought against them that had endured since 1943 and had seen them lose 18 straight postseason matchups, as well as one between these two years in 1989, and commencing a sequence of four straight victories in playoff series against the Habs and enacting some revenge for Propp for the prior year), and the Capitals in four. In yet another case of history rhyming, the Bruins would be pitted against the Edmonton Oilers for the second time in three years. Gretzky was gone, having been traded in a move that had a massive impact on the NHL on August 9th, 1988, shortly after the Oilers’ victory in four games over the Bruins (not including the suspended first attempt at playing Game 4, which was called due to a power outage at the Boston Garden with the score tied 3-3). However, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Kevin Lowe, Glenn Anderson, and Esa Tikkanen were still among their ranks, and they were still a team to be feared. The Bruins fell in triple overtime, 3-2, in a game which included D Glen Wesley missing a prime scoring chance and that was ended by a set of fresh legs in winger Petr Klima, who did not play at all in the third period nor the first two overtimes. The Bruins would be stonewalled by their own former goaltender Bill Ranford (who had been traded to Edmonton alongside Geoff Courtnall in exchange for Andy Moog and would later re-join the Bruins in the mid-1990’s), never scoring more than 2 goals in a single game in the finals, as they lost in five games.

As fortune would have it, Bob Clarke would have a new job with the Minnesota North Stars, and he would sign Propp as a free agent. The 1990-91 North Stars had some respectable firepower, counting Dave Gagner, Brian Bellows, Neal Broten, and a young Mike Modano among their ranks and were capably served by Jon Casey in between the pipes. However, they were most certainly long shots to make an impression on the postseason, having a sub-.500 record and placing fourth in the Norris Division and seventh in the Campbell Conference, ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks by a mere three points (68 to 65). However, that is precisely what happened, as they rattled off a trio of upsets, defeating Chicago and St. Louis in six games apiece and beating defending champions Edmonton in five games (marking the beginning of the end of the dynasty that Propp had been on the wrong end of the building of on multiple occasions, as Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson, and Mark Messier would all be traded the following offseason – These were not rebuilding trades, as the deals brought in good pieces and the team made their eighth conference final in ten seasons in 1992 and beat Gretzky and the Kings in round one along the way, but the complexion of the team had changed vastly and 1992 would mark their last appearance in the final four until their 2006 Finals run). They would be defeated in six games, however, by the Lemieux/Jagr Penguins for the franchise’s first Cup victory (this would be complemented by another Cup win the following year and a Presisdents’ Trophy in 1992-93). Yet again (though of course this was much more of a miracle run than previous seasons he had been a part of), a team that Propp contributed greatly to (with 73 points in 79 regular season games and 23 points in 23 playoff outings) was upended by a juggernaut, marking his fifth fall in the finals with a third different franchise. He was truly the king of clutch and had the heart of a lion, but his teams never quite reached the ultimate goal.

Due to health issues, Propp’s playing career would slowly fade out over the next few years. He appeared in just 51 games in 1991-92 with Minnesota and 17 in 1992-93. He would spend some time with HC Lugano in the Swiss NDA (now known as the NL) before returning to the NHL with Hartford in 1993-94. During the lockout which eliminated part of the 1994-95 NHL season, he played with HC Anglet, at the time a tier-two team in France’s ice hockey promotion/relegation pyramid. After this stint in France, he would retire from professional hockey.

Despite never capturing the ultimate prize, Propp still has a strong grip on many NHL scoring records, mostly in categories related to his position and postseason production. He additionally has many Flyers franchise offensive records to this day, and still ranks fourth and second on their all-time regular season and playoff career point scoring lists. The 1980’s an absurd offensive output league-wide, but Propp was consistently among the most reliable, particularly at his LW spot. All told, Propp had 1,004 points in 1,016 regular season games, along with 148 points in 160 postseason appearances. He was selected to five All-Star Games in his career (1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1990).

In international play, Propp represented Canada in the 1979 WJC, the 1982 and 1983 IIHF World Championships, the 1987 Canada Cup, and the 1992 Spengler Cup. He won bronze in ’82 and ’83 and gold in ’87 and ’92. All told, he registered 11 goals and 8 assists in 34 senior appearances for Team Canada, along with 2 goals and 1 assist in five games in his sole WJC appearance.

In his post-playing career, Propp has worn a few different hats. He helped develop the Medford Ice Rink in southern New Jersey and served as its chief operating officer for four years before leaving to become the Flyers radio color analyst on 610 WIP AM, serving in that capacity from 1999 to 2008 and having since embarked on successful careers in the fields of professional services and commercial real estate (working as vice president of strategic account management for The Judge Group for five years and as director of strategic relationships for Wolf CRE since January of 2015). It was in September of 2015 that a near-life ending and perspective altering event occurred for Propp, as he suffered a major stroke and survived. He recalls:

“Labor Day weekend 2015: My family and I were celebrating the end of summer over a long weekend in Annapolis, Maryland. On the second day of our trip, I wasn’t feeling well. I had a headache — and decided to head to bed early. A few hours later, around 1:30 a.m., I’m told, I woke up and fell out of bed. […] Blood thinners I had been taking had, at some point, stopped doing their job. A blood clot formed, and traveled into my brain. […] Once I was medically stable, I began to realize that my greatest challenge was yet to come. Unable to eat, walk or talk correctly, I now needed to re-learn nearly every life skill I had known. It’s a situation many stroke survivors face — and it can be overwhelming. In my mid-50s at the time, I was one of a growing number of ‘young stroke’ survivors, who often face unique challenges in recovering from stroke. That was me. I was far too young to give up, and I refused to accept that my once-active life was over. I have never been one to back down from a challenge — and I wasn’t about to start now. It took about a year and a half of intensive physical, occupational and speech therapy, but I was eventually able to get back on the ice and the golf course, two parts of my ‘old life’ that were incredibly important to me.” [read his full story here] It was determined that the clot and the resulting stroke were caused by atrial fibrillation.

By January 2017, Propp’s condition had improved enough for him to appear in the Flyers alumni game against the Pittsburgh Penguins alumni at the Wells Fargo Center, marking perhaps the most emotional moment of the team’s 50th season. While there were many other remarkable steps along the way, this was the most notable testament to Propp’s resolve and effort. However, the ensuing times were never about himself for the man. In his own words, as stated in the linked SJ Magazine article: “[…] More than anything, I want to encourage people my age to get an annual check-up and talk with their doctor to see if they’re at risk, and learn the warning signs and symptoms of stroke.” Truly, his respectable character and commitment shine through to this day.