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Meltzer's Musings: Dryden's WSJ Article, Flyers Alumni

July 27, 2016, 1:04 PM ET [204 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
1. I have always respected Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden for his outstanding NHL career and for his cerebral outlook on the game. That does not mean, however, that I always agree with his opinions, whether on hockey or other matters.

Recently, Dryden wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal comparing U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's abrasive personality and campaign tactics to the aura of the Broad Street Bullies era Philadelphia Flyers.

I will refrain from any political commentary -- this is not the place for it, and I respectfully ask HockeyBuzz readers not to delve into the political aspects or to make it any sort of discourse or referendum on Trump himself. However, I will say that I found the article to be a trite, strained (Dryden found the flimsiest of historical ways to tie the Democratic convention being at the Flyers' home arena to the team's hockey history), pompous, pedantic, lazy and, flat out wrong characterization of the Flyers of that era.

Dryden is guilty of repeating as absolute fact one of the biggest falsehoods in North American sports: the "Broad Street Bullies" gooned their way to two Stanley Cups before the squeaky clean Canadiens (featuring Dryden in goal) outclassed and outskilled the Flyers in a lopsided Stanley Cup Final sweep.

Here's the reality: The "Broad Street Bullies" era Flyers did NOT win primarily by beating up and intimidating other teams, although Philadelphia had the toughest team in the NHL. If Dryden was half as smart as he believes himself to be, he'd have scratched beneath the surface of the team's mythological image.

The Flyers won the Stanley Cup because they they had the best leadership. Start with their Hall of Fame owner, their Hall of Fame general manager, and their Hall of Fame coach that was one of the sport's greatest innovators and students of the game. Then look at their Hall of Fame captain who was a three-time Hart Trophy winner, their Hall of Fame goaltender who was a two-time Vezina Trophy and two-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner, and their Hall of Fame left winger who may have been the best left winger of his era when two-way skills and competitiveness are added into the debate along with his scoring prowess.

Then add in players such as Barry Ashbee, Gary Dornhoefer, Joe Watson, Ed van Impe and Terry Crisp. All of them were also leaders in various ways. In fact, a look at the Broad Street Bullies roster reveals numerous future NHL head coaches (the Stanley Cup-winning Crisp, the Jack Adams Award winning Barber, Ted Harris), assistant coaches (Ashbee, future goalie coach Parent), acclaimed scouts (Simon Nolet) and general managers (Clarke).'

The Flyers also won because they had, by far, the hardest-working team in the NHL. They played with courage on the road and they refused to give on games even when they trailed or were fatigued. Yes, there was an intimidation factor and, yes, Dave Schultz and Moose Dupont in particular racked up dizzying penalty minute totals. But the real intimidation came from the team's unity, unquenchable hunger for winning the puck (at any price) and its genuine hatred of losing.

Beating the Flyers meant going to battle for 60 minutes (sometimes more in the playoffs) and matching their work ethic. If you messed with one Flyer -- not just Clarke, but anyone -- you would have the whole team after you. If you wanted to play a more tactical or technical game, the Flyers could beat you that way, too.

Dryden writes that the Flyers had a "sprinkling" of genuinely talented players and basically surrounded them with thugs on skates. Adds Dryden, "Shero had a choice. He could try to make the team a lot better fast, an impossible task, or he could try to make his opponents worse."

That is utter garbage, for reasons spelled out above. In running down the roster's skill level, I have only thus far mentioned the three top players in Bobby Clarke, Bernie Parent and Bill Barber. I haven't even gotten yet to Rick MacLeish, the addition of Reggie Leach in 1974 or the ascension of five-time NHL All-Star Jimmy Watson on the blue line. Now we're up to six star-caliber players, and that's not even the extent of the team's vastly underrated two-way skill level.

Offensive minded defenseman Tom Bladon was adequate in his own end of the ice -- not great, not terrible -- but he could be banked on every year for double-digit goals from the blueline and anywhere from the mid 30s to the low 50s in points. He once had an eight-point game (four goals, four assists) in the NHL. He also never had as much as 70 penalty minutes. In short, he was another "skills" player.

Overall, the entire Flyers supporting cast players all knew how to play the game. They could do more than just fight and watch the "sprinkling" of talent score all the goals and Parent post 1-0 shutouts or 2-1 wins.

As a whole, they weren't the fastest-skating group, although role players such as Bill Clement offered speed as well as two-way acume. Nevertheless, to a man they were all bona fide solid NHL players who were suited to a variety of a unheralded but important tasks. Shero's genius partially lay in his ability to make the role players feel just as valued as Clarke or Barber or MacLeish; something that Clarke himself believed and inspired teammates to believe.

Look past the biggest names and you find that the Flyers were a very well-crafted and deep team. They played good team defense and there was enough offensive ability that, even if the big guns were contained on a given night or if Parent "only" had his B-Game, there was still a good chance that some other player or other line collectively would be the heroes of that game.

Ross Lonsberry may not have been a star per se, but he was a fine two-way forward and had a 32-goal season in the Flyers' first Cup year. He was a battler and highly competitive but was far from a goon. Joe Watson was a two-time NHL All-Star and while not really a "star" caliber player, had a long and successful NHL career. Oh, and he never had more than 56 penalty minutes in a season his entire career. Not very goonish.

