Ashbee played on the 1973-74 team that won the Stanley Cup, but his absence from the clinching game was because of an horrific career-ending eye injury he suffered April 28, 1974. In a semi-final game against the Rangers, just days after being named to the NHL's second all-star team, he was hit flush in the eye by a Dale Rolfe shot. The following year, he became one of the team's assistant coaches after initially refusing the offer for its perceived sympathetic reasons.

     In April 1977, doctors gave him the devastating news that he had leukemia. One month later he was dead. A Memorial scholarship fund was established in his honor, and on April 3, 1975 his number 4 was retired by the club. To this day, the Barry Ashbee trophy is awarded annually to the best defenseman on the Flyers, and Ashbee is also a member of the Flyers Hall of Fame.