Bernie Parent, the Hall of Famer considered one of the greatest goalies of all time who anchored the net for the Philadelphia Flyers' only two Stanley Cup championships during their Broad Street Bullies days, has died. He was 80. The Flyers made the announcement Sunday but provided no details, the AP reports. 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 captured the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975, the first NHL expansion team to win the championship.
"The legend of Bernie Parent reached far beyond the ice and his accolades," the Flyers said in a statement that cited his work with the Ed Snider Youth Hockey & Education. Saying Parent "inspired an entire generation of hockey fans," the Flyers added that he "dedicated his time, energy and enthusiasm to not only grow the game, but also to spread joy to anyone he encountered." After making his NHL debut with Boston in 1965, Parent was left unprotected in the 1967 expansion draft and was selected by the Flyers. After 3½ 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.
The Flyers beat the Bruins in six games to win the Stanley Cup in 1974 and beat Buffalo in 1975. Parent had shutouts in the clinchers both seasons. On the flight home from Buffalo, the Flyers plopped the Stanley Cup in the middle of the aisle. For close to 90 minutes, they couldn't take their eyes off hockey's ultimate prize. "We were able to just sit back, look at the Stanley Cup and just savor it," Parent said in 2010. "It was just a special time." Parent's No. 1 jersey was retired by the Flyers and still hangs in the rafters of their arena. In 1984, he became the first Flyers player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He is still the Flyers' career leader in shutouts with 50.
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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, per the AP. He never played again. "He was so good with people," said Joe Watson, a star defenseman on the championship teams. "A lot of athletes don't get it or don't give fans the time of day. Bernie gave everyone the time of day. He'd always have his rings on. He'd show them to the people and people loved to see them."
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