It's just simple logic that a guy like Bobby Clarke would have a few Gordie Howe Hat Tricks under his belt. The combination of Clarke's offensive ability and the fact he played for the Philadelphia Flyers for over a decade provides an extreme increase in odds. On January 9, 1972, prior to the Broad Street Bullies era, Bobby put up a GHHT in blowout over the California Golden Seals. He scored one goal and added two assists and, yes, got into a fight.
The Game
Played at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Flyers had a scoring explosion against California. The final score ended up 10-3 for the home team. The loss wasn't from a lack of trying as the Golden Seals put 38 shots at Philly goaltender Doug Favell. For the Flyers, it was just their 12th win in 39 games.
Bobby Clarke had three points in the game but the Flyers certainly had other outstanding performances that night. Bill Lesuk had a hat trick while Serge Bernier and Rick Foley both had four point nights. Bernier and Lesuk would be traded to the Los Angeles Kings just a few weeks later.
The Goal
Bobby Clarke scored his tenth goal of the 1971-72 season just 28 seconds into the second period to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead. The goal would be the seven unanswered by the Flyers and was unassisted.
The Assists
Both of Clarke's two assists came in the third period and both were on Bill Lesuk goals. The first, at 14:33, was Lesuk's 5th of the season and was also assisted by Michel Parizeau. The goal put the Flyers up 9-2 on the Seals.
The second assist for Bobby came at 17:38 of the third and was on the tenth and final goal for Philadelphia. Goaltender Doug Favell also got a helper on Lesuk's sixth goal of the campaign. Lesuk would score just one more goal with the Flyers before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings on January 28. For Doug Favell, it was his only assist of the 1971-72 NHL season.
The Fight
At 13:42 of the second period, Bobby dropped the gloves with Paul Shmyr. Clarke only received the five for fighting while Shmyr was assessed an additional misconduct. At the same time, Simon Nolet of the Flyers was handed a game misconduct.
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