Growing up in Detroit, my friends and I went to every Flyers vs Red Wings game 1970-1981). Because we knew those would be the most intense games of the entire season. ONLY now, 50 years later, do we realize we actually LOVED Philadelphia because it brought out the games that are far more intense and exciting than any other since them. When the Flyers beat Russia, we (Red Wing fans) all became Flyer fans. To this day us long time Red Wing fans love Flyers. The most memorable games in our lives.
Homegrown Flyers fan. When my daughter was born, we went to a store in the Delaware Valley and Parent was there. Parent sat with my family and held my daughter, the first non-family member to do so. He played with her, and I have a photo that my wife put into a frame with my favorite goalie chuckling as he tickled my daughter under the chin. It's a cherished keepsake. Any time someone mentions Parent around my daughter, she belts out, "Love Bernie!"
From a montrealer :who was the worst enemy of Philly from 68 to 80 St.louis / cross state Pittsburgh/ big bad bruins / Broadway blueshirts ( n.y.r ) / flying Frenchman ( Habs) / honorable mention to Atlanta.
Bernie Parent was the best goalie I ever saw, and his two consecutive Conn Smythe Trophies support that contention. The Broad Street Bullies were great, an inspiration.
Back in the 70s, the Flyers were my least favorite NHL team, but as Phil Esposito mentioned in the video, "The Flyers could not have won the Stanley Cup a couple of times if they did not have the talent" and it is so true. They really did have some excellent players and some are now in the Hall of Fame from those Flyer teams.
@@CB-dc9qj I totally agree it would have been interesting if Bernie wasn't injured in 76. Even without him Wayne Stephenson was pretty good. It was basically a seven game series that just happened to go in four
I was blessed as a kid in the eighties,,all of those guys would come to Sea Isle City for our hockey league,,they would play our police and fire fighters in softball games and vacation down there,, different times,, Awesome!!
Gene Hart still still gives me goose bumps!! I am a native Philadelphian and we have been BLESSED with WORLD CLASS ANNOUNCERS! Hart.....Harry Kalas....Merrill Reese.....amazing!
Gonna be a dark dark day in Philly when Merrill passes, “and the game is over, The Philadelphia Eagles are Super Bowl champions” will be burned into my brain permanently. The new wave of announcers have been great too, Scott Franzke has been great, the bedlam at the bank call with Larry A screaming in the backround will live forever in Philly broadcasting history
Man, talk about some tough old dudes. I love the stories from the old hockey players, like the old wrestlers. It was much different world 50 years ago.
@@creeper2054 Yeah, it's a metatarsophalangeal joint sprain, in the big toe. Heals completely in 2-3 weeks, but can be played through with no detriment to healing. Not a sprained ankle, or knee, or shoulder, a big toe. Let me guess, you were definitely born after 2000, or you haven't played competitive sports since you were in grade school? edit: nm, I just watched some of your vids. The only way you would have ever developed turf toe would be tripping over the all you can eat surf and turf bar at the local discount eatery
I remember listening to Sunday night hockey on CBC radio around 1972, 73 and 74 when Montreal would be playing at the Spectrum. The crowd was electric when Philly would score.
As a youngster I saw a few games vs my beloved Blackhawks. The fights between Magnuson and Schultz were epic fights. I found out later that those 2 men truly despised one another, it was until many years later that Kieth Magnuson's son would have anything to do with Dave Schultz. I believe that the hatchet was buried then by the son for the Father. I loved that the Flyers defeated the Bruins in the Cup Finals 1973-74 and then the Buffalo Sabres in 1974-75. They were what blue collar was all about. I miss the hard nosed style of play from that time, I wish it could come back but alas the league wants a more friendly game, not the games that were loaded with deep seeded rivalry that made Hockey truly what it is. Tony Esposito was my favorite goalie but Bernie is right there with him.
