BROAD STREET BULLIES

[earl broclo ESQ]

HBO Sports has done it again with Broad Street Bullies.

 

 

As a kid growing up in New England, I got to live through the great era of Cam Neely and Ray Bourque hockey. We had the Sweeney brothers, Andy Moog, Lyndon Byers, Craig Janney, and so on and so on. That was probably around the mid/late 80's and early 90's. I started getting into hockey around middle school, but during high school my interests changed and hockey just wasn't as cool. But as a child my father used to tell me stories about old time Bruins games at the Garden. Derek Sanderson, Terry O'Reilly, Bobby Orr, Phil Espisito, and so on and so on. "Yeah, they'd fight on the ice, then go into the stands. Games where insane!" He'd take me to many Bruins games as a kid, but I never saw the kind of games he witnessed in his prime. I mean I got to see some good hits and plenty of fights, but nothing like the era of my father's early 20's.

 

Then tonight I got to watch Broad Street Bullies, the new HBO Sports documentary on the 72-78 Philly Flyers. This brought it all back. I never knew about the Flyers from those years, obviously because my father was a Bruins fan. This documentary is definitely one you shouldn't sleep on. Even if you're not a fan of hockey, this shit is interesting. It's the real deal "Slapshot" movie. I wouldn't be shocked if the classic comedy is based on these guys.

 

So yeah. Great fucking documentary, tons of great hockey fight tapes, great fucking interviews, and funny fucking knuckle headed Canadians taking over a city and fucking people up.

 

 

 

 

DAO would approve. Watch this fucking shit.

[chemical ali]

[earl broclo ESQ]

[SystemFailure]

Definitely gunna check this shit out.

[gasfacevictm]

Shit was great. Choked me up. Toofless and roofless hockey.

 

My dad was getting nostalgic as hell watching this, reminiscing about the area back in the day. I was only around for the tail end of the 70's but the Flyers legacy held strong through that city and outlying areas my entire youth. It was fucking awesome for all the blue collar dudes to just drink beers and rock out to something real as opposed to Rocky, which I don't understand people getting psyched over beyond it being a good, fun movie.

[earl broclo ESQ]

When I saw Terry O'Reilly talking shit about fighting those guys, I knew they were serious mother fuckers! Terry O'Reilly is a fucking legend in Boston hockey history. For him to say some shit about those guys made me an instant fan. That was like Conan saying the Four Winds have a decent right hook.

[Snowboarding Panda]

Is this still being aired on HBO?

[SwampFightOner]

I hate hockey, but I've always appreciated it for being the only sport that actively employs and uses goons...I'm gonna check this out

[CityonSMASH]

Awesome.

 

Sounds great. Them broad street boys were my fathers favorite. Bobby clark, etc. Hbo does things correct, and I'm certain this will deliver.

 

My ex girlfriend grew up in philli. Her uncle was a chiropracter to the flyers. She has epic pics of a kid with all kinds of shit.

 

Her moms has ms, hilarious woman. Super kool. To some if you never met her you'd think she was loopy. Anyways she took us on a cruise once. And like completely out of nowhere, never hearing her talk about hockey ever before. Proceeds to tell, in extreme vivid detail about the night Pelli Lindberg was killed in a car accident. And how her and my girls father were at the party. And that pelle was on his way to see his girlfriend.

 

Now, this may not sound like much. Or like it perhaps was fabricated, but it wasn't. Nobody good have made that shit up the way she told it. And she's a 50 year old woman with next to no knowledge of hockey. It was extremely interesting and very fucking kool.

 

Comletely outta left field.

[earl broclo ESQ]

Is this still being aired on HBO?

 

I heard nothing about it until tonight. It aired May 4th, and if it runs anything like the Bird and Magic doc, it will run often for the next month.

 

Look and see when it's on with your local listings. I mean this shit writes it's self. When they interview the goalie, it's hilarious. One of them also says something like "We all looked like pornstars, but we'd beat the shit out of you!"

[gasfacevictm]

People were very upset when that guy died, man.

I was like 7, but it was a noticeable downer all over.

 

Conan giving the 4 winds dap?

I can't see it happening Earl, but I get your point.

[earl broclo ESQ]

 

 

[gasfacevictm]

 

That's a hockey player.

[CityonSMASH]

^^ epic.

 

and cool b&w pic with vancouver.

[earl broclo ESQ]

I hate hockey

 

 

I think it's because hockey got so pussy'd down when you were reaching the age of interest in shit like this. Like you'll see in the documentary, some people didn't want hockey to get all thuggish, and that's how the rules have changed over the years. I remember when some guys were still grandfathered in and didn't have to wear helmets, but other guys were noobs and had to follow that rule. Now a days they go out dressed like knights of the round table.

 

If hockey were like it were back in the day, I think you'd be in the stands more often.

 

Or what, you can't fight on a frozen swamp?

[gasfacevictm]

HAHAHA! Frozen swamp FTW!

 

It's crazy to me that goalies didn't wear face protection until the late 60's.

