In 1974, the first championship fruition of the Great Expansion of 1967 took place as an expansion team was to hoist the Holy Grail of hockey. The Stanley Cup was the personal property of the NHL’s famed Original Six teams for decades prior, but a young team of ruffians from Philadelphia was about to make history.
Big Bad Bruins
In 1974 the Boston Bruins were the closest thing that the National Hockey League had to being America’s Team. With superstar defenseman Bobby Orr, arguably the greatest player of all time, along with scoring machine Phil Esposito at center ice, the Bruins were two time Stanley Cup champions in 1970 and 1972. Just as important, the Bruins won with style, flair, personality, and dominance
Esposito had 68 goals for Boston to lead the team in 1974, while Orr added 32 goals and 90 assists. Right winger Ken Hodge was still a key contributor to the Bruins with 50 goals.
The Bruins were beginning to age, however, and Orr was constantly battling knee issues. Center Derek Sanderson, who left the team in 1972 for the riches of the Philadelphia Blazers of the World Hockey Association, returned in disgrace and was a mere shell of his former self. The biggest loss of all was goaltender Gary Cheevers, who also bolted for the WHA’s Cleveland Crusaders. The loss of Cheesy would prove to be fatal in the 1974 Stanley Cup Final against Philadelphia. Gilles Gilbert would prove to be good, but not quite good enough, as Cheevers’ replacement.
Broad Street Bullies
The Philadelphia Flyers were part of the Great Expansion of 1967 in which the NHL doubled in size from six to twelve teams. The Flyers had made a tactical decision to get tough after being pushed around by the tough St. Louis Blues, another 1967 expansion team. What emerged as a team that became known as the Broad Street Bullies. Left winger Dave Schultz came to epitomize the Flyers fighting ways with 348 penalty minutes. Moose Dupont added 216 penalty minutes on defense.
What gets lost in all the hype about the Broad Street Bullies is that they had talented skilled players to go with the rough house tactics. Center Bobby Clarke was a charismatic captain that led the Flyers with 35 goals and 52 assists. Another center, Rick MacLeish, had 32 goals and 45 assists. Left wing Bill Barber added 34 goals and 35 assists. Dupont was a strong shutdown defenseman to go with his brawling. But the key for the Flyers was goaltender Bernie Parent, who dominated with a 1.89 goals against average. Parent would prove to be the difference in the Stanley Cup Final of 1974.
Game Two Turns Tide
Boston had never lost a home game to the Flyers in the first 19 meetings and scored a 3-2 win in game one as Orr made a late save, blocking the open Boston net, and then took the puck for a rush that ended in a game winning slap shot goal. It was the type of play that fans loved Orr for and why he is a hockey legend.
In game two, Dupont tied the game in the final minute after Parent was pulled for the extra attacker. Clarke then lit the lamp in overtime to even the series and trigger the beginning of the end of the Boston dynasty. The Flyers now believed that they could pull off the upset.
Game Six
The Flyers took a 3-2 series lead as they hosted game six at the Spectrum with a chance to close the series. Game seven would be played in Boston if the Bruins could pull of a win. Kate Smith sang “God Bless America” as a good luck charm for the Flyers. It was the perfect start to a historic day.
The Bruins threw everything they had at Parent and the Flyers in front of a frenzied sellout crowd and national TV audience on NBC. Parent was phenomenal in stopping all 30 Boston shots for the shutout win. The Flyers won the Stanley Cup as radio announcer Gene Hart kept screaming, “The Flyers have won the Stanley Cup!” over and over again. Flyer fans climbed over the glass to take to the ice to celebrate with the team. A Stanley Cup parade a few days later would draw over one million fans. It was the largest sports celebration in Philadelphia history. It was an upset that rivaled Super Bowl III for its significance.
Changing of the Guard
The dejected Bruins could not believe that they had lost the Cup to an upstart expansion team. Esposito has never gotten over it and says that Parent was the clear difference in the series. Parent won the Conn Smyth Trophy as the playoff Most Valuable Player. The Flyers would go on to win the Stanley Cup again in 1975 while Boston would not see Stanley again until 2011.
