The 1975 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1974–75 season, and the culmination of the 1975 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Buffalo Sabres and the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers defeated the Sabres in six games to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, becoming the first expansion team to accomplish such a feat. This was the first Final to have two non-"Original Six" teams since the 1967 expansion, and also the first contested by any team that had joined the league after 1967 (the Sabres were part of the 1970 expansion). The 1975 Flyers are the last Stanley Cup championship team to be composed solely of Canadian players.[2]
1975 Stanley Cup Finals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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* overtime periods | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location(s) | Philadelphia: Spectrum (1, 2, 5) Buffalo: Memorial Auditorium (3, 4, 6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coaches | Philadelphia: Fred Shero Buffalo: Floyd Smith | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Captains | Philadelphia: Bobby Clarke Buffalo: Jim Schoenfeld | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
National anthems | Philadelphia: Kate Smith Buffalo: Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Referees | Art Skov (1, 5) Bruce Hood (2, 6) Lloyd Gilmour (3) Wally Harris (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dates | May 15–27, 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
MVP | Bernie Parent (Flyers) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series-winning goal | Bob Kelly (0:11, third, G6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hall of Famers | Flyers: Bill Barber (1990) Bobby Clarke (1987) Bernie Parent (1984) Sabres: Gilbert Perreault (1990) Coaches: Fred Shero (2013) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Networks | Canada: (English): CBC (French): SRC United States: (National): NBC (2, 5) (Philadelphia area): WTAF (3–4, 6) (Buffalo area): WKBW (1, 3–4, 6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | (CBC) Danny Gallivan (1–2, 6) Jim Robson (3–5), Dick Irvin Jr. (1–2, 4, 6), and Bill Good (Games 3, 5) (SRC) Rene Lecavalier and Gilles Tremblay (NBC) Tim Ryan and Ted Lindsay[1] (WTAF) Don Earle and Gene Hart (WKBW) Ted Darling and Pat Hannigan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This was the only Final between 1965 and 1979 not to feature either the Boston Bruins or the Montreal Canadiens.
Paths to the Finals
editBuffalo 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.
Game summaries
editBernie 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 Parent, only two players have also won consecutive Conn Smythe Trophies: the Pittsburgh Penguins' Mario Lemieux in the Penguins' Stanley Cup wins in 1991 and 1992 and Sidney Crosby in the Penguins' 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cup championships. 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 broadcaster Gene Hart screaming into his microphone:
Out come the Sabres...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
editThe third game of the series was the 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. The game continued and the Sabres won thanks to Rene Robert's goal in overtime.[3]
Series box score
editMay 15 | Buffalo Sabres | 1–4 | Philadelphia Flyers | The Spectrum | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Richard Martin (6) - pp - 11:07 | Third period | 3:42 - Bill Barber (5) 7:29 - pp - Ross Lonsberry (3) 11:41 - pp - Bobby Clarke (3) 19:02 - Bill Barber (6) | ||||||
Gerry Desjardins | Goalie stats | Bernie Parent |
May 18 | Buffalo Sabres | 1–2 | Philadelphia Flyers | The Spectrum | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 8:24 - Reggie Leach (6) | ||||||
Jerry Korab (2) - 2:18 | Third period | 6:43 - pp - Bobby Clarke (4) | ||||||
Gerry Desjardins | Goalie stats | Bernie Parent |
May 20 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4–5 | OT | Buffalo Sabres | The Aud | Recap | ||
Gary Dornhoefer (4) - 00:39 Don Saleski (2) - 3:09 Rick MacLeish (11) - 14:13 |
First period | 11:46 - Danny Gare (6) 12:03 - Richard Martin (7) | ||||||
Reggie Leach (7) - 14:30 | Second period | 00:29 - Don Luce (4) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 9:56 - Bill Hajt (1) | ||||||
No scoring | First overtime period | 18:29 - Rene Robert (5) | ||||||
Bernie Parent | Goalie stats | Gerry Desjardins, Roger Crozier |
May 22 | Philadelphia Flyers | 2–4 | Buffalo Sabres | The Aud | Recap | |||
Andre Dupont (3) - 11:28 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Ross Lonsberry (4) - 4:20 | Second period | 3:46 - pp - Jerry Korab (3) 10:07 - pp - Gilbert Perreault (6) 15:07 - Jim Lorentz (6) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 19:28 - Danny Gare (7) | ||||||
Bernie Parent | Goalie stats | Gerry Desjardins |
May 25 | Buffalo Sabres | 1–5 | Philadelphia Flyers | The Spectrum | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 3:12 - Dave Schultz (1) 12:31 - Gary Dornhoefer (5) 12:50 - Bob Kelly (2) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 1:55 - pp - Reggie Leach (8) 9:56 - Dave Schultz (2) | ||||||
Don Luce (5) - 14:02 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Gerry Desjardins | Goalie stats | Bernie Parent |
May 27 | Philadelphia Flyers | 2–0 | Buffalo Sabres | The Aud | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Bob Kelly (3) - 00:11 Bill Clement (1) - 17:13 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Bernie Parent | Goalie stats | Roger Crozier |
Philadelphia won series 4–2 | |
Team rosters
editPhiladelphia Flyers
editBuffalo Sabres
editStanley Cup engraving
editThe 1975 Stanley Cup was presented to Flyers captain Bobby Clarke by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Flyers 2–0 win over the Sabres in game six.
The following Flyers players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup
1974–75 Philadelphia Flyers
Players
- 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
- 4-27-23-5 – 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)
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 for games 1 & 2 in Stanely Cup Semi-Finals.
- Reggie Leach was the first aboriginal born NHL Hockey player to get his name on the Stanley Cup.
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ "Hockey finals on tap". The Day. May 17, 1975. p. 18A.
- ^ Weekes, Don (2005). The Big Book of Hockey Trivia. Greystone Books. p. 558. ISBN 1-55365-119-7.
- ^ "Sabres, Flyers played 'Fog Game' in Stanley Cup Final 42 years ago". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L.P. May 19, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
References
edit- 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.