What People Forget About the Broad Street Bullies & Bernie Parent

The famed folklore of the Broad Street Bullies still gives the chills to the original generation of Philadelphia Flyers fans.

The toughest team in NHL history used intimidation as a weapon. Their attitude shaped the identity of the franchise, following Fred Shero’s famous words ahead of Game 6 of the 1974 Stanley Cup Final.

However, the fierce brutality of the Broad Street Bullies didn’t alone win them two Stanley Cups. Their best player stood in the goal crease away from the mayhem most often.

The late, great Bernie Parent provided the team with its backbone at the most important position in the sport, writing Flyers history with another iconic signature slogan.

Bernie Parent isn’t the best goaltender in NHL history, but he might’ve had the best two-year stretch the game has ever seen in 1973-74 and 1974-75.

The Hockey Hall of Famer won consecutive Vezina Trophies as the NHL’s best goaltender. He followed up the excellent regular seasons with even more dominant postseason performances that earned him consecutive Conn Smythe Trophies as the Playoff MVP. The Flyers lifted their only two Stanley Cups on the back of the best goaltender in the world.

Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby are the only two other players in NHL history to match Parent’s feat with consecutive Conn Smythe Trophies.

Parent set single-season goaltending records with 47 wins and 73 games played during the 1973-74 season, one of the best ever for a goaltender. He led the NHL with an otherworldly 1.89 goals against average, a .932 save percentage, and 12 shutouts.

Martin Brodeur and Braden Holtby both more recently recorded 48 wins, and Roberto Luongo also tied Parent with 47. However, all three respective goaltenders tied or surpassed Parent after the NHL eliminated ties, giving them the statistical advantage of shootout victories.

While Parent’s numbers dipped in 1974-75, he still finished first among NHL goalies with a 2.04 goals against average and second with a sparkling .918 save percentage in a season when the league’s scoring numbers rose drastically. He notched 12 more shutouts, a number only Martin Brodeur and Dominik Hasek have also reached during the expansion era.

It's safe to say the Flyers made the right choice to select Bernie Parent with their first-ever pick in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, although he ultimately needed two stints in orange and black to reach Stanley Cup glory.

Parent’s legacy as an all-time great goaltender, a Stanley Cup champion who cemented the franchise’s lure, and an ambassador to the Philadelphia Flyers community lives on after his death in 2025.