BOSTON - Nearly 3 full years after John LeClair last stepped off NHL ice - long after he had stopped thinking about playing the game he loved - a random voicemail message shook him.

Like any father, LeClair had become engrossed in his children's lives after an arduous, 15-year NHL journey.

But the call, a wake-up call of sorts, was from USA Hockey. The message notified him that he - a small-town kid from St. Albans, Vt. - had been chosen for the 2009 entrance class to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

Joining former Flyers teammate Tony Amonte, LeClair will live that dream tonight at his induction ceremony at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel.

"I was definitely a bit surprised," LeClair said of the call. "It came from out of leftfield. I never really viewed myself as a Hall of Fame-type player. It is an incredible honor - one of the greatest you can have as a player."

For "Johnny Vermont," as he is affectionately known, it was a long time coming. LeClair, 40, finished his illustrious career with 819 points in 967 games, a Stanley Cup championship with the Montreal Canadiens and silver medal from the 2002 Olympics at Salt Lake City.

With 406 goals, LeClair ranks eighth on the all-time list of American-born players.

"He's probably one of the greatest scoring left wings the U.S. has produced," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said. "He's made a tremendous impact. He could score from in front of the net by tipping and deflecting pucks, but he could also skate down the wing and blast one by you."

When it comes to American players, though, LeClair is often far down on the list behind Mike Modano, Brian Leetch, Chris Chelios or Flyers assistant coach Joe Mullen.

"He's not flashy, so maybe he doesn't get the fanfare that a lot of these other American guys get," said Brian Boucher, LeClair's former teammate and fellow American. "Guys that played with him knew that you could count on him every single game. He scored some big goals for us.

"He was a down-to-earth guy, a pretty simple guy. He was your prototypical power forward. No one could stop him."

LeClair took a different path to success than most. Unlike many of his NHL teammates, LeClair didn't spend a single day in a junior program. Out of Bellows Free Academy, he chose the local University of Vermont even though he was one of the most highly recruited players in the nation.

"For a lot of us U.S. guys, it was second nature to go to college," LeClair said. "Looking back on my career, it helped me tremendously. In the past 15 or 20 years, college hockey has really stepped up - it's no longer a second route for players."

"Johnny was a pioneer," said Mullen, who was one of LeClair's coaches in Pittsburgh in 2005. "You never heard of too many players coming from Vermont, up there."

Current Flyer James van Riemsdyk, 20, watched LeClair while growing up in Middletown, N.J. He said that LeClair influenced his decision to attend the University of New Hampshire for two seasons.

"I followed him because he was an American," van Riemsdyk said. "He's probably one of the best Americans to ever play the game. He was a college kid, too, so he was a great role model for any kid growing up."

LeClair found immediate success in the NHL, where he won the Stanley Cup in just his second full season after the Canadiens called him up straight out of college when his senior season was over. In hockey's birthplace, LeClair was known for being a clutch player. He scored two overtime, game-winning goals in the 1993 Stanley Cup finals series against Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings.

But his career blossomed after a 1995 trade to Philadelphia, where he became a bona-fide NHL superstar. He formed the "Legion of Doom" line with Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg and went on to net three straight 50-goal seasons. A constant force around the net, he is the only Flyer besides Tim Kerr to accomplish that feat.

LeClair spent parts of 10 seasons with the Flyers and racked up 333 goals in the orange and black. He has made more postseason NHL All-Star teams (five) than any Flyer.

"When I look at my body of work," LeClair said, "the bulk of my individual career successes came in Philadelphia. I had an unbelievable opportunity to play with Mikael and Eric. I will always consider myself a Flyer. I live here now and my kids grew up here and go to school here."

LeClair finished his career with Pittsburgh after the NHL lockout but makes his home - with his wife and three kids - in Haverford. He is involved in a "variety" of business ventures, including one with former teammate and current radio broadcaster Chris Therien. The two own a trucking and shipping line.

Tonight, though, is about LeClair the player.

"You didn't need him to tell you what to do, you just had to watch him," teammate Simon Gagne said. "He wasn't the type of guy that was going to go end-to-end and score. He wasn't flashy. But he is one of the best goal scorers I've played with."

Gagne remembered him for the hardest shot he has ever seen. Boucher remembered LeClair for putting USA Hockey back on the map with the 1996 World Cup of Hockey championship, when LeClair scored six goals in seven games.

"It's a great honor," said Mullen, who was inducted into the same Hall in 1998. "He had a great career, he worked hard for everything that he got. It's something that he'll remember forever." *

For more news and analysis, read Frank Seravalli's blog, Frequent Flyers, at http://go.philly.com/frequentflyers.