PHILOUDELPHIA
Registered User
Guys, these were the good old days, and in a way I still miss PRISM
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That was an ugly game. Ryan VandenBussche, just promoted from the AHL, scored an early goal, later got into a fight with Dan Kordic.
I remember him being quite the fighter.
PRISM was the only way to see home games here in South Jersey back in the 70's. But hardly any town had PRISM. We either went to Millville or the RNR Bar in Philly at 19th and Passy to watch games. Good times.
Back in the early days South Philly didn't even have PRISM IIRC, it was SouthWest Philly that did... South Jersey was spotty and I remember the Fairview section of Camden didn't have it. Being a young family with a couple kids the price of cable was a luxury at times even for those that had it in their area... a luxury that people were willing to go for -- actually the price of tickets to the Spectrum were dirt cheap and the parking was free with guile and a willingness to walk a bit... the snag was scoring the tickets from the STHs who could afford to attend many games and had a long list of buyers for those they sold -- When we traveled to the bars that had it we had to nurse the draughts so we didn't bust the weekly budget.
It was games like that Rangers one along with Islander ones that gave us a chance to steal a NYC station signal -- no Devils back then -- and I remember Daily's across Mount Ephraim Ave from Fairview that had a high antenna and cheap draughts so we went there when NYC teams of multiple sports visited Philly... as well as blacked out National Games that were aired in NYC. I also at times traveled to NE Philly to co-workers/friends homes that were able to pick up New York channels.
Home games unless National ones were few and far between... even on sellouts... we had to be resourceful to be able to see Spectrum Flyers and Sixers games and Vet Phillies games, although the Phillies IIRC aired much more Home Games... Eagles games back then I believe were subject to Blackouts, and were not all sellouts in those days. I was lucky enough to have a couple/few STHs who would sell me unwanted games... and in the late-Seventies/Early-Eighties one of them turned into a partnership that allowed me into... and it eventually morphed into a half season as it has been since the days of that YouTube Rangers game... but by then I had Prism and attended over half the home games anyway, so I got to see all the home games I wanted... Problem solved through the passage of time.
Boy,... did that turn into a ramble or what? haha
We used to wait outside the Spectrum and once the puck was dropped the price for tickets dropped to. The scalpers just about gave them away. But I have to admit, the RNR bar was my favorite place to go. We became very tight with the owners and I would take my future wife there on Sundays and grab dinner and watch the games.
I could tell you some stories about that place you would not beleive!! This was mid to late 70's. The town I lived in did not get cable till 1978 and once that came in that was the end of that. I spent many a night just listening to the games on radio and writing down the goals. Did alot of writing with teams like the Seals, Scouts, Barons etc LOL The things we did to watch hockey huh?
A little over six months later, when the Bruins paid a regular season visit to Philadelphia, Hextall finally pulled off the long-awaited feat. He corralled the puck near his own net, and saw a clear shooting path down the ice. Hextall measured his aim momentarily and fired a dart that went straight down the ice into the center of the vacated net.
FLYERS BROADCAST: GENE HART'S CALL OF HEXTALL GOAL
Bill Meltzer has a good column regarding Hextall's goal (25 years ago): The finish of the game through PRISM's broadcast with Gene Hart:
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Bill...niversaries-Phantoms-and-Titans-Lose/45/47854
IIRC though it was the next season were South Jersey got the relocated New York Golden Blades and housed them for the last half of the season at the old 'Ice House" across Brace(?) Road from Kominsky's...
On this date in 1977, Flyers defenseman Tom Bladon sets an NHL record for points by a defenseman (8) in one game with four goals and four assists in an 11-1 Flyers victory over the Cleveland Barons at the Spectrum.
Bladon was drafted by the Flyers in the second round (23rd overall) in the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft. He went on to record 67 goals and 163 assists for 230 points including 281 penalty minutes in six seasons with the Flyers.
He was a member of both Stanley Cup Championship teams (1974 & 1975) and added an additional 32 points (8G-24A) in 78 Stanley Cup Playoff games. His 32 points rank tied for fifth in Flyers history among defensemen in playoff points.
I'm gonna guess that record still stands
The rink was called the Centrum. There is still a strip mall there called "Centrum Shoppes" or something like that.
And good ole Kaminskis is still there. Used to run into a ton of Flyers there on off days after practices when they used to practice at the old Colesium in Voorhees or late night after home games.
Since there is a void in current play, a couple of events that took place on December 11 in team history:
The comeback against Carolina in 2008:
......
The real difficult season was the one where Philly had both the Flyers and the new WHA Blazers and Bernie -- oh how I hated when he walked out on them as the Playoffs began... but was overjoyed when the Flyers got his rights back -- Trying to listen or watch both that season was insane. LOL
IIRC though it was the next season were South Jersey got the relocated New York Golden Blades and housed them for the last half of the season at the old 'Ice House" across Brace(?) Road from Kominsky's... Had wire fencing instead of glass, which caused excitement with fast-arsed crazy caroms. Tickets were easy to get and I Believe the crowds were decent, but the venue was too small to hold enough. Some South Jersey hockey zanies adopted them and I for one attended a few games in their short time here... I believe Harry Howell was the player coach and the name they adopted was 'The Jersey Knights'... which was chosen because when they moved ninety miles south to the area, the only place with enough uniforms on hand had ones with Chess Piece Knights on them... so they bought them and just named the team to fit the jerseys. I recall that some players skated on ice still with skates that had golden tinted blades... I forget where they relocated to after they bolted Cherry Hill, but I do remember that the Blazers relocated to Vancouver -- without Bernie -- after the single season at Philadelphia Convention Hall... Should have taken the hint when before they took their first shift at the Hall, the ice cracked and they had to send the crowd home and postpone their first Opening Night.
The NY/NJ WHA team relocated to San Diego and became the Mariners. In Jersey, the Cherry Hill Arena later became the Centrum after the team relocated. There are some interesting tales in the couple or so books published on the WHA.
The current home of the AHL Sharks in Worcester, Mass. was originally known as the Worcester Centrum in the early 1980s and run by Spectacor which ran the Spectrum, a building in Lakeland, Florida and other facilities, too. I forget the current name of the Worcester facility but it is no longer the Centrum.