Philadelphia Flyers Legends Profile: Bernie Parent

The Philadelphia Flyers have had many great players. No greater one has guarded their net than goaltender Bernie Parent.

There’s a saying in Philadelphia – “Only the Lord saves more than Bernie Parent“. He led the Philadelphia Flyers to two Stanley Cup wins and picked up some pretty special individual hardware while doing so.

However, his road to the Stanley Cup was rocky. This road would see him be a Flyer twice. It also included a stop in Toronto and a side trip to the World Hockey Association. 

Bernie Joins the Flyers

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Parent was left unprotected by the Boston Bruins in the 1967 expansion draft when the Flyers entered the NHL. In his first year, he split the net with Doug Favell. Parent took the number one goalie spot in the 1968-69 season. He performed well as the Flyers’ number one and they rewarded him with a trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he was able to play alongside his hero, Jaques Plante.

Finding himself without a contract for the 1972-73 season, Parent signed with the WHA’s Miami Screaming Eagles.

The Eagles didn’t make it to the new league, and Parent found himself back in Philadelphia, but with the Blazers of the WHA, not the Flyers. After a contract dispute with the Blazers, Parent landed back in the NHL. The Maple Leafs, who had retained his rights, traded him back to the Philadelphia Flyers in May of 1973.

Back in Orange and Black

With Parent back in orange and black, the Flyers would soon make history as the first post-1967 expansion team to win the Stanley Cup during the 1973-74 season. The boys from Broad Street would win a second Cup with him in net the following year. Along the way, Bernie picked up two Vezina Trophies as well as two Conn Smythe Trophies.

His stats for the two Stanley Cup years are in a word, astounding. In 1973-74, Bernie had 47 wins, only 13 losses, and 12 ties in 73 games. Pair that with a stunning 1.89 GAA and a .932 save percentage and you will understand why the most prevalent sign at the Spectrum read, “Only the Lord saves more than Bernie”.

Parent’s goaltending in the run to the 1973-74 Stanley Cup was just as breathtaking. 12 wins, 29 goals against total, for a GAA of 2.02 and a .933 save percentage made him the obvious choice for the Conn Smythe.

Injuries End a Career

As often seems to happen to hockey players wearing the Flyers sweater, Parent’s career would be fraught with injuries. 1975-76 would see Parent play only 11 games in the regular season.  Parent would return late in the season from a pinched nerve, and the Flyers would make it back to the Stanley Cup Finals to defend their title. They were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens.

A freak injury during a 1978 game against the New York Rangers would cost Parent his career, and almost cost him his vision. While Parent would regain his vision, he would not be able to play hockey at the NHL level again, and retired. He remains a part of the Flyers organization, as an Ambassador of Hockey. The Flyers retired his #1 jersey in 1979. Five years later, in 1984, he was inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame, and was named #63 on The Hockey News 100 Greatest Hockey Players in 1998.

While Flyers fans have hope in the form of prospect Carter Hart, Parent remains the only goaltender to raise Lord Stanley’s Cup in a Flyers sweater.