1975 Stanley Cup Finals

1975 Stanley Cup Finals
Teams123*456Games
Philadelphia Flyers 4242524
Buffalo Sabres  1 1 54 1 0 2

* overtime periods

<tr style="vertical-align: top;><tr style="vertical-align: top;>
Location:Philadelphia (Spectrum) (1,2,5)
Buffalo (Buffalo Memorial Auditorium) (3,4,6)
Format:Best-of-seven
Coaches:Philadelphia: Fred Shero
Buffalo: Floyd Smith
Captains:Philadelphia: Bobby Clarke
Buffalo: Jim Schoenfeld
Referees:Art Skov (1,5)
Bruce Hood (2,6)
Lloyd Gilmour (3)
Wally Harris (4)
Dates:May 15 – May 27
MVP:Bernie Parent (Philadelphia Flyers)
Series-winning
goal:
Bob Kelly (0:11, third, G6)
Networks:CBC (Canada-English), SRC (Canada-French), NBC (United States, Games 2, 5), WTAF (Philadelphia area, Games 3, 4, 6), WKBW (Buffalo area, Games 1, 3, 4, 6)
Announcers:NBC: Tim Ryan, Ted Lindsay, Brian McFarlane, Phil Esposito[1]
 < 1974Stanley Cup Finals1976 > 

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 whole ball of wax for the outgunned Flyers, 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 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 dissapate 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 Buffalo1Philadelphia 4
Sun, May 18 Buffalo1 Philadelphia 2
Tue, May 20 Philadelphia 4 Buffalo 5 OT
Thu, May 22 Philadelphia 2 Buffalo4
Sun, May 25 Buffalo1 Philadelphia 5
Tue, May 27 Philadelphia 2 Buffalo 0

Philadelphia wins the series 4–2.

Rosters

Philadelphia Flyers

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
1 Canada Parent, BernieBernie Parent G L 30 1973 Montreal, Quebec
2 Canada Van Impe, EdEd Van Impe D L 35 1967 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
3 Canada Bladon, TomTom Bladon D R 22 1972 Edmonton, Alberta
5 Canada Goodenough, LarryLarry Goodenough D R 22 1973 Toronto, Ontario
6 Canada Dupont, AndreAndre Dupont D L 25 1972 Trois-Rivières, Quebec
7 Canada Barber, BillBill Barber LW L 22 1972 Callander, Ontario
8 Canada Schultz, DaveDave Schultz LW L 25 1969 Waldheim, Saskatchewan
9 Canada Kelly, BobBob Kelly LW L 24 1970 Oakville, Ontario
10 Canada Clement, BillBill Clement C L 24 1970 Buckingham, Quebec
11 Canada Saleski, DonDon Saleski RW R 25 1972 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
12 Canada Dornhoefer, GaryGary Dornhoefer (A) RW R 32 1967 Kitchener, Ontario
14 Canada Watson, JoeJoe Watson (A) D L 31 1967 Smithers, British Columbia
15 Canada Crisp, TerryTerry Crisp (A) C L 31 1973 Parry Sound, Ontario
16 Canada Clarke, BobbyBobby Clarke (C) C L 25 1969 Flin Flon, Manitoba
18 Canada Lonsberry, RossRoss Lonsberry LW L 28 1972 Watson, Saskatchewan
19 Canada MacLeish, RickRick MacLeish C L 25 1971 Cannington, Ontario
20 Canada Watson, JimJim Watson D L 22 1972 Smithers, British Columbia
25 Canada Harris, TedTed Harris D L 38 1974 Winnipeg, Manitoba
26 Canada Kindrachuk, OrestOrest Kindrachuk C L 24 1972 Nanton, Alberta
27 Canada Leach, ReggieReggie Leach RW R 25 1974 Riverton, Manitoba
30 Canada Taylor, BobbyBobby Taylor G R 30 1968 Calgary, Alberta
35 Canada Stephenson, WayneWayne Stephenson G L 30 1974 Fort William, Ontario

Buffalo Sabres

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
1 Canada Crozier, RogerRoger Crozier G R 33 1970 Bracebridge, Ontario
3 Canada McIntosh, PaulPaul McIntosh D R 21 1974 Listowel, Ontario
4 Canada Korab, JerryJerry Korab D L 26 1973 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
5 United States Fogolin Jr., LeeLee Fogolin Jr. D R 20 1974 Chicago, Illinois
6 Canada Schoenfeld, JimJim Schoenfeld (C) D L 22 1972 Galt, Ontario
7 Canada Martin, RickRick Martin W L 23 1971 LaSalle, Quebec
8 Canada Lorentz, JimJim Lorentz C L 28 1972 Waterloo, Ontario
9 Canada Dudley, RickRick Dudley LW L 26 1972 Toronto, Ontario
10 Canada Ramsay, CraigCraig Ramsay LW L 24 1971 Weston, Ontario
11 Canada Perreault, GilbertGilbert Perreault C L 24 1970 Victoriaville, Quebec
14 Canada Robert, ReneRene Robert C R 26 1972 Trois Rivieres, Quebec
15 Canada Deziel, MichelMichel Deziel LW L 21 1974 Sorel, Quebec
16 Canada McNab, PeterPeter McNab C L 23 1972 Vancouver, British Columbia
17 Canada Stanfield, FredFred Stanfield LW L 31 1975 Toronto, Ontario
18 Canada Gare, DannyDanny Gare RW R 21 1974 Nelson, British Columbia
20 Canada Luce, DonDon Luce C L 26 1971 London, Ontario
21 Canada Spencer, BrianBrian Spencer LW L 25 1974 Fort St. James, British Columbia
22 Canada Guevremont, JocelynJocelyn Guevremont D R 24 1974 Montreal, Quebec
23 Canada Carriere, LarryLarry Carriere D L 23 1972 Montreal, Quebec
24 Canada Hajt, BillBill Hajt D L 23 1971 Radisson, Saskatchewan
29 Canada Bromley, GaryGary Bromley G L 25 1971 Edmonton, Alberta
30 Canada Desjardins, GerryGerry Desjardins G L 30 1975 Sudbury, Ontario

Philadelphia Flyers - 1975 Stanley Cup champions

Roster

  Centres
  Wingers
  Defencemen
  Goaltenders


  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

See also

Notes

  1. "Hockey finals on tap". The Day. May 17, 1975. p. 18A.
  2. Weekes, Don. The Big Book of Hockey Trivia. Greystone Books. p. 558. ISBN 1-55365-119-7.
  3. '75 SCF Bat/Fog Flyers-Sabres '75 SCF Bat/Fog on YouTube

References

Preceded by
Philadelphia Flyers
1974
Philadelphia Flyers
Stanley Cup Champions

1975
Succeeded by
Montreal Canadiens
1976