The 1974 Stanley Cup Championship
The 1974 Stanley Cup Final saw the Philadelphia Flyers defeat the Boston Bruins 4–2 to become the first expansion-era team to win the NHL championship.
The 1974 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1973–74 season, and the culmination of the 1974 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers made their first Finals appearance and the Bruins returned to the Finals for the third time in five years, having won the Stanley Cup in 1970 and 1972. The Flyers won the best-of-seven series, four games to two, becoming the first team from the 1967 Expansion to win the Stanley Cup, as well as the first non-Original Six Cup champion since the Montreal Maroons in 1935, and the first non-Original Six team to appear in the Final since they stopped being guaranteed a spot after Chicago switched divisions in 1970.
Quick Facts
- Series result
- Flyers win 4-2 over Boston Bruins
- Year
- 1974
- Opponent
- Boston Bruins
- Coach
- Fred Shero
- Captain
- Bobby Clarke
- Conn smythe winner
- Bernie Parent
- Venue (clincher)
- The Spectrum
Lore & Background
In the previous 19 games against the Bruins in Boston, the Flyers had lost 17 and tied two. Boston had the best regular season record in the league finishing one point ahead of the Flyers. The Bruins also had home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Final, and were made heavy favorites to win the series. A key confidence-building win late in the regular season saw the Flyers defeating the Bruins 5–3 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.
Game one saw Bobby Orr score the game-winner with a little over a minute remaining to give Boston a 3–2 win. Game two saw the Flyers tie the game with less than a minute left and win 3–2 in overtime on a goal by Bobby Clarke. Game three was a 4–1 Flyers win. Game four was a 4–2 Flyers win.
Game five was a sloppy affair easily won by Boston. Game six was a 1–0 Flyers win on a goal by Rick MacLeish, with Bernie Parent posting a 30-save shutout. Parent was named Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP.
Reader's Guide
The Flyers defeated the Atlanta Flames 4–0 and the New York Rangers 4–3 to reach the Final. The Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 and the Chicago Black Hawks 4–2. The Flyers won the series 4–2. The Stanley Cup was presented to Flyers captain Bobby Clarke by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Flyers 1–0 win over the Bruins in game six.
Did You Know?
- The Flyers were the first team to clinch the Stanley Cup at home since the Bruins did so four years earlier on Bobby Orr's famous overtime goal.
- The day after the Flyers won the Cup, more than two million lined Broad Street for a ticker-tape parade, the largest championship parade in Philadelphia sports history.
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