Orange & Black vs. Black & Gold.
Count on one thing. It will be black and blue.
It is only appropriate that as we mark the 35th anniversary of the Broad Street Bullies, the Flyers and Bruins will offer an encore performance of one of the historic playoff series in Philadelphia sports history.
Tuesday night HBO will unveil a documentary looking at the legend and lore of the Broad Street Bullies.
That legend reached its peak on May 19, 1974. It was a Sunday afternoon. It would soon be history.
Sparked by a gap-toothed center from Flin Flon, Manitoba, and a French Canadien in goal, the Flyers changed the National Hockey League.
They did it with brute force.
They took on the mantra of their eccentric head coach, Fred Shero, who urged them to “take the most direct route to the puck, and arrive in ill humor.”
They did that all right. After seeing their undersized team pushed around for a couple of years, the Flyers brass decided to take a new direction.
The Broad Street Bullies were born. And hockey would never be the same.
The lowly expansion team Flyers not only quickly won back their respect, they soon learned they were something else – feared.
They terrorized the NHL, and made the Spectrum one of the most difficult places on earth for visiting teams to play.
Don’t believe it? Ask the mighty Soviet national team, which was having its way with the best of the NHL, embarrassing the league’s best teams, until they arrived in South Philly.
The Soviets soon learned what most of the NHL already knew, the Spectrum was the home of the Broad Street Bullies. After being bumped all over the ice, the Soviets retreated to their locker room, only to return to the ice when the Flyers’ brass informed them they wouldn’t get paid if they did not.
The Flyers’ win that day restored some of the luster to the NHL. For one day, all hockey fans were Flyers fans.
No one gave the Flyers much chance in the Stanley Cup finals against the vaunted Bruins of Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito.
The Flyers had other ideas. Backed by their good luck charm, Kate Smith and her rendition of “God Bless America,” the Flyers stunned the world.
Bernie Parent stood on his head, shutting out the Bruins, 1-0.
If you listen close enough, you can still hear the voice of the immortal Gene Hart, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Flyers … are going … to win …. the Stanley Cup.”
For emphasis, he then repeated it again and again.
“The Flyers win the Stanley Cup.”
Bobby Clarke, Dave ‘The Hammer’ Schultz, Bob “The Hound” Kelly, “Moose”
Dupont, Don “Big Bird” Saleski. The Watson Brothers.
They were champions.
In the process, they did something else.
They turned a city of losers, where most fans knew little other than a litany of terrible teams, into winners.
Thirty-five years later, it was still that band of hockey renegades that changed a city’s fortunes.
Mike Schmidt, Dr. J., Moses Malone, Ron Jaworski, Dick Vermeil, Curt Schilling, Charlie Manuel, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard would follow.
But the Orange and Black were first.
In the standings, and in our hearts.
Bring on the Bruins.
And crank up Kate Smith.
Count on one thing. It will be black and blue.
It is only appropriate that as we mark the 35th anniversary of the Broad Street Bullies, the Flyers and Bruins will offer an encore performance of one of the historic playoff series in Philadelphia sports history.
Tuesday night HBO will unveil a documentary looking at the legend and lore of the Broad Street Bullies.
That legend reached its peak on May 19, 1974. It was a Sunday afternoon. It would soon be history.
Sparked by a gap-toothed center from Flin Flon, Manitoba, and a French Canadien in goal, the Flyers changed the National Hockey League.
They did it with brute force.
They took on the mantra of their eccentric head coach, Fred Shero, who urged them to “take the most direct route to the puck, and arrive in ill humor.”
They did that all right. After seeing their undersized team pushed around for a couple of years, the Flyers brass decided to take a new direction.
The Broad Street Bullies were born. And hockey would never be the same.
The lowly expansion team Flyers not only quickly won back their respect, they soon learned they were something else – feared.
They terrorized the NHL, and made the Spectrum one of the most difficult places on earth for visiting teams to play.
Don’t believe it? Ask the mighty Soviet national team, which was having its way with the best of the NHL, embarrassing the league’s best teams, until they arrived in South Philly.
The Soviets soon learned what most of the NHL already knew, the Spectrum was the home of the Broad Street Bullies. After being bumped all over the ice, the Soviets retreated to their locker room, only to return to the ice when the Flyers’ brass informed them they wouldn’t get paid if they did not.
The Flyers’ win that day restored some of the luster to the NHL. For one day, all hockey fans were Flyers fans.
No one gave the Flyers much chance in the Stanley Cup finals against the vaunted Bruins of Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito.
The Flyers had other ideas. Backed by their good luck charm, Kate Smith and her rendition of “God Bless America,” the Flyers stunned the world.
Bernie Parent stood on his head, shutting out the Bruins, 1-0.
If you listen close enough, you can still hear the voice of the immortal Gene Hart, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Flyers … are going … to win …. the Stanley Cup.”
For emphasis, he then repeated it again and again.
“The Flyers win the Stanley Cup.”
Bobby Clarke, Dave ‘The Hammer’ Schultz, Bob “The Hound” Kelly, “Moose”
Dupont, Don “Big Bird” Saleski. The Watson Brothers.
They were champions.
In the process, they did something else.
They turned a city of losers, where most fans knew little other than a litany of terrible teams, into winners.
Thirty-five years later, it was still that band of hockey renegades that changed a city’s fortunes.
Mike Schmidt, Dr. J., Moses Malone, Ron Jaworski, Dick Vermeil, Curt Schilling, Charlie Manuel, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard would follow.
But the Orange and Black were first.
In the standings, and in our hearts.
Bring on the Bruins.
And crank up Kate Smith.
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