Latest / Arroe Collins Like It's Live / The Hammer The Hound The Fliers The New Book From Sam Carchidi Bullies
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Have you had the opportunity to check out Arrow dot
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- 0:17Speaker 1: hasn't lived one single day on this planet. I have
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- 0:36Speaker 1: Enjoy your exploration. Hey Ero, how are you doing today? Sam?
- 0:42Speaker 2: I'm doing great. Look forward to talking to you.
- 0:44Speaker 3: Man.
- 0:44Speaker 1: Dude. This is one of those situations where I've sat
- 0:46Speaker 1: down with more Philly fans and what the thing is
- 0:49Speaker 1: is that I've run into people that say there are
- 0:52Speaker 1: certain things we're not supposed to talk about. I said, Damn,
- 0:54Speaker 1: that's the best conversation to have, Dan, God, wait till
- 0:57Speaker 1: I talk with Sam, because we are gonna talk about it.
- 0:59Speaker 1: Why has it taken fifty years for everybody say, yeah,
- 1:02Speaker 1: that's my team, Yeah, that's my team.
- 1:06Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the million dollar question.
- 1:08Speaker 3: I mean, even the Flyers that won the Cups in
- 1:10Speaker 3: the seventies are asking that question.
- 1:13Speaker 2: They never thought that fifty.
- 1:15Speaker 3: One years later the Flyers would still be looking for
- 1:18Speaker 3: another Cup. But mostly the cliff Notes answer is bad goaltending,
- 1:25Speaker 3: bad management, and bad luck. They've been to the finals
- 1:29Speaker 3: six times since they won it, and they usually ran
- 1:33Speaker 3: into a team that was a dynasty at Montreal or
- 1:37Speaker 3: Edmonton or Chicago. The team they lost to was either
- 1:41Speaker 3: in the middle of a dynasty or starting one. The
- 1:43Speaker 3: Islanders as well, So yeah, it's kind of baffling, But
- 1:49Speaker 3: I would say the number one reason is they have
- 1:52Speaker 3: not had good goaltending during those during a lot of
- 1:55Speaker 3: those five decades, specifically twenty ten, they should have won
- 2:00Speaker 3: the Cup. In twenty ten, they lost in Game six
- 2:04Speaker 3: in the finals to Chicago and the Flyers goaltending was abysmal.
- 2:08Speaker 2: Chicago's was bad, and the.
- 2:10Speaker 3: Flyers goaltending was even worse, or they would have won
- 2:14Speaker 3: the Cup in that season. But that's the last time
- 2:17Speaker 3: they got to the finals. Well.
- 2:18Speaker 1: See, and that's the one thing that I've always loved
- 2:20Speaker 1: about hockey is that, dude, you just don't know if
- 2:24Speaker 1: your goalie is going to show up tonight. And it
- 2:26Speaker 1: doesn't matter how many beers you have out there in
- 2:28Speaker 1: the stands, or how loud you are, how many colors
- 2:30Speaker 1: you've got on your body with those uniforms or those
- 2:32Speaker 1: jerseys on. Man, it's like that team is falling apart.
- 2:35Speaker 1: We got to support them as a city.
- 2:38Speaker 2: Yeah, no question.
- 2:39Speaker 3: And you know the Flyers got spoiled in their early
- 2:43Speaker 3: years because they had Bernie proNT.
- 2:45Speaker 2: That's the ironic thing.
- 2:46Speaker 3: The very first player drafted by the Flyers and the
- 2:50Speaker 3: expansion draft way back in nineteen sixty seven, turned out
- 2:54Speaker 3: to be the best goalie in their history still fifty
- 2:57Speaker 3: one No, yeah, I guess more than fifty years later.
- 3:02Speaker 3: Bernie proNT and he led them to their two cups.
- 3:06Speaker 3: And here we are, let's say sixty seven of I'm
- 3:10Speaker 3: doing the math right, like fifty nine years later he
- 3:15Speaker 3: is still to this day the best goalie in their history.
- 3:19Speaker 3: Who would have thought he turned into Hall of Fame goalie,
- 3:22Speaker 3: Hall of Fame person. Unfortunately, we lost Bernie several months ago.
