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Bobby Clarke: 18 PIM And A Gordie Howe Hat Trick Against The Maple Leafs (November 23, 1974)


 On the night of November 23, 1974, Bobby Clarke of the Philadelphia Flyers cemented the mutual hatred between him and the Toronto Maple Leafs (and their fans). First, he helped the Broad Street Bullies jump out to an early lead then dropped the gloves to do battle with maybe not Toronto's toughest player.

The Game

On that late November night, the Flyers and Leafs were at opposite ends of the standings. Philly had lost just five of their first 20 games while Toronto had won just five of 18. The Flyers would go on to finish the season in a three way tie for first overall in the NHL with Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens. The Buds would pick up their socks, finishing nearly at the .500 mark and qualifying for the post season.

Played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, the game featured a matchup of two former goaltending partners. Between the pipes for the Flyers was Bernie Parent while his former back-up man Doug Favell was playing for Toronto. Favell was the busier of the two, facing 40 shots. Parent had just 24 pucks come his way.

In the end, Philadelphia won the game by a score of 6-3. They held a 6-1 lead after the second period. 

The Goal

Bobby Clarke opened the scoring at 6:28 of the first period on the power play with his sixth of the 1974-75 NHL season. The lone assist on the goal went to defenseman Tom Bladon. Jim McKenny of the Maple Leafs was in the box at the time, serving a minor penalty for tripping. It was one of six shots Clarke would put towards his former teammate Favell that night.

The Assist

Shortly after, at 8:07 of the first period, Reg Leach scored his sixth of the season with the only assist going to Clarke. Tied in goals on the season at this point, Leach would surge ahead to lead the team with 45 on the season. Bobby ended the year with 27 but his 89 assists would help him to an amazing 116 point season.

The Fight

At 14:19 of the second period, Clarke had a bit of a meltdown. He received a five minute major for spearing and also a five minute major for fighting after a dust-up with Rod Seiling. On the same play, Bill Barber of the Flyers received a game misconduct. 

These were the last of the penalties for Bobby. He had also received four minor penalties prior to the fight.

The game featured a classic NHL fight in the first period. Eddie Shack was in his final year in the NHL and appeared in just 26 games for the Leafs in 1974-75. He scored his second last goal of his career to start the second period, assisted by Norm Ullman and Gary Sabourin. He also got into his last fight in the National Hockey League at 12:01 of the first period.

And, who better to have that final fight with than Dave "The Hammer" Schultz of the Flyers. Schultz was in the midst of his record-setting 472 PIM season. He accumulated 17 minutes in this game alone. The two did battle shortly after The Hammer had left the box after a two minute minor for roughing (Bill Barber had scored short-handed during that time).

Shack also received two minutes for charging to go along with the five minute major. This accounted for the majority of his penalty minutes in 1974-75 with just two other minor penalties to his name that year.

Bobby Clarke

As mentioned, Clarke put up 89 assists and 116 points in 1974-75. It was his second of three times reaching the 100 point plateau and his first of two consecutive seasons with 89 assists. He tied Bobby Orr for the NHL lead in helpers and was sixth in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, 19 points behind Orr.

Bobby captained the Flyers to two consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 1973-74 and 1974-75. His 119 points in 1975-76 were a career best and placed him second in the league, six points behind Guy Lafleur of the Montreal Canadiens.

Bobby Clarke 1975-76 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Card [YouTube Shorts]




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