History Of Ice Hockey in Philadelphia - Part 5

Philadelphia Rockets (1942)

1942. After the Rangers ended their affiliation with the Ramblers in 1941, team management decided to give them a new name. The team was renamed the Philadelphia Rockets for the 1941-1942 season.

Unfortunately things didn't go much better, than the year before, as the Rockets went 11-41-4 that season, generating only 26 points. After finishing dead last, once again, in their division the team folded and Philadelphia was left without a Pro Hockey team until the Rockets reemerged in the AHL in 1946.

1946-1949. The Rockets came back to the AHL for their second stint in 1946, unfortunately that season didn't go no better than before. Once again, Philadelphia set a loosing record in pro hockey that still stands today. The Rockets went 5-52-7 with a .133 winning percentage, that was actually lower than the 1930-1931 Quakers winning percentage of .136. Amazingly this record still stands today.

Ironically Philadelphia's first AHL scoring champion came in that year. After playing 125 games with the Black Hawks and scoring only 21 goals prior to the war years, Phil Hergesheimer, who doubled as a player and coach, scored 48 goals, and 44 assists that year in 64 games. This nearly accounted for half of the goals the Rockets scored that year, becoming the AHL's leading scorer. Hergehgeimer's success paid off as he was the AHL's starting Right Wing All-Star. But the Rockets gave up a remarkable 400 goals that season, which averages out to around 6.25 goals per game!The next season proved the Rockets where much better, proving their worthiness in the AHL. With former Hershey Bears head coach, and former Philadelphia Quaker, Wally Kilrea behind the bench the team improved to a 22-41-5 record.

Hergehgeimer remained on the team, as a player, and earned another All-Star team berth, but this time he wasn't on the starting line. He would repeat this in the following season, 1948-1949, also. Also earning a spot in the AHL's All-Star Game for Philadelphia was defensemen Eddie Bush. Another spot light that season was Wally Stefaniew, who lead the league in assists with 72.

But the Rockets slipped back to a 15-48-5 in the 1948-1949 season. Philadelphia's second AHL franchise never got a chance to prove their worthiness again as they relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio after the 1948-1949 season, becoming the Cincinnati Mohawks. All in all the Rockets won a mere 42 games out of 200 they played in their second stint in the AHL, that's not even a fourth of the total games played. Their three year totals where 42-141-17.


Philadelphia Falcons (1942-1946; 1951)

The Falcons remained Philadelphia's only hockey team for the next four seasons after the Rockets folded. The Falcons played in the Eastern Amateur Hockey League. After folding in 1946, they reemerged in 1951, but lasted only one season. They had a horrible record of 8-17-0 and didn't even last til the end of the season, as the team was disbanded in mid-December because of poor attendance. The last game was played on December 15 in front of 1,500 fans. The Falcons lost to the Johnstown Jets 9-3. After the news that the team would be disband, they would still play their final two games, but that was later canceled so that the players could return to their hometown teams.

This was allowed so that the players wouldn't violating the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association ruling on eligibility (if a member played in the United States after December 15 and his team disbanded, he was not eligible to return to his hometown team).

The city of Philadelphia would have no pro hockey team until a second Ramblers team was established in 1955.

Philadelphia Ramblers (1955-1964)

The Philadelphia Ramblers where back in Philadelphia, this time under the Eastern Hockey League, during the mid 50s and early 60s, the Ramblers where Philly's only pro hockey team.

The Ramblers offered Philly a taste of ice hockey for 9 seasons, 1955-1964. After the 1963-1964 season, the team moved across the Delaware, to Cherry Hill, New Jersey. They were renamed the Jersey Devils (not to be confused with the NHL's New Jersey Devils, who came along in 1982). Some notable players who played for the red sweater Ramblers include Ted Harris. Harris would win multiple Calder Cups with Springfield and Cleveland and multiple Stanley Cup titles with Montreal and Philadelphia in his playing career. Ironically, he ended up coming back to Philadelphia almost twenty years later where he won his 10th championship, playing for the Flyers in 1975.