- 3:28Speaker 3: He passed away at age eighty and just just a
- 3:32Speaker 3: class act on and off the ice. I miss Bernie immensely,
- 3:36Speaker 3: but he was the heart and soul of the Flyers
- 3:40Speaker 3: and people in thought he didn't realize it at the
- 3:43Speaker 3: time how good he was. And they have not had
- 3:47Speaker 3: a goalie like him since then.
- 3:49Speaker 1: How is it that the Cubs have been able to
- 3:51Speaker 1: embrace their losing throughout the years, and yet when it
- 3:54Speaker 1: comes to the Flyers, it's that hidden secret like we
- 3:57Speaker 1: talked about. I mean, because I don't mind being part
- 4:00Speaker 1: of the loser team, or even down there with the
- 4:02Speaker 1: Saints in New Orleans. You know, when they put the
- 4:04Speaker 1: bags over their head, that's cool stuff. That to me
- 4:06Speaker 1: is what the sports are all about.
- 4:10Speaker 3: Well, you know, I think the fact that it's been
- 4:13Speaker 3: so long now since they've been competitive, and this year
- 4:16Speaker 3: they finally are competitive. But they have not made the
- 4:18Speaker 3: playoffs the last five years. If they don't make it
- 4:21Speaker 3: this year, that'll be the longest stretch without a playoff
- 4:25Speaker 3: Berth in history.
- 4:27Speaker 2: And I guess since the.
- 4:30Speaker 3: Flyers are spoiled, was spoiled the fans in the beginning,
- 4:33Speaker 3: and we're so successful, and believe it or not, they
- 4:36Speaker 3: were successful many many years. Even after that, they always
- 4:40Speaker 3: were in contention for a Cup, just didn't win one.
- 4:42Speaker 3: And these fans are starved because of that, you know,
- 4:46Speaker 3: they remember the good days and they say, hey, you
- 4:49Speaker 3: don't have to be a world beater or win the
- 4:52Speaker 3: Cup this year, but at least give us the hope.
- 4:55Speaker 2: And they haven't even done that, you know.
- 4:56Speaker 3: So, and even this year, even if they sneak into
- 4:59Speaker 3: the playoffs and they're making a great run. They've won
- 5:02Speaker 3: seven straight road games right now as we speak. But
- 5:05Speaker 3: even if they do sneak in, everybody expects them to
- 5:07Speaker 3: get knocked out in the first round. But I think
- 5:10Speaker 3: they would be okay with that. Like you said, you know,
- 5:13Speaker 3: it wouldn't be a lovable loser, but it would be Hey,
- 5:16Speaker 3: at least we made some progress. We made the playoffs.
- 5:20Speaker 3: Now next year, let's take it a step further. Let's
- 5:22Speaker 3: win a let's win a ram, that kind of thing.
- 5:24Speaker 3: But it's it's been tough, especially when you see the
- 5:28Speaker 3: success the Phillies and the Eagles have had. You know,
- 5:31Speaker 3: the Philadelphia fans now they want a champion because they've
- 5:36Speaker 3: seen it in the other sports.
- 5:38Speaker 1: Well. Jerry Valancourt used to tell me all the time
- 5:40Speaker 1: because he was a New York guy, and he would
- 5:42Speaker 1: used to tell me. He would go, dude, I love
- 5:44Speaker 1: it when the Flyers lose I said, why do you
- 5:46Speaker 1: say that to me all the time? And he goes,
- 5:48Speaker 1: because I love the mystique of the Flyers. If you
- 5:51Speaker 1: take away that mystery and that and that that shadow
- 5:54Speaker 1: that the Flyers have, then then he says, I lose
- 5:57Speaker 1: something in my own personal life as a New York fan,
- 5:59Speaker 1: and I'm going, dang it, I don't want that the
- 6:01Speaker 1: Flyers to be that team, if you know what I mean.
- 6:05Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, that people. I think people from outside the
- 6:11Speaker 3: Philadelphia region loved to hate the Flyers because they were
- 6:14Speaker 3: good for good for so long.