 

I loved how the people were hating on the Flyer's and saying they turned hockey into roller derby because they fought so much.

[SwampFightOner]

I can't even rolleskate, nevermind ice.

 

That said, I DID always have fun playing floor hockey in gym class. In fact, I was the only unanimous selection to the 10th grade gym class All Star team, and once knocked a kid unconscious (even though it was supposed to be no tact). Not to toot my own horn, but ya know... :lol:

 

Also, I went to a live game once and had a pretty good time. Same thing with baseball; I don't especially enjoy it, but it's fun to go to a game

[CityonSMASH]

ya no masks on the goalies musta been intense, and beleive it or not swamp i cant ice skate neither. but im a beast at street hockey like whoa.

 

Jacques Plante was the guy to first rock one:

 

 

Gerry Cheevers had the coolest one early on:

 

 

Cheevers' iconic stitch-pattern goaltender mask came after a puck hit him in the face during practice. Cheevers, never one to miss an opportunity to skip out of practice, went to the dressing room. Bruins coach Harry Sinden followed him to the dressing room, where he found Cheevers enjoying a beer and smoking a cigarette. Sinden told Cheevers, who wasn't injured, to get back on the ice. In jest, John Forestall, the team trainer, painted a stitch mark on his mask. Ever after, any time he was similarly struck, he would have a new stitch-mark painted on. The mask became one of the most recognized of the era, and the original mask is now on the wall of his grandson's bedroom. Another version is on display in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Cheevers was not afraid to stray from the crease both to cut down the shooter's angle and to act as a "third defenseman". He was very aggressive with opposing players who strayed into or near the crease. Many an opposing player who got too close to the goal crease got a quick smack from Cheevers' goal stick. Not a "stand-up" goalie, Cheevers could often be found on his knees or even his side. He perfected this "flopping" style while playing for Rochester during the 1962–63 season. Americans' coach Rudy Migay had Cheevers practice without his stick, thus requiring him to rely more on using his body and his pads. From that point on Cheevers became one of hockey's best goalkeepers.

In 2008, The Hockey News rated his mask the greatest ever with a wide margin. Cheevers received 221 of possible 300 points, while second-placed Gilles Gratton got 66.

 

this my was my dude growing up. fav mask, fav goalie. i looked up to this mutherfucker as a youngster:

 

 

when i was a kid id sit around for hours drawing shit. only two things. never nothin else. hockey masks, and pirate ships.

 

hours on end haha

[shameless self promotion]

I will most def have to check this out. Even if I am a Rangers fan and HATE philly.

 

 

Sadly back then our team got its ass kicked repeatedly. And since then, except for a few odd years, we still do for the most part. Colton Orr has been about the only person on our team in the last ten years that could really throw a fist.

[CityonSMASH]

what the fuck? hbo droppin the ball when it comes to there demographic on this one.

 

[LexDiamonds]

hells yeah.

[IOU]

I think you can pretty much thank Gretzky for hockey getting all soft. They had to protect their money and started changing the rules to keep the new breed of superstars from getting rocked and apparently having goons wasn't the way to do it.

 

I remember McSorely was pretty much Gretzky's personal goon.

[earl broclo ESQ]

Marty McSorely was a fucking goon.

 

And the Rangers had Tie Domi I believe. He was another one.

 

Lyndon Byers was one of Providence main thugs.

 

And the Blackhawks had Chris Chelios.

 

But let's all remember the great Bob Probert. He was Detroit's goon and definitely held it down proper. That was during Detroit's reign of Russia Supreme.

 

Swamp --Do the Providence Bruins still play at the Civic Center, sorry Dunkin Dounuts center? When they first started playing, I think I was in high school. We used to go to games because they were cheap and there was nobody there. I remember they had their mascot come out in between periods. It was someone dressed in a huge bear suit with a jersey on. So they come out and go to the boards and kids get to reach over and high five. Then we see this group of dudes calling it over. Big mistake, it wanders over and acts all Chuck E. Cheese for them, but they just reach down, grab it, and begin to pummel it with punches.

 

God bless us.

[earl broclo ESQ]

See if the trailer works on this site:

 

http://www.phillyburbs.com/opinions/blogs/burbsblogs/is_this_thing_on/patrick_berkery_details/article/430/2010/april/28/broad-street-bullies-trailer-1.html

[KARD like WOE]

super pissed that i only saw the last 20 mins or so .. this is what my parents grew up watching and why they loved hockey so much.. my p's used to go to pittsrbugh every time the flyers played there.. moms was tellin me about how they used to bring a bunch of real penguins oonto the ice during intermissions. and just let em walk around and whatnot... i loved how every one of these guys all said we dont have to apologize to anyone.. fuckin right.. broad st bullies!!

[CityonSMASH]

awesome.

[injury]

[earl broclo ESQ]

^^^^Posting that in this thread is gay like a glory hole at a highway truck stop.

 

 

^^^^Not Gay.

[earl broclo ESQ]

Not to ruin anything for anyone who hasn't seen it --but the bat incident in Buffalo is fucking hilarious.

[R@ndomH3ro]