Other notables include Boston netminder, Ross Brooks; EHL badboy, John Brophy, who went on to coach the Maple Leafs for 3 seasons, 1986-1989; Al Fontana; "Obie" O'Brien, who went on to be a longtime AHL defensemen with the Hershey Bears. The Ramblers longest serving player was Reggie Meserve, who first came over from the Washington Lions mid-season in 1955, playing through all 9 seasons in Philadelphia, and 5 more seasons when the team moved to New Jersey. Meserve hung up his skates in 1969.

There where a few future Flyers who came out of the Ramblers system after the team moved to New Jersey. Those players include: Bobby Taylor, future back-up of Bernie Parent; Dick Sarrazin, who played for the Flyers in the late 60s and early 70s; Rosaire Paiement, who played for the Flyers and the Vancouver Canucks in the 70s, and Vic Stasiuk, who coached Jersey from 1966-1968, became the Flyers 2nd Head Coach.

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***Credits for the information gathered on this blog goes to hockeydb.com, flyershistory.com, hockeyscoop.net. Logos and Photos are copyrighted to their respected owenrs. All information was collected for recreational use only. This is NOT an attempt to claim this information gathered as my own. All information belongs to the respected owners.***

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The Broad Street Rundown - 1/12/08

Doesn't it feel good to be on top right now? Wait, you don't know what I am talking about? The Flyers are solely in first place in the Atlantic. The Devils and Rangers each have been struggling the past couple games, and that's helped keep the Flyers in first. Of the top three in the Atlantic we have the best record, with a 5-2-3. Amazing how we've only lost in regulation three times from December til now.

Flyers strike back on the "Ninjury."

What is the "Ninjury" It's the "Injury Ninja." A fictional character us Flyer fans at the THE NHL ARENA came up with. He strikes injury with so much skill, and quickness, often us fans don't know a player has been injured until after the game, or day after the game. He's been steady at it since the start of the Flyers road trip, luckily, hopefully, we've seen the worst of him as no new injuries have come up, aside from Josh Gratton.

It is pleasing to the eye, to see our top guys returning from injury. Scottie Upshall is back and has been very good since his comeback. Biron is back after a strong battle with a virus that kept him out of action for the better part of two weeks. Lupul has recovered faster than Stevens and "Homer" originally thought, and is back in the line up instead of missing 4 to 6 weeks as originally thought. Vaananen is likely to comeback tonight, as well as Niitty, serving as Biron's back up. Briere is going to test his groin with the Phantoms for two games. He is the second Flyers player this year (Randy Jones was the first) to be on a conditioning assignment with the Phantoms. Hopefully management sees' this and thinks "The Phantoms should stay in, or close to Philly because of this reason."

The key thing down the stretch is to have our top guys stay healthy. Hopefully that'll stay true, these guys are our Broad Street Bullies, have to play tough and stay strong.

Phantoms & Conditioning Assignments

How cool would it be to have the Phantoms at the Wack along with the Flyers? This can be a great marketing scheme. Do some double headers on the weekends, maybe once or twice a month. Give out a discounted ticket for the double header. So instead of paying $30 and $60 for a ticket have them at $75 as a bundle to see the Phantoms and then the Flyers. Contacting Ed Snider.....

Either way I hope the Phantoms stay in Philadelphia or in my case, be relocated to Wilmington, DE. But it's something special to have your own farm team play right next door, and/or even in the same town.

Hot Streaks

While the Flyers are having a great couple months, it's not without the help from Jeff Carter, Marty Biron, and Mike Richards.

All have been on their game, as well as the rest of team. Hey even guys like Andrew Alberts has gotten a goal, finally ending his league leading scoring drought. Jeff Carter is leading the NHL with 29 goals and Mike Richards has posted a point in 10 of his last 12 games. Marty Biron has been great between the post, picking up some extra workload with Niitty being out with his groin strain. He has gone 7-1-2 in his last 10 starts with a 2.56 GAA, and a .919 sv%. He's only let 9 goals in, in his last 5 games, including no more than 2 in the last three.