- 6:16Speaker 2: They were the broad Street Bullies. They beat up teams.
- 6:19Speaker 3: We should say, they were also very talented, even Thore's
- 6:22Speaker 3: Bird Street Bullies teams.
- 6:23Speaker 2: You know. Don't get the wrong idea.
- 6:25Speaker 3: They did not win because they manhandled people with their physicality.
- 6:29Speaker 3: They won because they were aggressive, yes, but they won because.
- 6:33Speaker 2: They were alter talented.
- 6:34Speaker 3: You had three Hall of famers, Bernie Print who I mentioned.
- 6:38Speaker 3: You had Bill Barber, the great Bobby Clark. You had
- 6:41Speaker 3: two guys that were borderline Hall of famers, Rick McLeish,
- 6:46Speaker 3: Reggie Leach, and you had role players that did their
- 6:50Speaker 3: job of Ross Lonsbury's and Ed Van and Barry Ashby.
- 6:55Speaker 3: I could go on and on, Joe Watson, Jimmy Watson,
- 6:58Speaker 3: I could go on forever, and they all fit together.
- 7:01Speaker 3: They were a true team. And that's what you need.
- 7:05Speaker 3: I mean, you see that in the championship teams nowadays.
- 7:09Speaker 3: Maybe the Hurricanes down in your area will be a
- 7:13Speaker 3: Stanley Cup champion. They have that, not only the camaraderie,
- 7:16Speaker 3: but the chemistry and then pieces all seem to fit.
- 7:20Speaker 3: And the Flyers had that and they haven't had it
- 7:23Speaker 3: in a long time.
- 7:24Speaker 1: Please do not move. There's more with Sam Carcidi coming
- 7:27Speaker 1: up next. The name of the book Bullies. We're talking
- 7:31Speaker 1: about the Philadelphia Flyers with Sam Carcidi. What I love
- 7:35Speaker 1: about you, Sam is the fact that you are giving
- 7:38Speaker 1: us building blocks for our own little teams, and that
- 7:41Speaker 1: you help us understand what it's like to create a team,
- 7:44Speaker 1: to keep that team together. Win or lose, they still
- 7:46Speaker 1: have to play that game no matter what. I don't
- 7:48Speaker 1: care what their mood is that day. They still got
- 7:50Speaker 1: to get on that ice and make it happen. So,
- 7:52Speaker 1: I mean, I'm so inspired by the way that you
- 7:54Speaker 1: built this book, that you are authentic with this. You
- 7:57Speaker 1: are not doing a fantasy trip here for a bunch
- 7:59Speaker 1: of sports fans.
- 8:01Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny.
- 8:01Speaker 3: The Flyers actually Arabat pushed around in their inception, and
- 8:08Speaker 3: Ed Snyder, the owner, liking.
- 8:11Speaker 2: It to his life.
- 8:12Speaker 3: I mean, he he was bullied and pushed around when
- 8:15Speaker 3: he was a youngster growing up in Washington, d C.
- 8:18Speaker 3: And he said, you know, this isn't gonna happen to us.
- 8:21Speaker 3: You know, we got you talk about building blocks. He said,
- 8:23Speaker 3: we have to go out and draft bigger players, aggressive players.
- 8:27Speaker 3: We still want talent, but we need bigger players. And that,
- 8:31Speaker 3: in a way was the advent of the Broad Street Bullies.
- 8:33Speaker 3: They went out and drafted guys like Bob Kelly and
- 8:36Speaker 3: Dave Schultz and Don Seleski, and then the other guy
- 8:40Speaker 3: started to develop, the Bobby Clarks and the Bill Barbers
- 8:42Speaker 3: and the Bernie Burrunt and you put it all together
- 8:45Speaker 3: and you had a cohesive team. But you know, that
- 8:49Speaker 3: was one thing we learned from doing this book that
- 8:52Speaker 3: Ed Snyder was a big force, the owner behind it
- 8:55Speaker 3: and put his personal stamp on it. And but a
- 8:59Speaker 3: lot of it came from his personal upbringing and getting
- 9:03Speaker 3: beat up by anti Semitic kids in his neighborhood in Washington,
- 9:07Speaker 3: d C. And he put his stamp on the club,
- 9:10Speaker 3: and and lo and behold, the Brostree Bullies were created.
