1975 Stanley Cup Finals
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The 1975 Stanley Cup Final championship series was played by the Buffalo Sabres, making their first Finals appearance and the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers would win the best-of-seven series four games to two. This was the first Final to have two non-"Original Six" teams since the 1967 expansion. The 1975 Flyers are the last Stanley Cup championship team to be composed solely of Canadian-born players.[2]
This was the only Final between 1965 and 1979 not to feature either the Boston Bruins or the Montreal Canadiens.
Paths to the Final
Buffalo defeated the Chicago Black Hawks 4–1 and the Montreal Canadiens 4–2 to advance to the final.
Philadelphia defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 and the New York Islanders 4–3 to make it to the final.
The series
Bernie Parent was the outgunned Flyers' best player, allowing only 12 goals in the six games, capped with a shutout. He became the first player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy for two consecutive years. Since then, only Mario Lemieux (with the Pittsburgh Penguins when they won the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992) has managed to duplicate this feat. In the deciding game six played in Buffalo, the Sabres' offensive big guns rained shot after shot on Parent in an all-out effort to turn the series around. but Parent remained perfect. He stopped French Connection linemates Gilbert Perreault and Rick Martin on a 2-1 late in period two that had Flyers legendary broadcaster Gene Hart screaming into his microphone:
Out come the Sabers...two on one...Perreault and Martin with just Dupont back...Perrault to Martin...He's in...Shot!....save by Parent...and he hangs on!...Oh baby!
The dramatic stop by Parent took the offensive energy out of the Sabres and the Flyers scored two third-period goals to take the championship.
Fog and the Bat
The third game of the series was the legendary Fog Game. Due to unusual heat in Buffalo in May 1975, and the lack of an air conditioning system in the auditorium, portions of the game were played in heavy fog. During stoppages of play, rink employees skated around the arena ice carrying bed sheets in an attempt to dispel the fog. Players, officials, and the puck were invisible to many spectators. The fog began to form just minutes after another odd incident: A bat in the arena, which flew above and around the players for the majority of the game, until Sabres center Jim Lorentz killed it with his stick. Many superstitious Buffalo fans considered this to be an 'evil omen,' pertaining to the result of the series. It was the only time that any player killed an animal during an NHL game.[3] The game continued and the Sabres won thanks to Rene Robert's goal in overtime.
Series box score
| Date | Visitors | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, May 15 | Buffalo | 1 | Philadelphia | 4 | |
| Sun, May 18 | Buffalo | 1 | Philadelphia | 2 | |
| Tue, May 20 | Philadelphia | 4 | Buffalo | 5 | OT |
| Thu, May 22 | Philadelphia | 2 | Buffalo | 4 | |
| Sun, May 25 | Buffalo | 1 | Philadelphia | 5 | |
| Tue, May 27 | Philadelphia | 2 | Buffalo | 0 |
Philadelphia wins the series 4–2.
Rosters
Philadelphia Flyers
Buffalo Sabres
Philadelphia Flyers - 1975 Stanley Cup champions
Roster
- 10 – Bill Clement
- 15 – Terry Crisp (A)
- 16 – Bobby Clarke (Captain)
- 19 – Rick MacLeish
- 26 – Orest Kindrachuk
- 7 – Bill Barber
- 8 – Dave Schultz
- 9 – Bob Kelly
- 11 – Don Saleski
- 12 – Gary Dornhoefer (A)
- 18 – Ross Lonsberry
- 27 – Reggie Leach
- 2 – Ed Van Impe
- 3 – Tom Bladon
- 5 – Larry Goodenough
- 6 – Andre Dupont
- 14 – Joe Watson (A)
- 20 – Jimmy Watson
- 25 – Edward Ted Harris
- 1 – Bernie Parent
- 30 – Bobby Taylor
- 35 – Wayne Stephenson
- Coaching and administrative staff
- Ed Snider (Chairman/Owner), Joe Scott (President)
- F. Eugene Dixon, Jr. (Vice Chairman), Fred Shero (Head Coach)
- Keith Allen (Vice President/General Manager)
- Lou Scheinfield (Vice President), Mike Nykoluk (Asst. Coach),
- Marcel Pelletier (Director of Player Development), Barry Ashbee (Asst. Coach)
- Frank Lewis (Trainer), Jim McKenzie (Asst. Trainer)
- Joe Kadlec^ (Director of Public Relations) John Brogan^ (Director of Public Relations)
Stanley Cup engraving
- Edward "Ted" Harris won 5 Stanley Cups. He was engraved on the Stanley Cup with Montreal Canadiens as Edward Harris in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969. Harris was engraved as Ted Harris with Philadelphia Flyers in 1975.
- Joe Kadlec^, John Brogan^ (Directors of Public Relations) were included on Philadelphia's Stanley Cup winning pictures in 1974, 1975, but their names do not appear on the Stanley Cup.
- Bobby Taylor only played 3 regular season games after coming out of retirement. His name was engraved on the Stanley Cup, because he was dressed during the playoffs.
- Reggie Leach was first aboriginal born NHL Hockey player to get his name on the Stanley Cup.
See also
Notes
References
- Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Stanley Cup. NHL.
- Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.
| Preceded by Philadelphia Flyers 1974 |
Philadelphia Flyers Stanley Cup Champions 1975 |
Succeeded by Montreal Canadiens 1976 |
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