@@Rockhound6165 As of when? Keith Magnuson died in 2003 in an automobile crash. He was the passenger in the car driven by Rob Ramage, he was only 56 years old at the time. I do not know if he and Shultz buried the hatchet or not.
@@Rockhound6165 That may be possible, I do know that at one time they would not piss on the other if they were on fire. They absolutely hated each other. Also like I said Magnuson was killed in a car wreck in 2003. So if it what before then I hadn't heard about it. I know the Son has said they reconciled but I really haven't seen anything anywhere that says they did.
“ Ladies and gentlemen, the Flyers are going to win the Stanley Cup, the Flyers win the Stanley Cup, the Flyers win the Stanley Cup, the Flyers have won the Stanley Cup!” Good ole Gene Hart!…We still miss ya Gene.👍
for the first time ever ...a post 1967 team... have become the Champions on a great effort by the entire club... Bernie Parent is being literally mobbed... Bobby Clark was thrown to his back by his teammates i had the Championship album as a kid. i listened to it so much , i just read your post and wrote what he said next.
I was lucky enough to be coached by one of the bullies when I played for my high school varsity team in Delaware and he came the same year. Needless to say, I will never forget that. Number 27 is the best. Great documentary.
@scentless apprentice ~ Reggie Leach helped assure the Flyers 2nd consecutive cup 1975 in a big way. Very cool you got to play for him. He also scored 61 goals in the 75-76 season then became Conn Mythe Trophy winner on a losing team in 76 finals to Montreal. The Rifle scored 19 playoff goals that year for a grand total of 80 including regular season
That’s incredible When I played for my high school team my father was able to arrange for us to play at the spectrum for 4 straight years and it was great and we won every time we played there
The Flyers from 1971 to 1987 were just phenomenal and electrifying to say the least. They put on a fantastic display every time they were on the ice. 9 of their 16 division titles, their only two Stanley Cup titles and six Eastern Conference titles in that span.
Я русский, и хотя в Суперсерии-1972, Кларк сломал лодыжку Харламову, его Очень уважаю - Великий Игрок! Для меня он Идеал центрфорварда, одинаково кормил передачами и Билла Барбера и Реджи Лича! А ведь был болен Диабетом! Долгих ему лет!
Flyers were prettty consistent through 2012. Even in 2012 we had a legit shot at the finals. However, for the past 10 seasons they've been the worst organization in professional sports
I'm a Flames fan and I loved listening to their games on Flyers Radio in the 1970s in Canada. I forget the radio call sign but I still remember one of their big sponsers: Tastykake! "Tastykakes are all the good things, all the good things wrapped up in one!" BLESSINGS!
I've been a hockey fan and more specifically a Flyers fan since I first saw a game all the way back in 1972. I've bled as the team bled. Celebrated the thrill of victory and suffered the agony of defeat. And they weren't just a team of hockey players, they were a part of the community. They were regular guys. They mentioned playing softball. It wasn't uncommon for the Flyers to play a local police department or fire department in a charity softball game but afterwards they would be seen at a home of one of the cops or firemen at a post game BBQ. Today most players wouldn't piss on a fan if they were on fire but then, they were just as blue collar as the rest of the community hence drinking at a local watering hole everyone else would drink at. THIS is why this team is so beloved. They were one of us. Sadly this franchise is a mere shell of what it once was.
I too have been a flyer fan since 72 and you are right back then it was different the players had more closeness with the fans and I was able participate in those softball games and what thrill it was and played a lot of street hockey as well I have been to a parade for everyone our sports teams and they were just incredible and loved every minute of it
Sadly, the franchise is a mere shell of itself because it's now owned by a corporation (Comcast) than a singular person or small group of people. Though, with the hire of Jonesy and Danny as president and GM that might change. I recall the past 2 years going to games where my one nephew was part of the Mites On Ice during intermission and the music they would play after a goal or during TV timeouts was like something at a teen rave and this isn't what Flyer fans are about. Being a Flyer fan is almost like being in a cult as it doesn't have the popularity of being an Eagles or Phillies fan, but it's possibly more dedicated and intense. Philly is a football town first and foremost, but the underlying fan base of Flyers fans has been consistent since the early 70s. Thankfully they've now returned to more of a true Flyers atmosphere at home. Think the corporation did some BS analytics and test marketing trying to grow the fan base and realized they were wrong. Also, hockey players are probably the most down to Earth of the 4 major sports. Back in the day the now defunct Main Street Pub in Voorhees and Kaminsky's in Cherry Hill would get Flyers players and I've ran into some of them and they were all cool humble guys. I also ran into (then) present and former players at my job and again they were all nice and pretty much normal guys. It has been a while since I've come across a player and it would be hard to imagine that they have changed that much.
