Meet the Flyers The personality of most hockey teams changes from season to season Some years a team has a powerful offense and se and other years it has a tight defense Sometimes a great coach leads cchh lleeaaddss the way and other times it’s an amazing goalie The Philadelphia delphia Flyers have a funny way of putting the same kind of team on the n the ice year after year The Flyers value size strength teamwork ork and unselfish play Remarkable things can happen when a team is built this way Everyday players find ways to raise their games Stars do the little things that lead to victory And in the stands the fans cheer with enormous pride and pleasure This book tells the story of the Flyers They are a tough hardworking team in a tough hardworking city Players may come to the Flyers from all over the world but when their careers are over they definitely take a little Philly attitude with them Kimmo Timonen and Claude Giroux talk strategy after a goal during the 2012 13 season 5
Glory Days During the 1950s and 1960s the National Hockey League NHL found success by keeping things small Only six teams competed for the Stanley Cup each season In the mid 1960s the league decided it was time to expand The NHL added six new clubs all in the United States two in the west one in the north one in the midwest and two in Pennsylvania the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Flyers To stock the new teams the NHL held a special draft With their first two picks the Flyers took Bernie Parent and Doug Favell both young goaltenders Philadelphia also added Ed Van Impe who was runner-up for Rookie of the Year a season earlier and another defensemen Joe Watson Also coming to the team in the draft was Gary Dornhoefer and Lou Angotti an experienced center who would be named the team’s first captain 6
To create excitement for fans the NHL grouped all the new teams together in the West Division That meant that an expansion team was guaranteed to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals For most of the 1967 68 season the Flyers looked like the best bet to compete for the championship Favell and Parent were excellent in goal while Angotti led the club in scoring Philadelphia finished in first place but lost in the playoffs The Flyers bowed out in the first round the following season too Both times they were beaten by a more physical opponent Ed Snider the Flyers owner became frustrated He vowed that he would build a team that no one would push around In the first round of the 1969 draft Philadelphia selected Bobby Clarke He fit Snider’s plan perfectly Clarke was a physical defender who was not scared of a hard check He was also an expert at taking faceoffs Clarke teamed with Bill Barber and Bill Flett This trio helped the Flyers win their first Stanley Cup in 1973 74 It marked the first time an expansion club had won the NHL title LEFT Ed Van Impe was one of Philadelphia’s first stars ABOVE Bernie Parent slides to his right to make a save 7
