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
The following season the Flyers replaced Flett on Clarke’s line with Reggie Leach The two had played junior hockey together and were a great one-two punch The result was better than the team could have dreamed The Flyers won another championship that spring and then reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the third time in a row in 1975 76 In all the LCB Line L for Leach C for Clarke and B for Barber would play together for nine seasons Just as their owner had planned the Flyers won their two Stanley Cups with a combination of skill and intimidation The NHL did not discourage violence and fighting during the 1970s and Philadelphia took advantage The Flyers were known as the Broad Street Bullies daring opponents to trade punches with them Dave Schultz Bob Kelly Don Saleski and Andre DuPont were the biggest and toughest of the Flyers but just about every player on the team was willing to drop the gloves The Flyers returned to the Stanley Cup Finals three times during the 1980s The scoring stars of these teams included Terry Crisp LEFT Bobby Clarke and Bill Barber teamed up on the same line for more than 10 years ABOVE Reggie Leach combined with Clarke and Barber on the famous LCB line 9
