Gary Dornhoefer: Another Bruins Castaway To Lead The Flyers

Rick MacLeish, Reg Leach, Bernie Parent and Gary Dornhoefer, among others. Players drafted and developed by the Boston Bruins only to find their way to the Philadelphia Flyers. All arriving in time to build a two time Stanley Cup championship team.

Dornhoefer was definitely a Broad Street Bully, spending more than his fair share of time in the penalty box. However, he also provided offense and proved invaluable to the team’s success.

Junior and Minor Pro

NHL Career

Hockey Card Collection

Rookie Card

Career Stats

Gary Dornhoefer – Junior and Minor Pro

Gary Dornhoefer played two seasons of major junior hockey with the Niagara Falls Flyers, 1961-62 and 1962-63. In his final year with the team, the Flyers finished first in the six team league and won the championship, taking out the Montreal Junior Canadiens in the finals.

Niagara Falls then went on to beat the Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons for the Ontario championship. The Richardson Cup, to determine the eastern Canadian finalist for the Memorial Cup, was a bit of a breeze with the Flyers taking out the Espanola Eagles for the title. At the Mem finals, the Ontario team fell to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Dornhoefer’s first year of pro hockey, 1963-64, was split between the Boston Bruins and the Minneapolis Bruins of the CPHL. With Minnesota, Gary put up great rookie numbers with 21 goals and 30 assists for 51 points in 39 games. The team was coached by Harry Sinden, who also skated for the team. Other future NHLers on the roster included J.P. Parise, Terry Crisp, Joe Watson and Don Awrey. Crisp and Watson would also make their way to Philly.

The following year, he split the year between the NHL Bruins and the San Francisco Seals in the WHL. In 1965-66, Gary mostly played in the American Hockey League with the Hershey Bears. The year after that, the final year of the Original 6 Era, the Bruins seemed to give up on Dornhoefer and he spent the full season in the AHL with Hershey. With expansion in 1967, he would never play in the minors again.

Gary Dornhoefer – NHL

Between 1963-64 and 1977-78, Gary Dornhoefer played 787 regular season games in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers. Over that time, he scored 214 goals and assisted on 328 for 542 points. In 80 Stanley Cup playoff games, Gary added 36 points.

Gary Dornhoefer Collection

Between 1963-64 and 1965-66, Dornhoefer played a combined total of 62 games with the Bruins. After ended up with the Flyers in the expansion draft, Gary was a regular in the NHL until injuries took their toll in 1977-78. Philadelphia took him late in the 14th round of that 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, 81st overall.

Over his NHL career, Gary scored 20 or more goals in five seasons, obviously all with the Flyers. In 1972-73, he scored a career best 30 goals, along with 49 assists and 79 points, both also career highs.

Dornhoefer played an important role in Philadelphia’s consecutive Stanley Cup wins. In 1973-74, they took out the Boston Bruins in the finals, sweep revenge for a number of players. In 1974-75, they beat the Buffalo Sabres in the first ever all-post 1967 expansion team final series.

Not a major occupant of the sin bin during his earlier days, Gary fit into the rough and tumble Flyers style just fine when the time came. In the team’s first year, Dornhoefer finished fifth in the NHL with 134 penalty minutes. In 1972-73 he rose to third in the league with 183 PIM. The following year, the numbers and rankings began to drop, finishing tenth with 168 PIM.

Gary Dornhoefer – Rookie Card

The Gary Dornhoefer rookie card appears as number 72 in the 1964-65 Topps NHL hockey card set. He is shown with the Boston Bruins. Dornhoefer got on a hockey card in the 1965-66 set despite his limited play in the NHL. His final card is included in the 1977-78 O-Pee-Chee set as a member of the Flyers.

Mostly all of his hockey cards refer on the back to his skills as a golfer. His 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee card (number 44) is an uncorrected error (UER). On the back, his last name is spelled Dornhoffer.

Gary Dornhoefer – Career Stats

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1961-62	Niagara Falls Flyers	OHA	50	8	31	39	121
1962-63	Niagara Falls Flyers	OHA	38	16	34	50	58
1963-64	Minneapolis Bruins	CPHL	39	21	30	51	67
1963-64	Boston Bruins	NHL	32	12	10	22	20
1964-65	Boston Bruins	NHL	20	0	1	1	13
1964-65	San Francisco Seals	WHL	37	10	25	35	58
1965-66	Hershey Bears	AHL	54	16	20	36	56
1965-66	Boston Bruins	NHL	10	0	1	1	2
1966-67	Hershey Bears	AHL	71	19	22	41	110
1967-68	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	65	13	30	43	134
1968-69	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	60	8	16	24	80
1969-70	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	65	26	29	55	96
1970-71	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	57	20	20	40	93
1971-72	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	75	17	32	49	183
1972-73	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	77	30	49	79	168
1973-74	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	57	11	39	50	125
1974-75	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	69	17	27	44	102
1975-76	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	74	28	35	63	128
1976-77	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	79	25	34	59	85
1977-78	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	47	7	5	12	62
	NHL Totals		787	214	328	542	1291