Scottie Upshall has 5 points in his last 5 games, including a goal and an assist against Minnesota last Thursday. Not to mention being a physical presence each shift he takes. Speaking of that game, I have photos from that game on my photobucket.

Before I leave you, I would like to say congrats Jeff Carter for representing the Flyers in the All-Star game this year. Even though my view on the whole voting process is bias, that will be discussed at a later time.

That about does it, if you have not noticed yet, I have put up an Email Subscriber, so you can easily get my blog updates in your email! Keep a look out for more posts by me! More Philadelphia Hockey History, and as always.....Good Fight Good Night.

History Of Ice Hockey in Philadelphia - Part 4

Philadelphia Ramblers (1935-1941)

Before the start of the 1935 season the Philadelphia Arrows changed their name to the Ramblers, after becoming the New York Ranger's top minor affiliate. The Philadelphia Ramblers would last until the 1941 season, playing 6 seasons under the name.

After the 1934 season, things looked bright for the new Ramblers for the 1934-1935 season, as they where, again, the top dominate club in the Can-Am League. They won the regular season championship and then defeated the Providence Reds on the road, 1-0, to win the series 3-1, and take home the Frank Fontaine Cup. This became Philadelphia's first pro hockey championship.

After the 1935 season, the International Hockey League (IHL) merged with the Canadian-American Hockey League (CAHL). After years of being rival leagues, both of the leagues' franchises had shrunk down to just four teams a piece. In order to protect the healthiness of the remaining hockey clubs, the two leagues merged for the 1935-1936 season, becoming the I-AHL (International-American Hockey League). This became known as the present days' American Hockey League.

As one team dropped out, the Buffalo Bison, the league had only seven teams for the next two years. The Ramblers, once again, showed they where a dominate force becoming the top team of the I-AHL, finishing with a 26-14-8 record. The next year, they once again had a winning season of a 31-18-5 record.

A new team surfaced for the 1938-1939 season, filling the void of the Buffalo Bison. This brought the new league back to 8 franchises. The team was the Hershey Bears. With the Bears now in the league, this ultimately created the Philadelphia-Hershey rivalry. The first game was just as intense as it is today, with the Bears being victorious at home, beating the Ramblers 3-1. When the two met in Philly two weeks later, the Ramblers where seeking revenge, as the Bears where still the only team to have beat the powerful 'Blueshirts.' At the time the Ramblers where 8-1-0, they scored 6 times to bring their goal total to 60 goals in just 10 games, but the Hershey faithful scored 9 times to give Philadelphia their second loss of the season.

The battles lasted all through the regular season and the playoffs. After the Ramblers finally won the 4th match up, 4-1, the two rivals faced off 2 more times. This match up was a home and home series, and decided who would have the league's best overall record. The two split that series, with the home team winning in each game. With that win, the Ramblers secured home ice advantage for the playoffs.

As the two teams met in the playoffs, the Bears traveled to Philadelphia for game 1 of the series, which went to the Ramblers. The score was 6-3, with rookie forward, Alf Pike, scoring a hat trick. The next game, the Bears evened the series, 1 game a piece, after the Bears beat back up goalie, Havery Teno, 3-2 in Hershey. Teno replaced the Ramblers #1 goalie, after The Ramblers would have their #1 goalie play just 1 more game in that series as Bert Gardiner was recalled from the Rangers to sub for the injured Dave Kerr. Hershey would survive game 4, and force game 5 in Philadelphia, where this time, Teno shutout the Bears, helping the Ramblers advance to the Calder Cup finals defeating the Bears 1-0. The Ramblers would be upset by the Cleavland Barons 3 game to 1.

After 1939, the Ramblers did not see much success, with players gaining spots on the Rangers roster, and with war becoming bigger, the Ramblers lasted two more NHL seasons before being renamed in 1941.