- 9:14Speaker 1: Wouldn't you like to be in those skates when everything
- 9:17Speaker 1: started to come together and even when it was falling apart,
- 9:21Speaker 1: just to be in those skates to watch eye to
- 9:23Speaker 1: eye contact and even body language to each other, because
- 9:26Speaker 1: when you're on that ice, if you're not watching somebody's body,
- 9:29Speaker 1: you're missing out on a big, top, big part of
- 9:31Speaker 1: that game.
- 9:33Speaker 3: Yeah, and as I said, I think that's a good point.
- 9:35Speaker 3: And but as I mentioned, everybody on that team knew
- 9:40Speaker 3: their role. Yeah, you know, Terry Chris knew that I
- 9:43Speaker 3: wasn't going to get many minutes. He was going to
- 9:44Speaker 3: kill penalties though, and he did a great job doing that.
- 9:48Speaker 3: You know, the third and fourth fine guys that Bob
- 9:52Speaker 3: Kelly's and the Don Silski's they knew they weren't They
- 9:56Speaker 3: were going to maybe get ten minutes a night, but
- 9:59Speaker 3: they just want to dominate when they were on the ice,
- 10:02Speaker 3: and even if they didn't score, they wanted to give
- 10:05Speaker 3: the rest of the team momentum by throwing their bodies around,
- 10:08Speaker 3: checking people. And maybe the next line that came in
- 10:12Speaker 3: on the ice, they would score because of the.
- 10:13Speaker 2: Momentum that they build up.
- 10:15Speaker 3: They dominated their shifts, so you know, everybody knew their role,
- 10:20Speaker 3: and I think that's that's a common denominator with the
- 10:24Speaker 3: teams that go on and win.
- 10:26Speaker 1: Stanley Cook, you show so much humanism inside this book
- 10:29Speaker 1: in the way that I mean. I giggled like a
- 10:32Speaker 1: child when I read about you know, Dave the hammer
- 10:34Speaker 1: with that with that penalty box song. I had never
- 10:37Speaker 1: heard that song before, and I'm going, damn, why can't
- 10:40Speaker 1: we just bring this song back?
- 10:43Speaker 3: In fact, I want to talk to the flyers. I
- 10:45Speaker 3: think they should play that song nowadays. Whenever somebody goes
- 10:50Speaker 3: into the penalty box, just play for in ten seconds,
- 10:52Speaker 3: you know the baby, how long you're going to keep
- 10:57Speaker 3: me in the penalty box?
- 10:58Speaker 2: I mean it was really bad, just like my singing
- 11:01Speaker 2: was there. His song was bad.
- 11:03Speaker 3: Dave admits it was bad, but he became a cult
- 11:07Speaker 3: hero in Philadelphia. At that time, Elton John had Philadelphia Freedom.
- 11:13Speaker 3: You know, it was like number one all in the country,
- 11:16Speaker 3: but Dave Schultz in Philadelphia Penalty Box. His song was
- 11:19Speaker 3: number one in Philadelphia for weeks. You know, it was
- 11:22Speaker 3: the most requested song. It was number one in the ratings.
- 11:26Speaker 3: Back then, w fil and and WIBG were the top
- 11:30Speaker 3: forty stations, and Dave Schultz's song was was number one.
- 11:34Speaker 3: He back in the day, they had a variety show
- 11:37Speaker 3: on Coast to Coast Mike Douglas Show, and Dave performed
- 11:41Speaker 3: it on that show nationally, and and he would perform it, uh,
- 11:46Speaker 3: you know, at concerts with he would go on stage,
- 11:50Speaker 3: you know, with different groups and sing his song and
- 11:52Speaker 3: the and in the Philadelphia area the people went crazy
- 11:57Speaker 3: over it and it was just a fun time around.