Gary Dornhoefer was tough and used his elbows freely but he was not a goon who went out looking to injure other team's players. He was more of what today would be described as a power forward, receiving as much punishment as he doled out. Barry Ashbee was a quiet tough guy and an inspirational leader, but certainly not a goon. Orest Kindrachuk was a fine third-line center in the classic two-way mold; the only below-average area of his game was his skating.

Even Don Saleski and Bob Kelly, often solely described as "goons," could play the game just fine for their roles. If had they had similar careers for teams other than the Broad Street Bullies era Flyers, they may have been recognized as the effective role players they were for that NHL era.

Saleski, who made himself into an underrated two-way player who was a fine penalty killer as well as someone who compiled three straight 20-goal seasons. After a 205-penalty minute season in 1972-73, Saleski never again had more than 131 penalty minutes in a season and, in fact, only hit triple-digit PIMs the first three years of his career.

Kelly, who never spent a single game in the minor leagues had a pair of 20-plus goal seasons in his NHL career including a 62-point season for Washington late in his career when he was asked to play a more offense-geared role on a weak team. It was Kelly who scored the Stanley Cup winning goal for the Flyers in 1975. More than anything else, Kelly excelled as a forechecker who forced turnovers and and as someone who relentlessly threw bodychecks. He fought quite a bit, too, but other than his 238 PIM season of 1972-73, never had the type of yearly PIM totals that would put him among the league leaders.

Schultz had a 20-goal season for the Flyers in their first Cup year, including two hat tricks separated by a week. He had been more of a scorer than a tough guy in his junior hockey days before he took on the role and persona of "the Hammer". The on-ice image was justified and Schultz did not always fight clean -- he pulled hair, heatbutted and taped his fists until those tactics were outlawed -- but that did not mean he was unable to day anything other than fight.

Dupont usually racked up 200-plus PIMs a year, too, but he could also play his position and clear the porch. He also had a deceptive shot, which enabled him to have a pair of double-digit goal seasons for the Flyers; opportunities to launch into his signature "shuffle" goal celebration.

Dryden writes boastfully of how his 1975-76 Montreal Canadiens club, "with players quicker and more talented and with a style of play to match, swept the Flyers in the 1976 Stanley Cup Final. While it is true that the Canadiens had more star-caliber talent than the Flyers -- not that Philly actually lacked for it compared to most clubs, but because the Habs were laden with it at every position -- and factually indisputable that the 1976 Finals ended in a sweep, Dryden once again fails to offer any sliver of context.

The 1975-76 Flyers peaked just a little too early in the season. They were the NHL's best team through the first three-fourths of the season -- not even including their three-zone domination of the supposedly unbeatable Red Army (CSKA) team, whereas the Habs mustered only a tie -- but Montreal was the best team late in the season and during the playoffs.

In the playoffs, the Flyers got worn down in the playoffs by a war of series with Toronto, followed by another physically grueling (although only five-game) series with Boston. The Flyers also had two key injuries, as neither Parent nor MacLeish were available.

Yes, the Habs swept the series and probably would have won the series even had MacLeish and Parent been healthy. However, keep in mind that each of the first three games of the series were one-goal outcomes and, in game four, the Flyers actually led in the third period before ultimately losing by two goals. Every game was tight enough and close enough that a game-breaker like MacLeish or Parent in peak form could have made a difference in a couple of the outcomes.

During the height of the Broad Street Bully years, the Flyers usually held their own just fine -- and won quite a few times -- when they played Montreal. It was a different story after 1976, because the Habs got even better and the Flyers slowly started a decline. For several years after '76, the Canadiens routinely beat the Flyers. That did not make the Flyers of mid-1970s unworthy champions.


2. Today in Flyers History: July 27

1973: Completing a May 15 deal to reacquire the rights to goaltender Bernie Parent, the Flyers trade goaltender Doug Favell to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The swap sends Parent's rights and a 1973 second-round pick (Larry Goodenough) to Philadelphia in exchange for a 1973 first-round pick (Bob Neely) and a player to be named later.

1994: The Flyers sign unrestricted free agent third-line left wing Shjon Podein.

2000: For purposes of adding depth to the Philadelphia Phantoms roster, the Flyers purchase the contract of veteran forward Mark Freer from the IHL's Houston Aeros.

2004: The Flyers sign tough guy forward Josh Gratton to a two-year, two-way contract.

2005: The Flyers sign 2003 first-round picks Jeff Carter and Mike Richards to entry-level NHL contracts. On the same day, the club signs defenseman Alexandre Picard and forward Triston Grant to entry-level NHL contracts.

Flyers Alumni Birthdays: Broad Street Bullies era defenseman Andre "Moose" Dupont (1949) and fellow blueliner Bob Hoffmeyer (1955) share July 27 birthdays.

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2016 Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp

 photo camp.jpg


The 2nd annual Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp will be held Aug. 19 -22, 2016 in Atlantic City. The Alumni have assembled an excellent group of instructor/coaches this year, including Hockey Hall of Famers Bernie Parent and Mark Howe, along with the likes of Danny Briere and Flyers assistant coach Ian Laperriere.

For more information, click here.
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