Notable players include Ron Hextall's grandfather, Bryan Hextall (top left), played on the Ramblers in the 1937 season. Hextall went on to be a forward in the NHL with the New York Rangers, and was a key player for the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup in 1940. Hextall scored the winning goal for the Rangers to win their third Stanley Cup. Other notables of Bryan Hextall include being the NHL scoring leader in 1940 + 1941, winning the Art Ross Trophy in 1942, and being inducted in the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 1969. Other notable players to play as Rambler where Dave Kerr, Bert Gardinerand Larry Molyneux (above), and Clint Smith (left[Photo creidt HHOF archives])

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**Credits for the information gathered on thus blog goes to hockeydb.com, and hockeyscoop.net. All information was collected for recreational use only. This is NOT an attempt to claim this information gathered as my own. All information and photos belongs to the respected owners.***

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Winter Classic Wrap-Up

Wow! Hard to believe it's 2009 already, time has flown by. Amazing isn't it?

Ahh, Wrigley Field, one of baseball's most historic ballparks, and home to the Chicago Cubs. It's one of baseball's most beloved fields that Cubs fans gather to watch some baseball, ski jumping, and hockey. Wait? Did I just say ski jumping....hockey? Well you can read about the ski jumping here, and I'll wrap up the hockey part.

The Winter Classic has come and gone, and I must say, this was about 2 times as better than it was last year. Last year the ice sucked, there was one good hit, and was miserable conditions. Now not to take away from last year, because it was neat seeing the snow fall while the game was going on, and it was the ending the NHL wanted, Sydney Crosby scoring the game winner in a shootout. Great for hockey TV.

This year was a total different story. I wished for two things: A close, high scoring game and a Blackhawks win, well I got one outta the two. After the first period I thought the young Blackhawks were going to win this thing, I expected Detroit to come back and maybe tie it up but WOW 5 unanswered goals. But they are the defending Stanley Cup champions, and with a deep talented team like that, they know how to come back big.

I loved the intensity of the game, you couldn't get a better story plot than this...2 of the NHL's most prestigious sports cities...2 of the NHL's most legendary teams, one is the defending Stanley Cup Champions, and the other is a young rising team, who's brought a hockey city back to life. Oh, did I mention they are heated rivals also?

Brent Seabrook's hit on Dan Cleary was friggin the best hit of the year, if you ask me, at least this far. I mean it was textbook, videogame/movie style "act," Seabrook lines him up, and just sends Cleary flying into the Blackhawks bench, having him land upside down. Then Ben Eager's sweet battle along the boards, the fake to go to the right side of the net, spins around and get's Conkin's glove hand. Pretty cool. I loved Eager, and Sharp while they where in Philly, and glad they are succeeding in Chicago. and how about Kris Versteeg's beautiful backhand pass to Martin Havlat to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead?

Let's not forget about some of them Detroit goals, I mean hey even though I can be biased because it is my blog, I won't be. How about when Pavel Datsyuk split the Chicago defense, and their goalie, Cristobal Huet, to give the Wings the go ahead goal in the second? Then 16 seconds after Brian Rafalski scored to make it 5-3, Brett Lebda scores a wicked wrister that went in so quick, that the officials waived it off, then upon a lenghty video review, after video clearly showed the puck going under the cross bar and hitting the net. That gave Detriot 5 straight goals, to take a 6-3 lead.

I am still amazed on how the Detroit Cougers....I mean Red Wings, lol (hey gotta love the heritage jerseys), stormed back to win 6-4. The Blackhawks had at least 3 goals that didn't go in. Like the one where it could have went in and been 4-1. Ty Conklin made the save but lost track of the puck as it dribbled behind his pads, luckily for Detroit they had more than one goalie on the ice on the ice at the time, as it was cleared away by a Detroit defensemen. How about that 1 on 2, shredding the defense, Patrick Sharp did in the third? I think it was Sharp....As you can tell I'm still stoked with this game.