- 12:00Speaker 1: Clarence Campbell did not shock me when he made the
- 12:03Speaker 1: comment about about americanizing the game of hockey, because I
- 12:07Speaker 1: come from Montana. We had those Canadian players in Montana
- 12:10Speaker 1: all the time. I went to high school with him.
- 12:11Speaker 1: They said the same exact thing. You don't play the
- 12:14Speaker 1: game like it's supposed to be played, then show me,
- 12:17Speaker 1: show me what you mean on the ice. Then did
- 12:19Speaker 1: the Flyers really kind of open up on that too.
- 12:21Speaker 1: It's like, if you're so good up there in Canada,
- 12:23Speaker 1: bring it to my city and let's make it grow.
- 12:27Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, they did.
- 12:28Speaker 3: And they had a chip on their shoulder for for
- 12:30Speaker 3: Clarence Campbell because the Flyers going into into the expansion ear,
- 12:38Speaker 3: they were scrambling. They get the last five hundred thousand
- 12:40Speaker 3: dollars for the fee. The fee was two million dollars
- 12:45Speaker 3: at the time. Nail, the fee is like seven or
- 12:47Speaker 3: eight hundred million. It's crazy to think that. But Clarence
- 12:51Speaker 3: Campbell when they gave him the check, he says, you know,
- 12:54Speaker 3: I would be surprised at his check bounces. I mean,
- 12:56Speaker 3: that was the attitude he had. And he was disappointed
- 13:00Speaker 3: because the six teams that were at it in nineteen
- 13:02Speaker 3: sixty seven were all from the States.
- 13:05Speaker 2: And as you said, he was a.
- 13:06Speaker 3: Canadian guy and he wanted more Canadian teams in the
- 13:10Speaker 3: league and that, you know, that really set him back.
- 13:13Speaker 3: And the Flyers had run ins with him all the time.
- 13:17Speaker 3: He was always finding the fire players, you know, giving
- 13:21Speaker 3: them suspensions. And in nineteen seventy six, the Flyers are
- 13:25Speaker 3: playing the Soviets, they called the Cold War Game, and
- 13:29Speaker 3: the Soviets had dominated the NHL teams. They had not
- 13:34Speaker 3: lost a game on their tour. Flyers were their last
- 13:37Speaker 3: game and Clarence Campbell actually went to the Flyers locker
- 13:41Speaker 3: room to get them a quote unquote pep talk and saying, hey,
- 13:45Speaker 3: you're standing up not only for the NHL, you're standing
- 13:49Speaker 3: up for North America.
- 13:51Speaker 2: And the Flyers said.
- 13:52Speaker 3: You know, you're a hypocrite. You know, we don't want
- 13:56Speaker 3: you in the locker room. You know you're always complaining
- 13:58Speaker 3: about our style, and now you're saying we represent the
- 14:02Speaker 3: NHL in North America.
- 14:04Speaker 2: You know, the door's over there. And Clarence Campbell.
- 14:07Speaker 3: Left and and the Flyers course won that game four
- 14:11Speaker 3: to one, and they save face for the NHL. And
- 14:15Speaker 3: but you're you're absolutely correct, are they They did not
- 14:19Speaker 3: have a friendly relationship with Clarence Campbell.
- 14:23Speaker 1: Well, I'm shocked that something did not happen out on
- 14:26Speaker 1: that ice because to this day, after all these years,
- 14:28Speaker 1: I got checked out the side of the ice because
- 14:31Speaker 1: I was I was. I was saying a bunch of junk,
- 14:33Speaker 1: And that was their way of shutting me up in
- 14:35Speaker 1: hockey was to you put that knee in my knee.
- 14:37Speaker 1: And to this day I wibble and I wobble, but
- 14:40Speaker 1: I don't fall down. But they still injured me on
- 14:42Speaker 1: that ice, to which I'm still carrying today.
- 14:46Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, they there were many of checks and many
- 14:50Speaker 3: of many spears, and but you know, it was a
- 14:55Speaker 3: different game back then. Now the game is all about
- 14:58Speaker 3: finesse and you know, in fancy skating and good passing,
- 15:03Speaker 3: and you know, I'd like to see that to a
- 15:05Speaker 3: certain extent, but I missed some of the physicality that
- 15:08Speaker 3: the game had back back in the seventies. And you know,
- 15:12Speaker 3: I think there's a place for both. But they did
- 15:16Speaker 3: change the rules and they make it a lot easier now.
