Bernie Parent Turns 70 - Flyers Hall of Fame Goalie

Flyers Hall of Fame Goalie Bernie Parent turns 70 today.

2012 March 6 - Bernie Parent greets fans prior to Mark Howe Number Retirement Ceremony

Parent is a great Ambassador for the Philadelphia Flyers and can often be found at Flyers games. The photo above is from a game in 2012 when the Flyers were honoring Mark Howe. There were a lot of great players in the house that night including Mark's father Gordie Howe. 

Sources and Links
Hockey-Ref

Snapshots 2014 03 15 Penguins 0 @ Flyers 4

A couple of pix from the first half of the Penguins vs Flyers St Pats Home & Home on Saturday.

Flyers Fred Shero Tribute

The Flyers celebrated Fred Shero's entry into the Hockey Hall of Fame throughout the game. Immediately prior to the game fans were treated to a video tribute. Here the Jumbotron displays Shero's memorable quote:

"Win today and We Walk Together Forever"

Philadelphia Flyers HoF Fred Shero (photo from 2008 12 16)


Shero has been in the Flyers Hall of Fame since 1990. He is honored in the teams HoF display case which resides in the Wells Fargo Center.

 GameShots

 
Sidney Crosby vs Claude Giroux

The Flyers won the contest easily. Goalie Steve Mason pitched a 4-0 shutout, The Flyers played very well and made the first place Penguins look terrible.

Anytime the Penguins come to town it is a great time to come out and boo Sidney Crosby. In the pxi above he is squaring off with the Flyers captain Claude Giroux. The Flyers success was a product of keeping Crosby in check - The NHLs point leader had a game high(or low) -3 in plus/minus.

Good Guys

 

Matt Read

Two of the four Flyers Goals were Matt Read shown above. Sean Couturier picked up the assist on each of Read's goals. Scottie Hartnall and Vincent Lecavalier each had a goal for the good guys, Giroux had a pair of assists. 

Victory Handshake

   

The Flyers celebrate the W - Goalie Steve Mason featured here in the gear. And yes I have been playing with the iPhoto functions. Makes mediocre pix look better. 

Sources

Flyers Alumni

Hockey-Ref.com

2013 Phungo Cards #68 Scott Hartnell

NHL Hockey is back unfortunately nobody botherered to tell the Philadelphia Flyers who are off to a rough 2-4 start and are a goal allowed shy of leading the conference with 18 (19 for FLA and the Caps)

2013 Phungo #68 Scott Hartnell

Similar to A&G I like to toss a few oddball cards into the Phungo set.  This includes other sports and some minor stars in those sports like Scott Hartnell - who fills that odd combination of enforcer with scoring ability.

At press time the NHL remained in lockout mode - consequently I listed Hartnell as an actor - for at the time he basically was.  Apparently he has a cameo in the Judd Apatow comedy "This is 40" which I have yet to see, but am certain I will see repeatedly on some pay cable channell this summer.

Indeed today Hartnell remains an actor sort of - he basically got on the ice for about a shift - long enough to break his foot (friendly fire he was hit by a shot by a teammate) - He is out for about a month.

Regardless Hockey is back, I don't care that much about the lockout and have watched bits and pieces of the Flyers so far. Hopefully they will be playing a little better by the time Hartnell returns.

Card Show Today In Oaks PA - BWG Rick MacLeish

Today there is a Poppel produced Show in Oaks PA.  It is at the Arnolds Family Fun Center.  Arnolds is the place behind the Target comples which houses the Go-Kart Track.  It is near the Expo center where CSA used to produce some larger shows.

The Poppel shows are a good local show. There small with only a handful of dealers but those dealers have an interesting mix of things.  Typically good for an afternoon thumbing through dime boxes with some oddball items, perhaps some good vintage.  I think the 35 tables is a bit of an overestimate on their part.  Their shows are about a dozen dealers.


