The Philadelphia Flyers emerged as hockey’s toughest team in the early 1970s and used their collective talents to score plenty of goals and keep pucks out of the net while also intimidating opponents. On cardboard, the club has an impressive legacy which can be found in both Topps and O-Pee-Chee sets from this era in addition to still having an impact on the hobby today.
Following the disastrous one-year existence of the Philadelphia Quakers back in 1930-31, NHL action returned to the City of Brotherly Love as the league expanded to 12 clubs for the 1967-68 campaign. The initial Flyers roster enjoyed regular season success by finishing first in the West Division, but a lack of toughness was blamed for their postseason failures with an opening round loss to the St. Louis Blues.
Management began to focus on adding talent with a good mix of skill and toughness through the NHL Amateur Draft and smart trades and after some growing pains, they became a serious contender by the 1972-73 campaign. It was in this season where the term “Broad Street Bullies” first surfaced following a vicious battle with the Atlanta Flames on January 3, 1973.
A Legendary Lineup
Heading into the following season, the lineup was stacked with talent as Bobby Clarke had emerged as one of the game’s elite after capturing the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Players the previous year. The captain was not alone, however, as he had plenty of offensive support from players like Bill Barber and Rick MacLeish while the veteran core forwards included Ross Lonsberry, Gary Dornhoefer, “Cowboy” Bill Flett, Terry Crisp, and Simon Nolet. Some of the newer talents up front that displayed toughness as part of their skill set were Don Saleski, Orest Kindrachuk, Bob “Hound” Kelly, and the infamous Dave “The Hammer” Schultz.
On the back end, the Philadelphia Flyers had a good mix of veterans and youngster that held down the fort in the Philadelphia zone. Original Flyers Joe Watson and Ed Van Impe provided leadership and grit while unsung veteran Barry Ashbee established himself as one of the game’s top defenders. Youth made up the rest of the defense corps as Tom Bladon, Andre “Moose” Dupont, and Jimmy Watson (younger brother of Joe) became fixtures with the club in quick fashion.
In net, Bernie Parent was back in 1973-74 after a one-year stint in the World Hockey Association with the Philadelphia Blazers that played out of Cherry Hill, New Jersey. While he had played for the Flyers from 1967-68 to 1970-71, he was traded away to the Toronto Maple Leafs and shared the crease with the legendary Jacques Plante. Honing his craft under the tutelage of his childhood hero, Parent made the transition into an elite talent. Backing up Parent at this time was Bobby Taylor, who was a popular broadcaster after his playing days.
The Bullies Show Up on Cardboard
For kids following the Flyers and their on-ice exploits in 1973-74, most of the players in the lineup could be found in that year’s O-Pee-Chee and Topps sets. Both sets are relatively similar in terms of content, with the Canadian collection having a few extra names on the checklist. The big one here is Barber’s rookie card as the future Hall of Famer was coming off an impressive freshman campaign where he finished second in voting for the Calder Trophy.
Both Clarke and Flett’s card feature a slightly different All-Star look and the Cowboy’s card has a cameo from St. Louis goaltender Jacques Caron – who went on to be a longtime goalie coach, most notably for Martin Brodeur during his time with the New Jersey Devils.
The basic player cards are primarily posed or bust shots, but those with action (Clarke, Flett, MacLeish, and Joe Watson) were taken in St. Louis by Lewis Portnoy. That year’s sets were able to get Parent on the checklist once his return was confirmed, but used a photo that was around three years old at minimum.
Both offerings also had Lonsberry, Dornhoefer, and Dupont along with the rookie card for Schultz, who also shares that year’s Penalty Minutes leaders card with Buffalo’s then-rookie Jim Schoenfeld.
With the League Leaders subset showing the top players in a category from the NHL’s two Divisions, Philly’s players dominated with Clarke and MacLeish each sharing two cards with Boston’s Phil Esposito.
