Rob Flockhart Dies At 64; Former NHL Player Coached Fermi Hockey

ENFIELD, CT — Rob Flockhart, a former National Hockey League player who later had a successful two-year stint as head coach at Enrico Fermi High School, guiding the Falcons to one of their finest seasons ever, died Saturday of an apparent heart attack, according to CFJC.com. He was 64.

A native of British Columbia, Flockhart netted 51 goals in his final season of junior hockey with the Kamloops Chiefs, and represented Canada in the second-ever World Junior Hockey Championship in 1975. He was selected in the third round of the 1976 NHL draft by the Vancouver Canucks, and was also chosen in the sixth round of the World Hockey Association draft that year by the Cleveland Crusaders, but opted to sign with Vancouver.

He spent most of his professional career in the Central Hockey League, tallying 148 goals in six seasons. He was called up for parts of five seasons in the NHL, playing 56 games, including playoffs, for the Canucks and Minnesota North Stars while scoring three goals and adding five assists.

His younger brother Ron played 472 NHL games, including playoffs, amassing 149 goals and 189 assists for the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins.

The elder Flockhart played in southern New England for the first time in 1982-83, scoring 22 goals and adding 34 assists in 74 games with the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League. After a season with Toledo of the International Hockey League, he returned to Springfield for the 1984-85 campaign, but played just 14 games before finishing his pro career with a pair of contests for the AHL New Haven Nighthawks.

In 2000, Flockhart took over the head coaching reins at Fermi from Bob Polmatier. In his initial year, he guided the Falcons to a 10-9-1 regular season record and a berth in the CIAC Division II state tournament, where they fell 4-3 in overtime to Milford. The following year, Fermi earned the top seed in Division II with a 17-3 record, capturing CCC East regular season co-champion honors and winning the CCC tournament. The Falcons steamrolled past North Branford and Glastonbury by a combined 15-3 score before encountering Milford again in the semifinals, where they were edged by a 3-2 margin.

Flockhart departed after two seasons, leaving the program in the hands of assistant coach Frank Genovese, who is still at the helm today. He returned to live in Kamloops in recent years, according to Vernon Matters, an online publication in British Columbia.

"Rob and I coached some very good hockey teams at Fermi with some really exceptional hockey players," Genovese told Patch. "He thoroughly enjoyed coaching the kids and brought an enthusiastic attitude to the rink every day. As a coaching staff, we had a lot of laughs and at the same time, he was always ready when the puck dropped."

Goaltender Danielle (Ezold) Chabot played on the 2001-02 team, and credits Flockhart for giving her a chance to play with the high school boys.

"He was my first ice hockey coach, and I felt he truly believed in me when a lot of people were skeptical of a girl goalie who was "new" to the ice," she told Patch. "He always had a good heart and it was obvious he loved the game."

Kevin Cobb wrote, "I was fortunate to have been a linemate of Rob's several years back in the Enfield Twin Rinks men's league. He was humble and mild-mannered off the ice. On the ice, his competitiveness, fiery streaks and ability to distribute the puck will be remembered."

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