Todays show will have 3 autograph signers including Rick MacLeish

Brush With Greatness

Night Owl is in the process of sifting thru some BWG stories - currently he is doing non-baseball which likely will consist of the Buffalo Bills and Hockey players.  In that spirit I will pass along one of my encounters.

During the summer of 2000 I think - I was involved in a summer shore house rental in Sea Isle City NJ.  One of the bars we frequented (I think it was called the Carousel) was a friendly outdoor deck with great drinks service and fun patrons.  One of the regular customers was Rick MacLeish.  I can't remember a single conversation we had beyond saying hello - but I remember always enjoying the fact he was there.

Additional signers today including NFL vets Tom Woodeschick and Lou Michaels.   

I plan on hitting the show for a few hours around noon.  Say Hi - I am the good looking guy with the Red Phungo Binder of checklists.  I can't think of a better way to spend Small Business Saturday then supporting some curmudgeonly old card dealers. 

For additional info on Philadelphia area card shows click here.

Snapshots 2012 03 06 - Hockey HoF Mark Howe #2 Jersey Retired by the Philadelphia Flyers

On Tuesday night the Philadelphia Flyers Retired Mark Howe's #2 Jersey.

Snapshots

 

Gordie, Marty and Mark Howe's Jerseys from the Houston Aeros

#2 painted on the ice at Wells Fargo Center

Mark Howe Banner raised to the rafters. 

I don't believe I have ever been to a jersey retirement ceremony - The Flyers always do a great job with these types of events and I was glad to be on hand for the event.  If you're unfamiliar with Mark Howe's accomplishments here is his Hockey-Reference Page.  His career is very impressive - If you include his WHA plus/minus with his career numbers he would be third all time - and actually rank AHEAD of Wayne Gretzky. 

Mark Howe's father, Gordie Howe, was also present for the ceremony.  It was worth the price of admission just to see Mr Hockey walk out onto the ice. 

As far as the game goes the Flyers got themselves a Good W beating a tough Red Wings squad 3-2. 

2010 Phungo Cards - The Spectrum

2010 Phungo Black Frame Insert - the Spectrum

Tonight the Philadelphia Flyers will play the last home game of their very successful 2009-2010 campaign.

The Flyers now play their home games in the plush confines of the oft renamed Wachovia Center. The last time the Flyers won the Stanley Cup, they played across the parking lot in the much cozier Spectrum.

The Spectrum held it's last sports event about a year ago. There have been several other closing concerts and other closing events since then. The buildings days are numbered, and I will miss it. Between games, concerts and other events I estimate I visited the Spectrum about two dozen times. I saw my first NHL and NBA games there - I also saw many minor league sporting events and college hoop games at the arena. The concerts I saw there included several rockers from the Jurrassic era such as Jerry Garcia, Rush, and Tom Petty.

Hopefully tonight the Flyers will keep their season alive and add to the legacy of their new home.

Lets Go Flyers!!!

After falling to 0-2 in Chicago the Philadelphia Flyers have evened the Stanley Cup Finals at 2 games a piece.

Tonight the Flyers and Blackhawks return to Chicago to decide the 2010 Stanley Cup Final in what amounts to a three game series

2002-03 Topps Heritage Hockey #28 Simon Gagne

I don't have many hockey cards, but this is one of them. Gagne is injured right now (broken foot) but is a member of the current Flyers team and is among Philadelphia's longest tenured athletes. He has struggled with injuries the last few years but was quite a scorer when healthy. Gagne is the only player that I have witnessed completing a hat trick at a game I have attended.

Philadelphia Flyers @ Chicago Blackhawks 8pm Sunday June 6th.

2009 10 31 Card Show Swag - Concord Mall, Wilmington DE

1975 Topps #185 Steve Carlton

I am going to be featuring a couple of posts this week on some of the cards I picked up at Concord Mall card show last weekend.

I was very pleased with the show - the 2.5 hours I allotted myself was clearly not enough time.

I spent the bulk of my time filling in some Phillies cards - both recent and 70s vintage as well as 50s vintage and 60/70s HOFs.

