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At the beginning of the 1973-1974 season, slogans began
popping up on hundreds of automobile bumpers in and
around Philadelphia. Accompanied by a Philadelphia
Flyers emblem, the message read: "THINK STANLEY CUP!"
And so for eight months, Philadelphians did some heavy
wishful thinking. Many believed that coach Fred Shero
and his swashbuckling band of stick-handlers could
become the first expansion club to acquire Lord
Stanley's storied mug.
The Philadelphia-New York semifinal series was billed as
a match between the "Ferocious" Flyers and the New York
"Nice Guys." And ferocious the Flyers were , battling at
every turn. The Rangers fought back and extended the
series to a full seven games, but the high-flying Flyers
ousted New York in the deciding contest.
Owning a 17-0-2 record in their previous 19 outings at
home against Philadelphia, Boston was a heavy favorite
with home-ice advantage coming into the finals.
Boston won the opener, but Philadelphia stunned the
Bruins at Boston Garden in Game 2. Flyers' Captain Bobby
Clarke ended his team's drought at the garden in Game 2
by scoring two goals, the second in sudden-death, and
added one assist to overcome an early 2-0 deficit.
The Flyers then won twice at The Spectrum, only to drop
the fifth match in Beantown. The Flyers indulged
themselves in the sixth and final match at The Spectrum
- the playing of Kate Smith's rendition of "God Bless
America." The Flyers were 35-3-1 when Miss Smith was
heard, but normally they only played a recording, this
time Kate was there in the flesh. The game scoreless
until 14:48 of the first period, when Flyers sophomore
Rick MacLeish tipped an Andre Dupont shot past Bruins
goalie Gilles Gilbert.
That was all the Flyers needed as goaltender Bernie
Parent limited the Bruins to three goals in his three
remaining wins, including his sixth game shutout as the
Flyers became the first expansion team to win the
Stanley Cup, after only seven years in the NHL.
Parent earned the Conn Smythe Trophy for Playoff MVP
with a 12-5-0 record and a 2.02 average in 17 playoff
games.
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