While we are sitting at home wishing it was hockey season, I figured we would take a trip to when the Flyers first became a team.
We have the late and great Ed Snider to thank for bringing the city of Brotherly Love the team that would come to be known as the Broad Street Bullies. In November of 1964, the President of the Philadelphia Eagles at the time, who just so happened to be Ed Snider, attended a game in Boston. He noticed a sea of Boston Bruins fans lining up to buy tickets to their next game, which happened to be a last place hockey team. A plethora of people were loyal and still wanted to see them play.
Snider, being a businessman, started to create a plan to bring a new arena to Philadelphia. Once he heard that the NHL wanted to expand he made it his mission to bring a team to the city. Once he decided to propose his plan to the league he chose the Philadelphia Group which included Philadelphia Eagles owner Jerry Wolman, Jerome Schiff, Bill Putnam, and Snider himself.
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The year of 1967 brought six new NHL teams: The California Golden Seals, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the St. Louis Blues. The new teams could draft good players, or even snatch them from other teams. All the major talented players were kept by the Original Six teams. The Original Six teams are the Montreal Canadiens (1910 joined NHL in 1917), Toronto Maple Leafs (1917), Boston Bruins (1924), Chicago Black Hawks (1926), Detroit Red Wings (1926), New York Rangers (1926).
After having a rough start to their franchise history, the Flyers turned things around in the early ’70s. Coming into the season of 1973-74 with some notable players being Bobby Clarke, Ed Van Impe, Bernie Parent, and the one and only Dave “The Hammer” Schultz.
The 1973-74 Cup Finals was one to remember. The Flyers swept the Atlanta Flames in the first round. They then ousted the New York Rangers in seven games. Every home game for each team left the home team with a win, and with the Flyers having home ice advantage they took game seven at home. The Flyers were the first expansion team to defeat an Original Six team. This would set them to take on the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The series went to six games. The Bruins took game one, to which Bobby Clarke won game two in overtime, and the Flyers took games three and four. The original six Boston Bruins took game five to make the series 3-2 in hopes to push a game seven. Thanks to Bobby Orr for taking a penalty when he took down Bobby Clarke on a breakaway, the Flyers took the Cup victory in six games.
The return of Bernie Parent was a groundbreaking one for the franchise. He set a record that would hold for 33 years, Parent won a record of 47 games. He also would be the goalie to shutout the Bruins in game six. He was crowned the Conn Smythe Trophy winner (An award given to the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs). Parent would also go on to win the Vezina Trophy along with Blackhawks goalie Tony Esposito.
In the 1974-75 Finals, the Flyers went on to win back-to-back Stanley Cups. Parent won the Vezina again, Clarke earned himself another Hart Memorial Trophy, and Dave “The Hammer” Schultz topped his record in penalty minutes from 348 to 472.
The Flyers swept the Toronto Maple Leafs in four. They took on another New York team but this one being across the Brooklyn Bridge, the Islanders. The Flyers looked hopeful to sweep the Islanders with leading the series 3-0. However, unexpectedly the Islanders won the next three games pushing a game seven. Fortunately, the Flyers were able to snag their back-to-back Finals appearances with a 4-1 win.
The Finals
The Buffalo Sabres and the Philadelphia Flyers battled it out. The Flyers won games one and two. Game three was one for the ages as it became known as “The Fog Game”. Buffalo took games three and four, and game five the Flyers showed pure grit and won 5-1. Game six saw the Flyers win the Cup. Thanks to Bob Kelly and a fifth playoff shutout from Parent (A record may I add). The Flyers won their legendary second Cup, and Parent was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy once again.
The early history of the Broad Street Bullies are always one to be spoken about. They are one of the most exciting teams to talk about. We can only hope that in the coming 2020-21 season, the boys will get back to their Broad Street Bully ways.
