For the 1965-66 Boston Bruins, the team had put three different netminders in over their first three games of the season. The result in all three games was the same, a Boston loss. In the fourth game, they tried a fourth goaltender. This one was Bernie Parent and he had a hell of a game.
For Bernie Parent, November 3, 1965 was the first time he played between the pipes in a regular season National Hockey League game. The Bruins were visiting the Chicago Blackhawks at Chicago Stadium and the Blackhawks team was simply far superior. Yet…
An audio version of this article is now available:
Boston vs. Chicago November 3, 1965
Despite the mismatch and Chicago’s home ice advantage, Boston had an ace in the hole. Rookie netminder Bernie Parent was making his first start and was obviously pumped up for the occasion. Parent turned away 42 of 44 shots and helped his team to their first point of the season in a 2-2 tie with the Blackhawks.
Bobby Hull had five shots for the opponents but was left off the scoresheet by Parent. The first NHL goal scored against Bernie came at 1:34 of the second period when Kenny Wharram scored his fifth of the year, assisted by Dennis Hull and Pierre Pilote. Wharram led the Hawks with six shots on net.
The second goal on Parent was scored by Doug Mohns, his sixth of the young season, with assists to Wharram and Stan Mikita. It would be the last goal the team would get past the rookie that night. At the other end of the ice, in net for Chicago, was Glenn Hall.
The Bruins thought they’d found their goalie and played Bernie in the following game, as well. Things didn’t go great. Boston lost to the Detroit Red Wings 8-1 with Parent making 28 saves on 36 shots. Still, he played a third game in a row on November 6 against the Montreal Canadiens. Boston won that game 3-1 with Parent stopped all but one of 28 shots on net.
1965-66 Season
Unheard of at the time, Bernie Parent came right of junior to play goal in the NHL. He appeared in 39 games for the Bruins, posting a 3.69 goals against average with a single shutout. He also appeared in three CPHL games with the Oklahoma City Blazers.
The year before, he was playing in the OHA Junior A (OHL) with the Niagara Falls Flyers. He helped that team to a Memorial Cup championship with a win over the Edmonton Oil Kings in the final. He shared duties in goal with Doug Favell. The two would also partner up later on with the Philadelphia Flyers. Other NHL bound players on that team include: Bill Goldsworthy, Derek Sanderson, Jean Pronovost, Rick Ley, Jim Lorentz, Don Marcotte, Gilles Marotte and Rosaire Paiement.
The 1965-66 Boston Bruins were still stuck in an era prior to the arrival of Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, Derek Sanderson and others. The Milt Schmidt coached squad finished fifth in the six team NHL, just a single point ahead of the last place New York Rangers. The fourth place Detroit Red Wings were a distant 26 points away.
Bernie Parent – NHL Career
Bernie Parent played in the NHL from 1965-66 to 1978-79 with the Bruins, Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs. He also had a single season stint with the Philadelphia Blazers in the WHA. Over that time, he played in 608 regular season games, posting an exceptional 2.55 goals against average with 54 shutouts.
He played in 71 playoff games and had two Stanley Cup championships to show for it. Of course, the bulk of his playoff success came in the Broad Street Bullies era, 1973-74 and 1974-75.
In 1973-74, Parent earned both the Vezina Trophy and the Conn Smythe Trophy, along with being a finalist for the Hart Trophy. He was named a First Team All-Star. The Flyers captured their first Stanley Cup win, taking out the Boston Bruins in the final.
The following year, 1974-75, it was simply business as usual for Bernie and the Flyers. He again won the Vezina Trophy while recording 12 shutouts for the second season in a row. He was once again a First Team All-Star goalie and again earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Philly won their second Stanley Cup with a win over the Buffalo Sabres in the final.
In 1979, the Flyers retired Bernie’s #1 jersey number. In 1984, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Bernie Parent 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee NHL Hockey Card [Short Video]
The following video is from our ‘Shorts’ collection at our YouTube Channel.