Hall of Famer Bernie Parent, a Philadelphia Flyers goalie, dies at 80

Former Philadelphia Flyers goalie Bernie Parent during a ceremony for public address announcer Lou Nolan prior to an NHL hockey game against the Anaheim Ducks, Saturday, April 9, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

PHILADELPHIA — Bernie Parent, the Hall of Famer considered one of the great goalies of all time who anchored the net for the Philadelphia Flyers’ only two Stanley Cup championships during their Broad Street Bullies heyday, has died. He was 80.

The Flyers made the announcement Sunday but provided no immediate details. Parent died overnight in his sleep, said Joe Watson, a star defenseman on their Stanley Cup teams.

Parent’s steel-eyed stare through his old-school hockey mask landed him on the cover of Time magazine in 1975 when the Flyers reigned as one of the marquee teams in sports. He won Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe and Vezina trophies in back-to-back seasons when the Flyers won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975, the first NHL expansion team to win the championship.

After he made his NHL debut with Boston in 1965, Parent was left unprotected by the Bruins in the 1967 expansion draft and was selected by the Flyers. After 3 1/2 seasons, he was traded to Toronto but ended up back in Philadelphia ahead of the 1973-74 season. He won a league-high 47 games that season and led the NHL in wins again the next season with 44.

He retired with the Flyers in 1979 after 271 wins — 231 of them with the Flyers — over a 13-year career. Parent was accidentally struck in the right eye with a stick in 1979 and was temporarily blinded. He never played again.

The Flyers beat the Bruins in six games to win the Stanley Cup in 1974 and beat Buffalo in 1975.

On the flight home from Buffalo, the Flyers plopped the Stanley Cup in the middle of the aisle. For close to 90 minutes, the Flyers couldn’t take their eyes off the ultimate prize.

“We were able to just sit back, look at the Stanley Cup and just savour it,” Parent said in 2010. “It was just a special time.”

With Parent the unstoppable force in net, “Only the Lord saves more than Bernie Parent,” became a popular slogan in Philadelphia that stuck with him through the decades.Parent, team captain Bobby Clarke and Dave “The Hammer” Schultz all became stars for the Flyers under owner Ed Snider in an era when the team was known for its rugged style of play that earned it them the Bullies nickname. They embraced their moniker as the most despised team in the NHL and pounded their way into the hearts of Philadelphia Flyers fans. More than 2 million fans packed city streets for each of their championship parades.

Parent’s No. 1 was retired by the Flyers and still hangs in the rafters of their arena and in 1984 he became the first Flyer player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Parent is still the Flyers’ career leader in shutouts with 50.

Parent was one of the more beloved Flyers and remained connected with the team over the years as an ambassador.

The final career highlight came in 2011 when Parent was in the net for an alumni game outdoors at the baseball stadium Citizens Bank Park ahead of the NHL Classic. “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!” echoed throughout the park for the affable goalie, who played 5 minutes, 32 seconds and stopped all six shots. Each save made the “Bernie!” chants return.

Dan Gelston, The Associated Press