Bernie Parent: Backbone of the Broad Street Bullies

When Bernie Parent entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984, the selection could not be argued or doubted. Parent starred in the NHL from 1965-66 until an eye injury prematurely ended his career during the 1978-79 National Hockey League season.

With the Boston Bruins owning his rights, Parent played his junior hockey for the Boston sponsored Niagara Falls Flyers of the Ontario Hockey Association. That version of the Flyers is now the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League. He was nearly unbeatable between the pipes for Niagara Falls in 1964-65 as he led the team to a Robertson Cup victory as OHA champions and a Memorial Cup victory as Canadian major junior champs.

Parent played his first two seasons of professional hockey split between the Bruins and the CPHL’s Oklahoma City Blazers. The Blazers and Bruins were amazingly full of strong youth in net with Bernie, Gerry Cheevers and Doug Favell. He played 39 games with the Bruins in his rookie season, 1965-66, but that number fell to 18 the following season.

The Philadelphia Flyers joined the NHL for the 1967-68 season, along with five other teams, doubling the size of the league from six to twelve teams. The Flyers selected Bernie in the expansion draft and he played most of the rest of his career with the club.

It wasn’t until the following year that players from the six expansion teams were featured on hockey cards. The Bernie Parent rookie card is without a doubt the first highly valued impact card showing a player from one of the new teams. The card appears as number 89 in both the 1968-69 O-Pee-Chee and 1968-69 Topps sets and is the highest valued rookie card in that year.

In 1970-71, Bernie Parent was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs mid-season. He played the rest of that season and the next with the Leafs. In a long string of big mistakes by Toronto, Parent’s services were not retained and he jumped to the World Hockey Association for the 1972-73 season.

Bernie played 63 games for the WHA’s Philadelphia Blazers in the league’s first year of existence. The team was unstable, beginning life as the Miami Screaming Eagles but moving to Philadelphia before a single game was played in Florida. Two professional teams proved too much for Philadelphia and the team moved to Vancouver the following season. Bernie didn’t follow the team, staying in Philadelphia and rejoining the Flyers.

Parent’s return to the NHL was nothing short of magical. Bernie won 47 of the 73 games he played in 1973-74, a record for most wins by a goaltender that has since been surpassed by Martin Brodeur. The Flyers won the Stanley Cup in both 1973-74 and 1974-75 with Parent being awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy both years. Both years also saw him win the Vezina Trophy.

The year following his exit from the NHL, Philadelphia retired his number 1. As mentioned above, Bernie Parent became an honoured member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984 after a stellar career with the Broad Street Bullies.

 

Philadelphia Flyers: 6 Times the Bridesmaids

The Philadelphia Flyers were the first of the 1967-68 NHL expansion teams to hoist the Stanley Cup. The Flyers won twice in a row, over the Boston Bruins in 1973-74 and over the Buffalo Sabres in 1974-75. Since, the team has been the Stanley Cup finals six more times but has yet to be crowned champions for a third time.

1975-76

In 1975-76, the Flyers were poised to make it a three-peat. The team finished second overall during the regular season, behind only the Montreal Canadiens. In the quarter-finals, the Toronto Maple Leafs took them to seven games but the Flyers prevailed. Philadelphia then met the Boston Bruins in the semi-finals and had an easier time with a tougher team, winning in five games.

The Flyers met Montreal in the Stanley Cup finals. The Broad Street Bullies were trying to create a dynasty but the Canadiens decided to start their own instead. The Habs swept the Flyers in what was their first of four consecutive championships. Reggie Leach of the Flyers scored 19 goals, a playoff record that stands today. Leach was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP in the losing cause. Reg also led the team in points with 24.

1979-80

After finishing first overall during the regular season, the Flyers found themselves at the wrong end of another budding dynasty in 1979-80. Philly met up with the New York Islanders in the finals and lost in six games. It would be the first of four consecutive for the Long Island squad.

On the road to the final series, Philadelphia beat the Edmonton Oilers in the preliminary round 3-0, the New York Rangers 4-1 in the quarter-finals and the Minnesota North Stars 4-1 in the semi-finals. Ken Linseman led the Flyers with 22 points.

1984-85

Philadelphia finished first overall again in 1984-85. After sweeping the Rangers in the division semi-final and losing just one game to the Islanders in the division final, the Flyers took out the Quebec Nordiques in six to win the conference.

The team came up against Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers in the finals and lost the series in five games. Brian Propp led the club with 18 playoff points.

1986-87

It was déjà vu in 1986-87 with the Flyers once again coming up against the Oilers in the finals. This time, Philadelphia pushed the series to the limit but succumbed to Edmonton in seven. For the second time in their history, the Flyers had a player awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy despite losing in the finals. Ron Hextall took the award in his first year in the NHL. Brian Propp once again led the team in post season scoring with 28 points.

1996-97

The Flyers didn’t make it back to the finals until 1996-97. The team finished fourth overall during the regular season, behind the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils. Like 1975-76 against the Canadiens, Philadelphia was swept in the final series.

Philly lost just three games in the first three rounds, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers. The Detroit Red Wings were simply a powerhouse and took just four games to eliminate the Flyers. Eric Lindros led the club with 26 playoff points. It marked the last NHL games for Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk.

2009-10

Despite finishing seventh in the Eastern Conference during the 2009-10 regular season, the Flyers plowed through to meet the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup final. Chicago took the series in six games. It was a real accomplishment, considering the team’s regular season point total would have placed them as low as 12^th if they were in the West.

The Flyers knocked off the New Jersey Devils 4-1 in the first round before stretching the next series with the Boston Bruins to the full seven games. In the conference final, Philadelphia beat the Montreal Canadiens in five. Daniel Briere led the team with 30 points in the playoffs.