Broad Street Bullies: Flyers’ Legacy

Broad Street Bullies: Flyers’ Legacy

The Broad Street Bullies

How the Nickname Was Born

The Philadelphia Flyers established themselves early, both in skill and personality, following their inception in 1967. By 1975, the team had won two Stanley Cups and earned a new nickname: the Broad Street Bullies. The name paired Broad Street, the road the Flyers have always called home, with bullies, a nod to the team’s stacked roster of hard-hitting tough guys who made them easily the most hated team in the NHL throughout the 1970s. As the franchise has evolved and grown over the decades, the nickname has stuck, though its meaning — and the entire concept of the NHL bully — has shifted along with it.

Built on Toughness and Talent

Bobby Clarke, the Franchise Centerpiece

The Flyers team of the 1970s was built around captain Bobby Clarke, arguably one of the best two-way forwards to ever play the game. Clarke joined the team in 1969 and played his entire 15-year career in Philadelphia, anchoring a roster built for both skill and toughness.

The Enforcers Who Protected Him

To protect Clarke and the team’s other scorers, owner Ed Snider sought out tough players like Dave “The Hammer” Schultz, Andre “Moose” Dupont, and Bob “Hound Dog” Kelly. Thanks in large part to these three players, the Flyers consistently led the league in fighting majors throughout the ’70s. Their pugnacious playing style led to heated rivalries with nearly every other team, and the Flyers quickly became the most hated team in the league.

A Team Feared and Beloved

While they were known for fighting, the Broad Street Bullies were also feared because they were an effective team. They played in two more Stanley Cup Finals in the ’70s after their championships in 1974 and 1975. Perhaps the most important factor in the team’s success, though, was chemistry. The players on that roster forged a close bond, a “pack mentality,” as center Bill Clement would later describe it. They didn’t fight just to fight; they fought in defense of their teammates, and other teams learned not to mess with them. Though they were hated everywhere else, the Flyers were heroes in Philadelphia. The city embraced its tough-as-nails team, taking pride in the hate it earned. Between all these factors, the Flyers went 322-138-86 in the regular season (51-41 in playoff games) from 1972 to 1979 — the heart of that dominant era.

The Modern Flyers: Same Nickname, Different Chemistry

On-Ice Ups and Downs

Three decades later, the team has changed, though the nickname has remained. The rivalries developed in the ’70s proved powerful enough to stand the test of time, and in nearby markets like Pittsburgh, New York, and Washington, D.C., the Flyers remain widely despised. The modern Flyers have maintained the franchise’s traditional balance of highly skilled scorers and enforcers, consistently ranking among the league leaders in fighting majors and maintaining that Broad Street Bullies identity to some extent. Their on-ice results, however, were more inconsistent from 2006 to 2015. The Flyers were Eastern Conference champions in 2010 and division leaders in 2011, yet they also made the postseason only once between 2013 and 2015.

The Cost of a Revolving Roster

Where the modern Flyers vary most from their 1970s counterparts is in the chemistry and mentality within the upper organization. From 2008 to 2010, the team boasted an exceptional core of talent, including long-tenured players like Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Daniel Briere, and Scott Hartnell. By the end of the 2015 season, all five of those players were gone. It is certainly more difficult to hold a team together in the salary-cap era, but the lack of continuity in the locker room has made it much harder to develop the kind of chemistry the Flyers of the ’70s were known for.

Redefining the “Bully” in Today’s NHL

The Philadelphia Flyers still play on Broad Street, but the days of Bobby Clarke are long gone, and in today’s NHL, being a bully means something different. While most fans and players agree that fighting should remain part of the game, the goon — the player who exists almost exclusively to throw his fists — is a fading figure in the modern league, in part because of growing awareness of the long-term health toll fighting can take on enforcers. Agitators and enforcers still exist, of course, and Philadelphia had a mix of both in the 2000s and 2010s, with players like Wayne Simmonds and Zac Rinaldo among the best examples. The ever-increasing size, strength, and speed of NHL athletes has made certain hits and plays more dangerous than in previous decades, changing the landscape around hits and checks and often turning players like Rinaldo into liabilities rather than assets. The Flyers have struggled to adapt their identity to this new landscape and to regain the loathing respect once earned by the Broad Street Bullies of old.