With the Flyers having officially clinched a berth if —and when— the 2019-20 NHL season resumes, the hunt for a third Stanley Cup is perhaps on the horizon.
But while nobody is exactly sure just when the NHL season will resume —if at all— there’s always the way back machine, and today’s edition features the Flyers clinching their second-straight Stanley Cup on this day back in 1975.
The Flyers’ first Cup the previous year would come in front of the die hard fans in Philadelphia, but their second would come on the road at the famed Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo. The “Aud” produced one of the more bizarre moments in finals history in game 3 as a thick fog wreaked havoc on play throughout the Sabres’ win. Buffalo would take game 4 in their own building as well to nod the series at 2-2 before returning to Philadelphia for game 5.
A dominant Flyers performance in game 5 sent the Orange and Black back to the house of horrors in Buffalo where the Sabres very much had their eyes set on defending their home ice for a third time and forcing a decisive game 7 back at the Spectrum.
The only problem for the Sabres was that the Flyers had some fog of their going for game six, only the fog was really just the brick wall known as Bernie Parent in the Philadelphia crease.
Scoreless through two periods, Parent turned aside all 26 shots he faced to that point as the Sabres pressed for a lead to hold onto. But having watched Parent carry the Flyers with immaculate play for a second-straight postseason, his teammates wasted no time in getting him support with a Bob Kelly goal just 11 seconds into the third period.
Bill Clement provided late insurance to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead with less than three minutes left in regulation, but Kelly’s goal was all Parent needed in route to a 32 save shutout. The Flyers were back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, and Parent made it two-straight Conn Smythe Awards as playoff MVP (the first to ever do so).
Though it’ll still be a while before we see actual NHL hockey, perhaps if —and when— play does resume, the Flyers will have another ace between the pipes in Carter Hart to lead them to the promised land as Parent did those many years ago.
Loose pucks
Also on May 27th in franchise history…two birthdays of note: one random and one meaningful…Flyers Hall of Famer and former captain Ed Van Impe was born in 1940…and Richard Park (and all of his seven games with the team) was born in 1976…
*Stick taps to hockeyreference.com, nhl.com, and Flyers.nhl.com for help with this trip down memory lane*
