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Philadelphia Flyers

NHL, the National Hockey League is a premier professional North American Sports League played in indoor stadiums. It’s divided into two conferences, each comprising of three divisions of ice hockey teams. The league was established in 1917 in Montreal, Quebec and it is composed of 30 teams out of which 24 teams based in U.S. and 6 in Canada. They have a regular season and playoffs leading to the Stanley Cup, which is the NHL Championship final.

In 1967, nearly 40 years after the Quakers were forced to fold after just 1 season in Philadelphia, the NHL returned to the City of Brotherly Love as the Flyers are one of six expansion teams the NHL adds to double the league to twelve teams. The Flyers would make their debut on October 11th losing to the California Seals on the road 5-1. A week later they would get their first win beating the St. Louis Blues on the road 2-1. On October 19th, the Flyers would finally make their home debut as they shutout the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0 at The Spectrum.

The Philadelphia-New York semifinal series was billed as a match between the Ferocious Flyers and the New York Nice Guys. And ferocious the Flyers were, battling at every turn. The Rangers fought back and extended the series to a full seven games, but the high-flying Flyers ousted New York in the deciding contest.

The Flyers then won twice at The Spectrum, only to drop the fifth match in Beantown. The Flyers indulged themselves in the sixth and final match at The Spectrum the playing of Kate Smith's rendition of God Bless America. The Flyers were 35-3-1 when Miss Smith was heard, but normally they only played a recording, this time Kate was there in the flesh. The game scoreless until 14:48 of the first period, when Flyers sophomore Rick MacLeish tipped an Andre Dupont shot past Bruins goalie Gilles Gilbert.

That was all the Flyers needed as goaltender Bernie Parent limited the Bruins to three goals in his three remaining wins, including his sixth game shutout as the Flyers became the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup, after only seven years in the NHL. Parent earned the Conn Smythe Trophy for Playoff MVP, Most Valuable Player with a 12-5-0 record and a 2.02 average in 17 playoff games.

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