Ed Van Impe , a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Philadelphia Flyers, died Tuesday at 84 years old.

Van Impe played nine of his 11 NHL seasons as a defenseman with the Flyers, who selected him in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft after he had 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in 61 games as a 26-year-old rookie with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1966-67. He finished second to Boston Bruins defenseman Bobby Orr in voting for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year.

In 620 regular-season games with the Flyers, Van Impe had 126 points (19 goals, 107 assists) and 891 penalty minutes, and 12 points (one goal, 11 assists) and 120 penalty minutes in 57 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

He was the Flyers' second captain, holding the role from 1968 until he passed it to Bobby Clarke during the 1972-73 season.

Van Impe was a key part of the "Broad Street Bullies" Flyers teams that won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975. His plus-16 rating during the 1975 playoffs tied teammate Jimmy Watson for the NHL lead among defensemen.

He achieved a bit of notoriety during an exhibition game between the Flyers and the Soviet Red Army team at the Spectrum in Philadelphia on Jan. 11, 1976.

During the first period, Van Impe elbowed Red Army star forward Valeri Kharlamov in the head. When no penalty was called on the play, the Soviets famously left the ice before returning after a 17-minute delay.

"He basically ran into my elbow with his head," Van Impe said of the play years later in the book, "Walking Together Forever." "I've always said I just couldn't understand how a world-class player would have wanted to do such a thing."

Flyers founding owner Ed Snider had a different view of the play.

"Ed Van Impe put one of his famous checks on one of the Russians," Snider said during a 2007 interview. "Ed Van Impe wasn't one of the cleanest hockey players."

Van Impe was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 9, 1976, and retired after the 1976-77 season with 153 points (27 goals, 126 assists) and 1,024 penalty minutes in 703 regular-season games for the Penguins, Flyers and Blackhawks, and 13 points (one goal, 12 assists) and 130 penalty minutes in 66 playoff games.