The Flyers also had a Team Photo card in both sets in addition to a pair of card commemorating their playoff run from 1973. Completing either team set won’t break the bank and the presence of two strong rookie cards is a definite bonus. The O-Pee-Chee cards also have an extra bonus for completists as they can be found with light or dark backs due to a change in the card stock used at the time.
There are also inserts from both products that have a Flyers theme. O-Pee-Chee was broken into two series that year and both push-out Team Logos and Team Rings can be found with some searching while Topps had Team Stickers. This collection saw a logo at the top and a pennant on the bottom and the Flyers were paired with the Detroit Red Wings pennant or the Toronto Maple Leafs logo.
Road to the First Stanley Cup
Under the guidance of coach Fred Shero, the 1973-74 Philadelphia Flyers were already dubbed the Broad Street Bullies following a wild brawl in Atlanta the previous year. The road to the West Division title was a relatively easy one after starting the season with four straight wins and going 7-3-0 in the first 10 contests. During that span, Parent recorded four shutouts – including two straight to open the schedule.
The momentum kept going throughout the year and the Flyers ended up with a 50-16-12 record for a division-topping 112 points. Only the Bruins had a better record at 52-17-9, and Philadelphia entered the playoffs ready to rumble. In the Quarter-Finals, they swept the Atlanta Flames in four before going the full seven games with the New York Rangers. Schultz, who led the regular season with 348 minutes spent in the sin bin, was a terror in the Semi-Finals and turned the tide in the deciding match by dispatching Rangers defender Dale Rolfe in a memorable tilt.
With the Bobby Orr and the Big Bad Bruins ahead of them, the Philadelphia Flyers were not exactly considered the favorites heading into the Stanley Cup Finals. Game 1 was a tight affair where Orr potted the winner with seconds left on the clock, but the Flyers went on to win the next three. Boston showed some life with a 5-1 triumph in Game 5, but Philadelphia was not about to lose Game 6 on home ice. Taking inspiration from Kate Smith belting out God Bless America, the matchup was a defensive clinic. During a first period power play, MacLeish scored the only goal to bring Philadelphia the Stanley Cup and became the first post-1967 expansion team to accomplish the feat.
Parent, who went 12-5 in the playoffs, earned the Conn Smythe Trophy for his tremendous play. Earlier that year, he laid claim to the Vezina Trophy along with Chicago’s Tony Esposito for having the best defensive record in the NHL.
Stanley Cup Sequel
The Philadelphia Flyers only underwent mild changes to their roster for 1974-75 as they were set to defend their crown. Nolet was picked up in the 1974 NHL Expansion Draft by the Kansas City Scouts while Flett was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Wayne Stephenson was added to provide another strong backup for Parent while a major trade saw prospect Al MacAdam head to the California Golden Seals for sniper Reggie Leach. A former junior teammate of Clarke’s, the “Riverton Rifle” was the offensive catalyst the team needed to maintain its place at the top.
While Leach and Flett’s cards in the 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee and Topps sets were airbrushed to reflect their moves and Nolet is still depicted in a Flyers jersey, neither company updated Stephenson’s card to reflect the trade which took place on September 16, 1974. This allows us to believe that Topps had been working on their set in the summer months, but O-Pee-Chee did not appear to make any effort to check some facts and note the trade as the first 264 cards in the set directly mimic the Topps product.
There were once again plenty of Philadelphia Flyers cards to collect in both sets that year and it all begins with the League Leaders subset. Once again, we get the best from each Division and the Goals-Against Average card is particularly special as Parent is shown with former partner Doug Favell, who had moved on to the Maple Leafs. Parent and Clarke are part of the All-Star subset, but Ashbee is strangely absent. There is a Team Leaders card with Clarke and Schultz and the club’s road to glory is shown on three playoff-themed cards along with a Stanley Cup champions card.
A second card, which is gaudy yet awesome at the same time, commemorating the title is part of the Trophy Winners subset. Here, we also get card for Parent’s Vezina and Conn Smythe wins along with a Campbell Bowl card which erroneously lists it as the “Clarence Campbell Trophy”.
