A Flyers Trip Down Memory Lane

While the NHL is planning to resume the season during a pandemic, and while we are still stuck at home. I figured we could take a stroll down memory lane. With the anniversary of the Flyers back-to-back Stanley Cup wins just a few days ago, I thought now is a good time to look back on the iconic games and players.

Starting with the basics of their 1973-74 postseason. In the quarterfinals, the Flyers defeated the Atlanta Flames in a 4-0 series. Onto the Semifinals, the orange and black defeated an original six team, the New York Rangers 4-3 in a best of seven series. Finally, in the finals they defeated another original six team, the Boston Bruins in 4-2 in a best of seven series. Their head coach was Fred Shero, and the Flyers overall record for the season was 50-16-12 finishing with 112 points and first in the Western Division. The Flyers finished with an astounding postseason record of 12-5. 

Now to their back-to-back cup season, 1974-75. In the quarterfinals they shut out none other than the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0 in a best of seven series. In the Semifinals they outlasted the New York Islanders in a seven game series. Moreover, in the finals they defeated the Buffalo Sabres in a six game series, 4-2. Their coach was still Fred Shero, and their overall record on the season was 51-18-11, finishing with one more point than the prior season with 113. For their efforts, the Flyers finished first in the Patrick division, with a postseason record of 12-5.

Goalie Bernie Parent returned to the Flyers during the offseason. With the addition of Parent back, that added hope and promise to the Flyers roster and way of play. When they clinched the West Division spot, it was against the Boston Bruins with a 5-3 victory. Chicago was in first place in the West for three seasons, until the Flyers displaced them in 1973-74. This was the momemt when people were proven that the Flyers meant business, and that they were here to stay. 

With the 1974 cup victory, Bernie Parent was crowned with the Conn Smythe Trophy. Like his team being back-to-back winners, so was he. He was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy after their 1975 win, and rightfully so. Parent was the goalie for all seventeen postseason games. He achieved two shutouts in the playoffs, one against the New York Rangers, and the other versus the Boston Bruins when they won the Stanley Cup in game six. One of the most memorable moments of that series was when Parent kick saved Ken Hodge’s slap shot, that gave him one of the most iconic shutouts in NHL and Flyers history for that matter.

The Flyers hadn’t won against the Bruins at the Boston Garden since 1967. The Bruins of course were the favorite to win the finals. It would have been their third championship in five years, but it wasn’t until Bobby Clarke’s overtime goal in game two that gave the Flyers fire under their skates. Again for their efforts, they ended up taking the title in six games.

The 1975 Stanley Cup finals had a moment that might be one of the strangest still to this day. The third game of the series was the infamous Bat and Fog incident. During most of the game there was a bat flying around the rink and it affected the players. Buffalo Sabres Jim Lorentz eventually killed the bat with his stick. One odd moment after the other, due to lack of air conditioning in the arena on an unusually warm May in Buffalo. The rink was filled with fog to the point that most spectators couldn’t view the puck or anyone on the ice. A larger portion of the game was played in the fog. It was so bad that employees of the arena skated on the ice with bed sheets trying to banish the fog. 

These are just a few knowledgeable moments in Flyers history worth talking about to this day. Whether it be back-to-back Cups, shutouts, series sweeps, fog, or even a bat. The Flyers have always remained an unpredictable and memorable team.