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The new HBO Documentary on the Broad Street Bullies – My thoughts
 
With the time constraints of modern living, I very rarely have the time to sit down and watch anything at its regularly scheduled time as most of what I watch these days is via DVR.  However, there was a recent exception to this rule when HBO released its first documentary ever on an NHL team featuring the Philadelphia Flyers famed “Broad Street Bullies”.  My connection runs deep with the “Broad Street Bullies” and I wanted to share my thoughts and observations.
 
As a little boy growing up in Buffalo, New York, I dreamed of playing in the National Hockey League for as long as I can remember.  I remember my father putting me to sleep listening to Rick Jenneret, the only voice of the Buffalo Sabres.  The first encounter I ever had with a professional hockey player came in 1976 at age 5 when I was having brunch at the old Statler hotel in downtown Buffalo with my family.  As luck would have it, the “Broad Street Bullies” where having a team meal only a few table away from ours.  I wanted to go over and ask for their autographs because they were in the NHL, and I looked up to anyone that was in the NHL.  However, at the very young age of 5 I was certain they would beat me up if asked for their autographs.  Right?!  I was from Buffalo!  My father assured me that if I said please and thank you that I would be fine.  It turns out my father was right and every one of them signed my little piece of paper.  I was a young Sabres fan and my first hockey autographs came from the “Broad Street Bullies”!
 
As irony would have it, I was signed as a free agent by the Philadelphia Flyers in the summer of 1998.  The GM at the time was none other than Bobby Clarke.  Having played in the Flyers organization for a couple of years, and today working with some of the players through the NHL Alumni Association, I have gotten to know many of the players from those teams from the 1970’s.  So obviously, I watched with great excitement to see the story and those players that I have become friends with and respect a great deal.
 
First, I thought of the effect that group of hockey players had on a city.  The parade after the cup says it all as they united a city and gave the people of Philadelphia a sense of pride and hope.  The city identified with a team that earned everything they got the old fashion way, with grit and determination.  I would argue what the 1980 U.S. Olympic team’s Miracle on Ice was for the U.S. in the 1980’s what the Broad Street Bullies were for Philadelphia in the 1970’s.
 
I will never forget my first game in Philadelphia when, towards the end of the game, we had a two goal lead and a fan, through an opening in the glass, shouted, “We have enough goals, now let’s get some teeth!”  Welcome to Philadelphia!  The spirit of those teams lives on in the fans 35 years later, and every Flyers team after them will be measured against a group of guys that did whatever they had to do to win.  After watching the current Flyers make their own history climbing from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Boston Bruins in Round 2 of the playoffs, it appears the determination and grit is alive and well in Philadelphia.  On a side note, Dave Schultz has confirmed that the current team has seen HBO’s documentary.  Ironic?  Maybe not. 
 
It’s easy to see why the Flyers won the Stanley Cups they did in the 70’s.  Whether it’s sport, or anything else in life, you can accomplish tremendous things when a group of individuals comes together with a collective passion.  The “Broad Street Bullies” are a living example of that, no matter what your opinion as to how they accomplished it!  If you want something bad enough, you can have it if you’re willing to make the necessary sacrifices.