Gordie Howe Hat Trick

 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, f...

You've got to hand it to him, Denis Potvin wasn't backing down from no one. On December 8, 1974, his New York Islanders were visiting the Philadelphia Flyers at the Spectrum. The Flyers ended up taking the closely fought match 3-2 but Potvin seemed to be in on everything. He achieved the Gordie Howe Hat Trick on a goal, assist and first period fight. The Goal Denis Potvin's goal was the second of the game for the Islanders and his sixth of the 1974-75 NHL season. New York was shorthanded, killing off a 4 on 3 with Dave Lewis just about to come out of the penalty box. New York's Dave Fortier and Flyers captain Bobby Clarke were both serving minors. At the twelve minute mark of the second period, Denis scored unassisted on Bernie Parent . The marker tied the game at two and gave the Islanders hope. It was one of two shots on net for Potvin in the game and one of only 13 that the Islanders would put towards Parent. While Glenn Resch had 35 pucks fired his way. The Assist...

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. Be...