CWIP: Flyers Alum Walk Together 50 Years Later

The famous 1976 game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the world-renowned Red Army (CSKA) team was not an “upset” in the traditional sense of the term. The Flyers were two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. They were on their way to a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final: fourth of six straight seasons in which the team reached at least the Cup Semifinal round.

Moreover, the Flyers were all but unbeatable on their home ice at the Spectrum. During the 1975-76 NHL regular season, the Flyers lost just two games at home all season (36-2 plus two ties). That was after going 32-6-2 the previous year and 28-6-5 in 1973-74. Home wins were almost automatic for head coach Fred Shero’s team.

Therefore, it was far from upset when the Flyers beat Red Army, 4-1. Rather, the shocking part was how Philly utterly dominated the entire afternoon. The Red Army team came into Philadelphia undefeated in their tour of NHL cities. The Montreal Canadiens (the eventual 1976 Stanley Cup champions) managed a tie against CSKA. Meanwhile, Red Army beat every other NHL team they faced.

CSKA proved to be no match for the Flyers at the Spectrum. Even without the services of injured superstar goaltender Bernie Parent, the Flyers struck fear into the Red Army. Shero coached circles around Konstantin Loktev. The stunt of pulling the team off the ice backfired miserably on Red Army. The Flyers scored immediately after CSKA returned (under threat of not getting paid for the entire tour). Philadelphia never looked back.

Along the way, the Flyers outshoot CSKA by a whopping 49 to 13 margin. Loktev and his team never adjust their tactics at all. They weaved and circled — Philly refused to play chase — until they turned the puck over. Then Philly pounced to either score or forecheck Red Army into oblivion. Once they lost the puck, Red Army rarely got it back. The Flyers owned the four corners and the netfront areas, just as Shero designed.

The view from the bench and the room

Filmmaker Joe Amodei (Virgil Films), painstakingly retraced the historic game and its deeper political and societal implications in his new documentary entitled Cold War in Philly. Amodei extensively interview the Flyers Alumni played in the game, including the late Ed Van Impe a couple years before his passing. He gained the first-hand and historical perspectives off the ice as well as on.

On May 27, the exclusive world premiere of the documentary will be held at the Suzanne Roberts Theater in Philadelphia. Most of the surviving Flyers alumni who played in the game will be on hand for a reunion gathering and Q&A session. Thereafter, there will be other showings at select theaters in the Delaware Valley. For ticket information, click here.