As for player content, the Topps and O-Pee-Chee sets share all the team’s big names – and there is a memorable card of Coach Fred Shero. Shero, whose NHL days were part of the pre-Parkhurst era, did not have a notable card outside of a Beehive photo until this time.
Years later, he would get a card in a New York Rangers uniform as part of 2004-05 In The Game NHL Franchises. This set marked the first time since 1966-67 where coaches were included in a major set and collectors would not see them get their own cardboard until 1990-91 Pro Set. Due to individual licensing requirements, we are not likely to see a full-fledged subset featuring coaches in a hockey card product (but we can always hold out hope).
Where the O-Pee-Chee release from 1974-75 vastly differs is between cards 265 and 396. During training camp, the Flyers made a bold move to add a simple Stanley Cup patch to their jerseys. When it came time to pose for their hockey card photos, this patch was present – but it was quickly abandoned after it proved to be somewhat of a jinx. In total, seven players have cards with this patch front and center with three veterans (Saleski, Crisp, and Kelly) along with rookie cards of Jim Watson, Kindrachuk, Bladon (who is also the last card in the set), and future broadcaster Bill Clement.
A team checklist gives collectors a look at the full roster and this marked the beginning of a long run where the O-Pee-Chee set included this type of subset.
After the second (and final) Stanley Cup was hoisted, the Flyers were made a major focus of the annual Topps and O-Pee-Chee sets once again in 1975-76. On the American side, Topps produced its largest set to date at 330 cards while O-Pee-Chee added another 96 to the mix. Subset cards are plentiful here, starting with coverage of the previous year’s playoffs. It’s interesting to see photography from the battles with the Islanders and Sabres and the photos likely came from Bruce Bennett and Bill Wippert, respectively.
On the backs, there are player-by-player statistical breakdowns for each series, which is something that was only done once in this era. Clarke, Schultz, and Parent all appear on one League Leaders card while Clarke and Parent also show up in the All-Stars subset.
In terms of players, we don’t get any rookie cards in the Topps set, but it is interesting to see some slightly older posed pictures from the photo session where players were wearing those Stanley Cup patches. For the first time, we get several shots taken in games against the Washington Capitals and Ed Van Impe’s card has a cameo from John Adams, a goaltender that never appeared on a traditional trading card by himself.
On the O-Pee-Chee side, there are four additional Flyers cards. Crisp’s last card as a player can be found here and it is actually Saleski in the photo. A crazy aspect of this card that vintage collectors also love is the presence of Capitals defender Jack Lynch, who is wearing a facemask. For the record, this picture was taken on March 18, 1975 and the Flyers beat the expansion Caps by a 7-2 margin. There is also one rookie card here on Larry Goodenough, who had the awesome nickname of “Izzy”.
Once again, the 1975-76 O-Pee-Chee and Topps NHL sets included a Team Photo checklist and a Team Leaders card. The Team Photo card spells the city name incorrectly on the back in both releases.
After The Cups
While the Flyers made it to the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year in 1976, they had the misfortune of facing a Montreal Canadiens team which was ready to reclaim its throne and begin a new dynasty.
However, the hobby was still not done with these legendary Philadelphia Flyers players and many of them returned as a large subset in the second series of 1992-93 Parkhurst. Nearly a decade later, Dr. Brian Price raided his extensive collection of game-used jerseys from team members and began putting pieces of them into cards starting with 2001-02 Be A Player Ultimate Memorabilia. In the following years, other companies would also make cards featuring players from these teams. For Flyers fans, there is also the 2011-12 In The Game Broad Street Boys offering which has a great mix of memorabilia and autographs to go along with limited base cards.
The legacy of the Broad Street Bullies speaks for itself in the hockey world, but collectors also have some great options to track down which celebrates an era of the game that will not be repeated.
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