I was raised in the Bulkley Valley during the late sixties and early seventies.I knew Jim Watson. I was sitting in the Smithers barber shop having a haircut as a 5 to 6 year old boy.The Flyers were knocked out in the playoffs before they won 2 cups.Joe and Jim were there watching Montreal in the playoffs.All I could say was "look at them go mom,look at them go".Joe said look at us now we are sitting here.I loved Canadian teams as a young boy
I'm 62 and was born and raised in Philly but now I live in Colorado. I'm still a Flyers fan and wear my jersey with pride out here in Colorado. The Broad Street Bullies were were the Lords of the Land when I was a kid growing up. Every kid wanted to be like them. We all had neighborhood street hockey teams and every weekend we played for our own version of the Stanley Cup. There was no better time and no better place to be a kid than Philadelphia in the 70's.
"There are guys in this town who forget their anni- versaries, can't remember the kids' birthdays; but any one of them can, even 40 years later, show you which tree they hung from during the 1975 Flyers parade." -the Great Philadelphia Fan Book (paraphrased) True dat.
I got to meet some of these amazing men that I grew up hearing about from my parents. They were playing in the Gene Hart memorial golf tournament. We got to sit down and eat lunch with them. Bob Kelly was the sweetest! Bernie was all smiles, but Schultz wasn’t that friendly. Other famous Flyers were there but none could compare to the bullies. Great memory ❤
We Flyers fans have waited so damn long for another Stanley Cup championship(Going on 50 years as of 2025) That it absolutely makes me sick that the owner and the front office are doing absolutelt NOTHING to make it happen 1 All we have are our memories of the glorious past, The Broad Street Bullies and the two Stanley cups they won in 1974 and 1975. Thank God for those wonderful memories of those glorious years and legendary players.
When hockey was still hockey, I'm old and miss this version of the NHL, it's far more entertaining than the weiner pinching clutch and grab way its played today
When I was 14 years old living in north Philly. FLYERS were the greatest thing in the world. Now am 64 I don't like them being called bullies. Cause they were a small team in the beginning of the team. And they were always getting beat up. Then they got bigger players and started fighting back. That's not being bullies. That's fighting back for yourself. The flyers of the 70s will always be the greatest team ever in the history of the FLYERS and they weren't bullies. They were only fighting back that's not a bully
I was playing Pee Wee hockey in 1974-75 for my home town team in Alberta Canada. I grew up in a small farming community and our team had 9 players. We all loved the Flyers and played hockey just like them fights and all. I was the captain and wore #16 :) Our Pee Wee team would destroy any team today! We played full contact hockey with no face shields and we were brutal! Yet no one got permanently injured in our league. Imagine that eh soccer Moms! Anyway, our coach was 19 and we won our league championship playing broad street bully hockey but the next year we got kicked out and had to join another league....lol I played defense and was 3rd in that league in scoring. I watch my grandsons play now and the no contact thing is just not hockey to me. They cant hit each other and yet are wearing way better equipment than we ever had! Too many Moms at the rink and this crap happens!
I saw the Flyers at the Spectrum when I was in the Navy and bought a Flyers cap. I wore it when my ship USS Cleveland LPD7 arrived in Inchon South Korea. A cab driver offered me a free ride if I gave him the cap. I gave it to him. He beamed in delight.
