This Day in Hockey History – March 29, 1973 – No. 16 is 1st and 9th to 100

The Philadelphia Flyers joined the NHL as part of the major expansion in 1967. Two years later, center Bobby Clarke joined the Flyers and soon became the face of the franchise. Despite having diabetes, he was drafted 17th overall when Flyers’ scout Gerry Melnyk exclaimed, “I don’t give a damn if this kid’s got one leg; he’s the best player I’ve seen at this level. He’ll right away be our best player.” In January 1973, at 23, Clarke became the youngest captain in the NHL. Only two months later, on March 29, 1973, he became the first expansion-team player to score 100 points.

A crowd of 16,600 filled the Spectrum that night. Their recent losses had led to a sign being hung there that referred to the Flyers as “chokers,” and they were set on proving their doubters wrong. However, their opponents, the Atlanta Flames, drew first blood just 1:09 into the game. In the middle of the second period, right winger Simon Nolet (subbing for Gary Dornhoefer) came to the rescue by scoring twice in 40 seconds. As any good teammate, Nolet brushed off the later overshadowing of his own accomplishments saying, “I don’t mind tonight. I’m just happy it happened for Bobby.”

So what did Bobby do? At 18:26 of the second, while the Flames were two men short, Clarke scored his 34th goal of the season, earning his 99th point. Of that goal, he commented, “When you play on the power play with guys like (Rich) MacLeish, (Bill) Flett, and (Bill) Barber you’re bound to luck in on some points.” Rather than stop there, at 14:43 of the third period, he scored again, his 35th goal and 100th point of the season. He became the ninth NHL player to get 100 points and the first ever to reach the milestone playing for an expansion team. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the 100th point “Triggered a thunderous ovation from the Flyers’ 21st sellout and overwhelmed the message board, sending it into fits of gobbledygook after it flashed ‘100, 100.’” Clarke sounded pretty humble afterwards when he commented, “It’s always nice to get results from your work. It’s the same in any job. But I’ll feel a lot better if we finish ahead of Minnesota. We’ve worked hard all year for something. Sometimes you can set goals, but on a team that didn’t make the playoffs last year how can you make personal goals? Right now everyone is working hard to get second.” Thanks to Nolet and Clarke, the Flyers defeated the Flames 4-2.

At the end of the season, Clarke had 104 points and won the Hart Memorial Trophy (as MVP) and the Ted Lindsay Award (as chosen by fellow players), becoming the first expansion team player to receive them. He and the Flyers made it to the semifinals, only to lose to the Montreal Canadiens. They then went on to win the Stanley Cup the next two seasons, while Clarke again earned the Hart in 1975 and 1976. Those were the only two seasons he topped his 104 points, scoring 116 and 119, respectively.

Clarke never played for anyone but the Flyers, remaining with them for 15 seasons before retiring in 1983-84. Chosen as one of the 100 Greatest Players, the NHL biography described him, “On one hand, he was a supreme playmaker, a crafty and timely goal-scorer, an indefatigable checker, a virtuoso faceoff specialist — a complete player. On the other hand, he could also be a vicious stickman, a cheap-shot artist and an incorrigible instigator.” He said of himself, “I loved to get on the ice. I loved to practice and I loved to play. The rest of the time, I wasn’t that good at anything else, but playing and practicing, that’s what I loved to do. So I could at least demand from other people that they work hard because I would always be able to do that.” So when he retired after 1144 games (358G, 852A, 1210P), Clarke was fourth in NHL assists and eleventh in points. He also tops the Flyers’ lists for: seasons (15), games (1,144), assists (852), points (1,210), playoff games (136), playoff assists (77), and playoff points (119). He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987.

 Additional Sources:

• Chuck Newman, “Flyers Win, 4-2, On Nolet’s 2 Goals,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 30 March 1973, pp. 1C-2C.
• Bill Fleischman, “Second More Important Than 100 Points,” Philadelphia Daily News, 30 March 1973, pp. 81, 84, and 88.
• https://www.nhl.com/news/bobby-clarke-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players/c-284697838