For many hockey fans, their enduring image of Bernie Parent is cutting through the fog at the humid Auditorium in Buffalo, celebrating Philadelphia’s second straight Stanley Cup and his consecutive Conn Smythe Trophy as the Flyers and NHL playoff MVP.
The Broad Street Bullies were tough, but they also needed a money goaltender and Parent provided that 11 years, after starting with the Boston Bruins and later, a couple of seasons as a Toronto Maple Leaf.
On Sunday, the Flyers announced Parent’s passing at age 80, in the 50th anniversary year of their last Cup. The 5-foot-10 Parent, an original Flyer, played a huge role in making them the first post-1967 expansion team to win a championship in 1974, beating the New York Rangers and then the Bruins, a momentous changing of the guard atop the league.
“When Parent is out there, we know we can win games we have no business winning,” former coach Fred Shero once said.
In the Cup years, Parent also won two Vezina Trophies as the league’s best netminder, part of 304 career wins, 38 more in playoffs in earning Hockey Hall of Fame induction.
Philadelphia Flyers goalie Bernie Parent raises his mask to take a break during the Stanley Cup finals in Buffalo, N.Y., May 28, 1975, against the Buffalo Sabres.
“The legend of Bernie reached far beyond the ice and his accolades.” a statement from the Flyers read on Sunday. “Bernie had a deep love for Philadelphia and fans of the Flyers.”
Like many Flyers, the Montreal-born Parent made the Philly area his home, one of the league’s strongest alumni groups. They were also the last all-Canadian team to win the Cup.
Former Flyer Terry Crisp tried to explain the chemistry Shero fostered around their much -feared home rink, The Spectrum, in a 2020 interview with the Toronto Sun.
“You had the Watson brothers (Joe and Jim) from Smithers, B.C. You had the strong farm boys from the Prairies who’d lifted all those bales of hay when they were younger. And come on, who’d ever heard of Flin Flon, Manitoba? Yet, we’d found Bobby Clarke there.
“Western players would all talk about how good the hockey was out there, then Bernie would stand up and say, ‘Yeah, but you can’t do it without a French-Canadian goalie’. Moose Dupont would chime in with Bernie, then the Ontario guys; me, Bill Barber, Gary Dornhoefer and The Hound (Bob Kelly) got into it. There was some great kibitzing.”
Parent had some unusual twists in his career. He played junior for the Niagara Falls Flyers and won a Memorial Cup, despite a poor command of English and was scooped by the Flyers in the ‘67 draft after the B’s left him unprotected.
But the Flyers traded him to the Leafs in 1970, a blessing in disguise when Parent was teamed with his boyhood idol, 42-year-old Jacques Plante, who greatly improved Parent’s technical game. Left unsigned by the Leafs, Parent jumped to the Miami Screaming Eagles of the new World Hockey Association, a mythical team that evolved into the Philadelphia Blazers, eventually leading Parent back to the Flyers.
“You don’t have to be crazy to be a goalie, but it helps,” Parent often quipped.
In a 2014 interview with the Sun, Parent talked about maintaining the tradition of the post-Cup playoff handshake, noting the Bruins and Sabres probably didn’t want to partake after losing, but that he swallowed his pride and greeted Ken Dryden and the Montreal Canadiens the next year after they beat Philly in the final.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” Parent said. “I get you’re upset and wishing the other guy well is not a pleasant thing to do in that situation. You’re certainly not whistling Dixie. You’d probably want to wait until the next day to say something.
“But this is the way it’s done. They’ve beaten you and you wish them luck in the next series.”
A 1979 eye injury ended his career. Among his post-career passions was sailing a yacht in the Carribean, christened French Connection, and running a sports memorabilia business.
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