0:55 Opening 1:04 Wild show 2:05 Great opening narration 15:00 Physical play opened up previously unseen flow of offense. 15:46 Bernie Parent 17:29 Talent 18:51 Philadelphia longing for a lift. 21:20 Part of the people. Rexy’s. 22:41 1973-74 record. 23:12 Coach Fred Shero. 25:39 NY Rangers 28:03 Boston Bruins (I wonder if any Flyers were also 76ers fans and felt this was like revenge for all those times the Celtics eliminated the 76ers.) 28:59 DuPont’s Game 2 tying goal and Clarke’s winning OT goal. 30:36 Kate Smith 33:30 Flyers win Cup. 34:26 1974 Parade. 43:17 Schultz song 44:09 Schultz Intro 44:55 Arms race 53:44 Canadiens in the 1976 Finals 55:00 End of Run 56:55 Legacy 58:41 End Credits
Bernie Parent was my idol as a teenage goalie from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in the 70's and the Flyers were my team. The Edmonton Oilers didnt come into the NHL until the 80's. I still have my bumper sticker that says "only God saves more than Bernie Parent"....the Flyers are my team still, but a close 2nd to my Oilers nowadays.
been a flyers fan since i was a kid in collingswood, the bullies were the best, i still tell people that to this day, i remember from the cup on thru the 70 s and 80 s, they always played great and were physically better than any team, the flyers tught the nhl how to play hockey,....remember the russian game in 76??i live in l.a. now, but still follow the flyers, the team that brought philly together many times, also lived in the same town rexys was in,...lol
They're right. If they weren't winning the Cup, no one would have cared. They were "bad for the game" until they pasted the Red Army. Then they were not so bad for the game anymore. Flyers are a prime example of what happens when great players are paired with a great coach. "God bless America."
author of THE DEATH TAX sez: My fave Shero-isms: "Choose the shortest route to the puck between Point A and point B--and arrive in a bad humor" and "Practice is over when Bobby Clark says it's over." CLASSIC logo, the NHL's best along with the Hawks. Amusing to think my chippy Blues were the catalyst behind the Broad Street Bullies!
Grew up watching these guys...lol...What a time in hockey history! Gotta say this tho....as big as the S/Cup parade was when they won their 1st....if.....and it's a BIG if...lol...the Leafs EVER win again the celebration will be THE biggest ever seen! We haven't won in my 54 years and we are STARVED for a Cup! It will be huuuuuge!
Always my favorite team by far,they stood up an ran roughshod everyday.. They have made a impact that every team should go thru... A niche in hockey for sure..❤
Hello! I NHL and Pens fan from Eastern Europe! I love Flyers, it fantastic team, many decades different players build Flyers hockey legacy. From "Street Bullies" to Eric Lindros "legion of Doom". Flyers create they game style, which became traditional and "they" style in full meaning of this word, Flyers have they uniq play style and Flyers spirit. I very wanted Flyers win in Cup Final against Detroit, I very love what team with Eric and sad what Flyers come bloodless to final, they lost too much power in games before and functionally not be able to show they game. I must admit, what hockey fans see this many times in finals, when one team come to final tired and not able to play they winning game. Very important and legendary story be how Flyers beaten Red Army team. In fact, in what match Flyers defeted USSR team roster (CSKA always be the main base club for team USSR). Wow! Flyers played very grammatically, they not try to be "good boys for beating", they wanted to defeat Sovok and they done it! I knew Flyers story, but it be very important to watch this dcumentary film, I knew much new information and most important I feel how important this team for this city, it people. It real Family, and the Hockey magic make Philadelphia a big, union family! Great thanks for this film, I undertand and feel the soul of Philadelphia. My respect and best wishes to tarrific Flyers team and to all Philadelphia city!