- 15:19Speaker 3: For instance, they would always call the uh, they would
- 15:23Speaker 3: not call the slashing if you slash somebody in the hands,
- 15:26Speaker 3: and really tighten up on that early two thousands because
- 15:30Speaker 3: you know, guys are breaking fingers and great stick handlers
- 15:34Speaker 3: were a little leery, you know, going through the neutral
- 15:37Speaker 3: zone as they carried the puck because they knew a
- 15:39Speaker 3: slash was coming. So, you know, some of the rules
- 15:42Speaker 3: I totally understand and respect because it let the little
- 15:47Speaker 3: guy back in the game, which is a good thing.
- 15:49Speaker 3: But I don't think I think there is a place
- 15:53Speaker 3: I should say for the physical nature of the game,
- 15:56Speaker 3: and I think there should be a balance between, you know,
- 16:01Speaker 3: the finesse game and the physical game.
- 16:03Speaker 1: Don't you think a book like this reopens that door
- 16:06Speaker 1: to get that little guy back in the game, because
- 16:08Speaker 1: it's going to create talk, especially since you're teaming up
- 16:10Speaker 1: with Balboa Productions to put this on TV. You're going
- 16:14Speaker 1: to be the talker, You're going to be the activator,
- 16:16Speaker 1: and we're all going to start starving for exactly what
- 16:18Speaker 1: you're talking about.
- 16:20Speaker 2: Yeah, we're hopeful.
- 16:22Speaker 3: As I said, we were hoping to get this made
- 16:25Speaker 3: into a TV series and it would talk mostly. It
- 16:29Speaker 3: would center mostly around their lives off the ice and
- 16:33Speaker 3: that kind of character development, and hockey would probably be
- 16:37Speaker 3: twenty five percent of it. But that was a very
- 16:41Speaker 3: colorful group. I mean, we have a whole chapter on
- 16:44Speaker 3: their ventures at Rexy's bar where they hung out and
- 16:47Speaker 3: they were everyday guys. These guys were on their way
- 16:50Speaker 3: to become the Stanley Cup champions. They would buy you know,
- 16:52Speaker 3: people will come in and sit with them at the
- 16:54Speaker 3: bar and they would buy drinks for each other. They
- 16:56Speaker 3: thought of them as working class people. They thought of
- 16:59Speaker 3: them elves as working class people, and they were. To them,
- 17:02Speaker 3: they were, you know, there was no difference between them
- 17:04Speaker 3: earning a paycheck playing hockey and somebody who was an
- 17:07Speaker 3: ironworker or somebody who pump gas or somebody that worked
- 17:12Speaker 3: behind at the desk. Hey, we're all, you know, working
- 17:14Speaker 3: hard for our check, and you know we're not better
- 17:19Speaker 3: than you and you're not better than me. That kind
- 17:21Speaker 3: of thing. And that's why I think that team was
- 17:23Speaker 3: so beloved because they didn't let it go to their heads.
- 17:27Speaker 1: Wow, you got to come back to this show anytime
- 17:29Speaker 1: in the future. But before we check out, you got
- 17:31Speaker 1: to let me know where people can find you and
- 17:33Speaker 1: really dive into your passion for this game.
- 17:37Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you can reach me at you can email
- 17:40Speaker 3: me at Sam card cheety at Sam c R C
- 17:45Speaker 3: H I D I fifty five at gmail dot com.
- 17:51Speaker 3: And yeah, you can get the book at on Amazon
- 17:56Speaker 3: dot com.
- 17:56Speaker 2: That's probably the best way. But I can't thank you
- 17:59Speaker 2: enough for the time.
- 18:00Speaker 1: Oh man, I can't wait to talk with you again, sir.
- 18:02Speaker 1: You'd be brilliant today.
- 18:03Speaker 2: Okay you two, Ara, take care