Book Feature Professional Hockey in Philadelphia: A History (by Alan Bass)

[Boxscore]

My copy just arrive today--will be digging in soon!

 

[Theokritos]

The Rockets came within a few goals of winning their championship years later but had an otherwise fantastic season and rough series with their rivals from Boston.

Speaking of rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers have quite a few traditional rivalries with other clubs. First and foremost with the Pittsburgh Penguins because both are in Pennsylvania. But also with New Jersey, the New York clubs and Boston. Which were predominant rivalries the Philadelphia clubs had before the Flyers era and are there any pertinent anecdotes or incidents on record?

 

[Sanf]

The Ramblers winning the AHL championship is definitely one of the top moments. The Rockets came within a few goals of winning their championship years later but had an otherwise fantastic season and rough series with their rivals from Boston. And the Quaker City Hockey Club dominated their league in the 1890s, surprising many larger cities that Philadelphia even had a hockey presence — a great start to a great sport!

Do you know why the Quaker City team failed in USAHA? Only played few seasons in early 20´s. That league was on lift overall.

Only things that I have noticed that they could not attract young upcoming stars from Canada like many other teams managed (Like Ching Johnson,Nels Stewart and so on.) They seemed to rely on veteran players who had played in USA before (edit. Well Werner Schnarr was there though, but still)

 

[Alan Bass]

Speaking of rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers have quite a few traditional rivalries with other clubs. First and foremost with the Pittsburgh Penguins because both are in Pennsylvania. But also with New Jersey, the New York clubs and Boston. Which were predominant rivalries the Philadelphia clubs had before the Flyers era and are there any pertinent anecdotes or incidents on record?

Philadelphia and Hershey had a rivalry going as far back as the 1930s. It was exacerbated by the Flyers pulling their affiliation from Hershey when the Phantoms were created in 1996, and it lasted until the Phantoms left in 2009. Those tilts were always fun at every level -- but I'm not going to ruin the surprise (in terms of specific incidents) for those wanting to read the book!

 

[Theokritos]

@Alan Bass

What is your opinion of Fred Shero? We all know his name is inextricably linked with the most successul time in Philadelphia Flyers history. How do you think the 1970s Flyers would have done with another coach? From the outside, it looks certain to me that while the team had a decent core (Clarke, Parent, Barber, MacLeish etc) they overperformed with their two consecutive Cup wins and their third appearance in the final. "Overperformed" as in: they wouldn't have reached the same heights without Shero.

 

[dkitson16]

Does your book cover teams that never materialized and why they didn't? I'm thinking of Len Peto's attempts to bring the NHL to Philadelphia after World War 2.

 

[Alan Bass]

Does your book cover teams that never materialized and why they didn't? I'm thinking of Len Peto's attempts to bring the NHL to Philadelphia after World War 2.

The book does cover Len Peto's attempt, for sure. It covers every attempt to bring NHL hockey to the city, but it does not cover every attempt to bring a professional team at any level (only those minor league teams that actually materialized), mostly because the stories from never-developed minor teams rarely made the news or any official documents. But the NHL attempts, if not in the papers, were certainly in the league's Board of Governor meeting minutes.

 

[dkitson16]

The book does cover Len Peto's attempt, for sure. It covers every attempt to bring NHL hockey to the city, but it does not cover every attempt to bring a professional team at any level (only those minor league teams that actually materialized), mostly because the stories from never-developed minor teams rarely made the news or any official documents. But the NHL attempts, if not in the papers, were certainly in the league's Board of Governor meeting minutes.

Good to know. Thanks. The topic interests me as the newspapers I have access to kind of drop the story and don't explain much of what happened. J. Andrew Ross's thesis provides some detail, but I don't think Joining the Clubs covers it as that book ends in 1945.

I'll add this book to my long list of NHL history to read.

 

[Theokritos]

Podcast with Alan Bass talking about his book:

 

[Theokritos]