The biggest personality on the team is always the goalie. You have to be off to enjoy frozen rubber rocket's fired at and bouncing off yr body. I only played street with makeshift Frankenstein pads made out of duct tape and phone books. God I miss those days. Also, I like to smell things too.
Ah this brings back memories of my Delaware County adolescence. Thank you Sports Odyssey for posting this. And thank you HBO (which I've never had) for producing it.
Growing up in the 70s I HATED the Flyers-- like everyone else who didnt live in Philly. Then dad comes home one day in '77 and says, I took a new job and we're moving.....to Philly! I said you cant be serious, I'll never root for that team. Six months later I was completely hooked on Flyers hockey. Great old days.
Man from 77 to 83 every team in Philly. Eagles,Flyers,Phillies,Sixers All made the championship game at least once. With the sixers making 4 finals and winning it in 83 and the Phillies making 2 world series winning in 80. If you count 74 and 75 Flyers? You cant find a better 10 year span for any sports town.
I didn't grow up in the 70's, but everyone where I was born and grew up in mostly likes the Flyers, some have have switched to the Jets now. The main reason being, Bobby Clarke was born here, and played Juniors and Reggie Leach played Juniors here as well, both on the Flin Flon Bombers, both at the same time. But Clarke was actually born here in Flin Flon, Manitoba.
Theyre like the Raiders of Hockey... I knew I liked em for a reason lol.. Im only 39 and can remember the days of the Legion of Doom..Lindros Leclair Coffey...
@@MRHEEL-ys2rq Hey bud ~ Coffey was there during Lindros years but Legion of Doom Line was LeClair Lindros Renberg. All 6-5 240, 6-3 230, 6-2 225... big fast athletic n physical as well as all great hockey players. Coffey was defenseman and one of hockey's all time greats for sure. Your recollection of Coffey during the Lindros Era is correct.
@@charleschiselcarfagnochise6483 I thought so cause they used to hit the hell out of guys.. Especially when they would play New York and Detroit with Federov
Been a flyer fan since 72 went to the parade in 74 and 75 loved every minute of it everyone else hated us including the NHL President but we didn’t care and still don’t
Philly Quakers began in PITT as the PIRATES in the late autumn of 1925, and played thru the spring of 1930, moving to PHILLY in the late autumn of '30..
My mother and both sisters were huge Flyers fans... because they all had massive crushes on the toothless smiling Bobby Clarke! They went with me when I was like 7yrs old to an autograph signing with Bobby and Bernie and Ricky....and my sister's were shaking like the Flyers were the Beatles...lol. When I went to a Flyers camp playing youth hockey and 9yrs old...my old man banned the women in the family from going anywhere near the rink!
There are some suspect memories going on here; Bob Kelly throwing thirty punches before his opponent could throw one? The fight they show during this commentary is against Rick Dudley and Kelly gets knocked to his knees and then knocked onto his back a few seconds later. Every hockey fan thinks their favorite team's tough players won every fight they ever had, but RU-vid shows that these memories are hazy at best.
With all due respect, Maybe someday HBO will do a show about your heroes. Until then, recognize the title and show a little respect for a pack of Hall of Famers nerd. And I said with all due respect so I can say what I want. That’s what that means 😊
Hey even Schultz had some well publicized losses like Kelly and the other bullies but none of them got the ass kicking that would hurt their confidence and we still won two Stanley Cups and look what they did to the Russians so we won a majority of the fights
Untalented Canadian players as has always been the case. Bobby Clarke is a disgrace to the game and is hated by every true hockey fan outside of Philadelphia and an asshole on and off the ice
I played roller hockey on quads back in the 80's in New York. What a great time we had. Who remembers when the Bruins came to New York and a fan grabbed a Bruins player's hockey stick and all the Boston Bruins climbed the glass literally and went into the crowd and were beating up the Ranger fans?! One Bruin player had taken off the shoe of a fan and was hitting him with it.
The Flyers are the first expansion team ever to win the Stanley Cup in 1974. Also, the Flyers never lost a game at the Spectrum when Kate Smith sang "God Bless America" instead of "The Star Spangled Banner" prior to the opening faceoff.
