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Quick Hits: May 27, 2024
1) In a Memorial Day edition of Mondays with Meltzer on the Flyers Daily podcast, Jason Myrtetus and I discuss the important elements of this offseason and the pace of a rebuild. We also talk about the development cycle for young defensemen and the importance of Jamie Drysdale this upcoming season, possible trade targets, what we have learned from the playoffs, and more.
2) IIHF World Championships: Congratulations to gold medalist and host Team Czechia, silver medalist Switzerland and bronze medalist Sweden. Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson backed up Filip Gustavsson in Sunday's 4-2 win over Canada in the bronze medal game. Ersson finished the tournament by getting into four games -- three starts and one relief appearance -- among the 10 matches that Sweden played. He went 3-0-0 with a 1.44 goals against average and .891 save percentage (41 saves on 46 shots).
3) 2024 Memorial Cup: The tournament host Saginaw Spirit (2-0-0) overcame deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 to defeat the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs (0-2-0) on Sunday. Flyers wing prospect Alexis Gendron did not record a point for Drummondville. He had three shots on goal. On Monday, the OHL champion London Knights (Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk) take on the WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors.
4) Today in Flyers History: May 27, 1975
Today marks the 49th anniversary of the Flyers' 2-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6 of the 1975 Stanley Cup Final. The game was scoreless through two periods before Bob "the Hound" Kelly came out from behind the net and wrapped a backhander past goaltender Roger Crozier. Later, Bill Clement took a pass from Orest Kindrachuk and scored on a breakaway to provide some insurance.
Back-to-back Vezina Trophy winner Bernie Parent finished off his second straight Conn Smythe Trophy run with a 32-save shutout.
With the victory, Philadelphia won hockey's ultimate prize for the second straight year. The run of Stanley Cup Final appearances would continue the next year but, unfortunately, the Montreal Canadiens swept the injury-riddled Flyers (missing both two-time defending Vezina/Conn Smythe winner Bernie Parent as well as high-scoring Rick MacLeish) by three one-goal margins and a two-goal margin in a game that had been tied in the third period.
Something that often gets overlooked about the Broad Street Bullies era Flyers is that, apart from the back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, three straight Cup Final appearances and utter dominance on home ice, the team had quite a run of reaching at least the Cup semis. Fred Shero guided the Flyers to at least the penultimate round of the playoffs in 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978. By 1977, the playoffs were a four-round tourney, although the first round was a mini-series.
The streak came to an end after Shero left the Flyers to accept the head coach and general manager job the the New York Rangers. In his first year with the Rangers, Shero's team knocked off the Flyers in five games in the second round. One year later, the 1979-80 Flyers were back in the Stanley Cup Final under head coach Pat Quinn.
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