Today I will feature some of the 70s cards. At the top of this post is a 1975 Steve Carlton card which was in small batch of Phils cards that I picked up for 25 cents a pop.


1971 topps #439 Greg Luzinski/Scott Reid RC

There was a dealer there that had tons of off-condition vintage dating back to the 50s all at a buck a card. This Greg Luzinski Rookie Card was among the cards I pulled out his stash. We all know that Luzinski had a great career with the Phils and has lent his name to one of the Phils marquee concessions in their new ballpark. Scott Reid's baseball career was significantly different - He appeared in 38 career games for the Phils in 1969 and 1970.

In two separate purchases I picked up both Ollie Brown cards from the Topps 1975 set.


1975 Topps #596 Ollie Brown (mini and base)


Topps offered a miniature version of their 1975 set as well as the regular sized version. I really like the minis and tend to pick them up whenever I see one, definitely if it is a Phils player. The 1975 is a fairly iconic set and I wonder if I would like the minis as much if they were done for a less notable set like 1970 Topps. The Mini came from the same quarter bin as the 75 Carlton above. The base card came out of a dime box.

As I mentioned above the Luzinski dealer featured tons of vintage cards a at dollar a piece. Among the were these two early 70s gems.

1970 Topps #462 Hank Aaron All-Star

1971 Topps #160 Tom Seaver

To me any Hall of Famer from prior to 75 is worth a buck especially for top tier HOFs like Aaron and Seaver. If you are looking for big time stars of the era, the All-Star cards are always more affordable then the base. I like almost any newspaper themed cards so the 70s All-Stars are among my favorites.

Tom Terrific is a Met, but it isn't often your going to find a card of his from the early part of his career for only a buck.


A few weeks back Dayf posted a vintage Falcons insert card to mark one of the teams victories. I had remembered similar Hockey Cards from the 70s. As luck would have it I found this beauty in the dollar bin.

1977+ O-Pee-Chee Glossy #3 Bobby Clarke

Both OPC and Topps issued this insert set which came 1 per pack in each manufactures 1977+ set. The insert apparently also comes with square corners, I have only seen the rounded corners as pictured here.

That concludes the 70s era portion of the Concord Mall Card Show. Hopefully later in the week I will get a chance to post some of the 1950s topps cards that were available.

Philly Sports Hall of Fame - Tommy Loughran, Fred Shero, and Stan Hochman

1975 Topps #213 Stanley Cup Playoffs NHL 1973-74 Semi-Finals

1948 Leaf #27 Tommy Loughran

This is the Boxing Day edition for the Phungo salute to the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame 2008 induction class. Today we honor Tommy Loughran, Fred Shero, and Stan Hochman.

Tommy Loughran is the only one that actually is a boxer. He compiled a 96-24 record with 17 wins via knockout. He won the Light Heavyweight title in 1927 and was named Ring magazines Fighter of the Year for 1929 and 1931.

Stan Hochman is also connected to boxing via a cameo appearance in Rocky V. He probably prefers to be remembered for his writing. Hochman is currently a sportswriter for the Philadelphia Daily News, I know Hochman primarily for his appearances on a local sport panel talk show “Daily News Live’. Hochman is a great tie to Philadelphia’s sports past and has incredible stories about the Phillies of the 50s and 60s. Hochman’s expertise is not limited to the field of sports as he can also give thoughtful commentary on subjects in the arts such as, literature, theater, food, and jazz.

Fred Shero isn’t a boxer but he certainly can be linked to fighting. He was the head coach and leader of the Philadelphia Flyers from 1971-1978. The Flyers of the era were known for their rough and tumble style. Shero's legendary “Broad Street Bullies” won the Stanley Cup in both 1974 and 1975 . The 1976 team, which bested the Russian Red Army team 4-1 in a much remembered game, were also honored in a Simpsons "Treehouse of Horrors" Episode .

Prior to the Flyers clinching game 6 of 1974 Stanley Cup final Shero wrote this memorable line upon the Flyers blackboard

“Win together today, and we walk together forever”