She always praised the people of Philadelphia and the Flyers hockey team for giving her singing career a reboot which was unheard of for a woman of her age at that time. I mean she was in her late 60’s when she would sing god bless America at the spectrum so her prime was back in the 1920’s and 30’s. Which makes it even more infuriating with the way the city officials have treated her legacy by removing her statue because she was in some movie where they had actors in black face , back in the 1930’s . Enough to make it me sick .
Funny, but ever since the Bullies first picked up that mantle, Boston fans thought of them as the B's crazy younger brother. They fought 'em, Oh how they fought 'em, but fans LOVED when Philly was coming to town. And as for Montreal 'teaching them a lesson', no Bruins fan I ever met would root for Montreal no matter the circumstances.
AS a Blackhawks fan I wouldn't root for the Canadiens either. If the team was on fire I wouldn't p!$$ on them to help put out the fire. They broke my heart in the early 70's when the defeated my beloved Blackhawks. So that is where I stand as a 12 year old I rooted for the "Bullies" to take out the Canadiens.
For my 10th birthday my dad took me to my first Flyers game. This was before the Broad Street Bullies and the Cup teams. You could actually get tickets to the games in the early 70's. The opponent on this cold Jan. night was the St. Louis Blues and the nasty Plager Brothers. In between periods a fight erupted in the stands with Flyers fans and the Blues with the Plagers in the middle of it. Years later it came up in conversation and I asked my dad " We weren't that close to the mayhem. were we Dad?" He paused and looked at me and said," we weren't that far away from it." To this day I still don't like the Blues. I think i heard years later the police got into the fight also and arrested Barclay Plager after the game. Can't make this stuff up!
Liev Schreiber has also narrated "Longshots:The History of the American Basketball Association" and was co-narrator of "Rebels With A Cause:The History of the American Football League" with Curt Gowdy and veteran television announcer Hal Douglas.
I remember in 1974 when Bobby Orr took that late 3rd period penalty in game 6. Orr highlights was always against weaker teams. And now Clarke, Leitch, Parent, Barber, proved Orr was good against a good team. But no better than the best on the other team.
'Orr highlights was always against weaker teams'... Yeah sorry, gotta call BS there.... This is Bobby Friggen Orr we're talking about... Only the greatest talent to ever lace them up... Show some respect, seriously.... How many times has a D-man led the league in scoring?... TWICE... Bobby and, of course... ORR!!!! ...Greatest career +/- ever , by far... More than a goal a game better than the opposition... even playing in pain and on one leg half the time... I saw him play even as a junior... and , unlike you, I know of whence I speak... But NICE TRY...
Those Flyers teams led by Dave Schultz, Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber, Reggie Leach, Gary Doernhoefer, Ross Lonsberry, Ken Linseman, Ed Van Impe, just to name a few along with legendary goalie Bernie Parent.
I can understand the comparisons between the Big Bad Bruins and the Broad Street Bullies. The Bruins were more physical on the ice, muscling their opponents (aside from Orr, but he was much more competitive.). The Flyers just fought a lot more.
He needed his own "McSorley". Gretzky got bullied, and then he had his own personal enforcer. If you hit Gretzky, you were going to meet Marty. Gretzky's entire career, he had someone on his team that made sure he wasn't getting cheap shotted.
The NHL (Team Canada) beat the best Russian players BEFORE that, in 1972 at the Summit Series. Bobby Clarke was there so this was nothing new to him, only to the Flyers.
They actually caused the red hockey army to change head coach, to make life for the players of the Soviet team a living hell for many years... And later on, Detroit got their famous russian five.
The early years of the Panthers they used to hold practice between public skates,I was standing by a mat watching and this executive for the club asked not to step on it .everyone kept asking for his autograph. It was Bobby Clarke .I was new to hockey so I didn’t know who he was .I had to look him up when I got home .