It's also amazing that these two franchises have played 701 games against each other. This is a league record, no 2 team have ever played that amount of games against each other.

And how about the altered version of Take Me Out to the Ballgame?

Take me out to the Hockey Game
Take me out with the crowds;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks,
I don't care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the Blackhawks,
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three pucks, you're out,
At the old hockey game!

I would have altered it a bit more, replacing "1, 2, 3 pucks you're out with 1, 2, 3 pucks it's a hat trick" but hey I'm no song writer, lol.

Mr Bettman doesn't have a location for the next Winter Classic. I say it should be the Rangers and Flyers, IF the Flyers host, they should wear their third jerseys, and New York should wear the "New York Americans" jersey...that'd be cool, but the Americans jerseys won't happen. Maybe the Flyers could wear replicas of their 70's style white jersey, that'd be bad ass, and an excuse for me to get another Flyers jersey.

Maybe Bettman should limit the games to 1 goalie per Winter Classic, also (lol) ? Ty Conklin has played in all three, with the Oilers, Penguins and now the Red Wings. Now it's most likely just coincidental, but if he goes to another team next year and they are apart of the 2010 Winter Classic, something is fishy.

There was at least one Flyers fan, attending the Classic, check his interview out:




Well, I hope you enjoyed the Winter Classic as much as I did. It's a great way to celebrate the heritage, the grass roots of hockey, as well as promote the NHL. Can the ratings top the 2008 Classic?

Good Night, Good Hockey!

I bet you didn't know that! (Vol. 1)

OK, there's always some weird stats about the greatest game on ice. I've collected a handful of stats, and useless, but rather intriguing


The first puck ever to be used in a hockey game was a frozen piece of cow crap

Many hockey fans know about Gordie Howe, and those who do will say his jersey was #9 his entire career, when asked, but, Howe did wear another number for one season in his NHL career. #17 was his number as a rookie with the Red Wings in the 1946-1947 season. After the end of the season when Roy Conacher moved on to the Black Hawks, Howe was offered the #9. Howe accepted it and to this day every hockey fan recognizes that distinctive red #9 jersey.

Sidney Crosby is slated to be the next great thing. There has been another great hockey player who shares Crosby's first name....Sydney Howe, better known as Syd Howe. No he's not related to Gordie Howe, but he was the NHL's leading goal scorer upon his retirement with 237 goals, 291 assists for 528 points, playing for the Detroit Red Wings (#8) in 1946. A season before the great "Mr. Hockey" made his NHL debut.

Syd also became Philadelphia's first future hall of fame player. He wore #15 for the Quakers one and only season. He went on to the St. Louis Eagles and Ottawa Senators before finding his home in Detroit.

The five interlocking rings of the Olympic flag symbolize a meeting of the athletes from five original continents, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and America

Bernie Parent is famous for his jersey number, #1, with the Flyers, and #30 in Boston & Toronto, and Philly before Doug Favel got traded but Bernie wore 00, when he played in the WHA for the Blazers in 1973.

A Gordie Howe hat trick, is a goal, an assist, and a fight, but amazingly Mr. Hockey himself only accomplished this unofficial hat trick twice in his career. Only 10 teams have accomplished this to date: The Flyers, San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Gary Donhoefer was the Flyers' first Gordie Howe Hat Trick scorer. The latest was Randy Jones in March of last year against the Devils, which we won 5-4

In 1980 Ken Morro from New York Islanders became the first ever to win both an Olympic gold medal and a Stanley Cup title the same year

Ice hockey became an Olympic sport at a Summer Olympics in Antwerp in 1920

The Olympic gold medal is mostly made of Silver

Pakistan's national sport is hockey

The fastest recorded skater is Bobby Hull (Chicago, NHL) who has been timed at 29.7 mph

Eddie Shore, of the Boston Bruins, was perhaps the roughest player in hockey history. Besides the numerous fractured bones he suffered, Shore also had 19 scars on his scalp, and cuts and gashes over his entire body which it had taken 600 stitches to repair