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The 1975 Stanley Cup Final between Philadelphia and Buffalo might have been one of the most bizarre series ever played due to circumstances beyond the control of the players and the officials.
Mother Nature had a big hand in how this series was played, which is a bit unusual considering hockey is played indoors under controlled conditions.
The Sabres had a great regular season, finishing 49-16-15 for 113 points, tying the defending Stanley Cup Champion Flyers (and Montreal) for the most points in the League. Philadelphia was 51-18-11. Because they had won two more games, the Flyers would have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. And because Philadelphia had home ice, not Buffalo, the 1975 Final has a uniqueness that may never be duplicated.
Buffalo took care of Chicago in five games in the quarterfinals and knocked off Montreal in six games in semis to reach the Final. Philadelphia swept Toronto and outlasted the upstart New York Islanders in seven games on the way to a meeting with the Sabres.
The Flyers took a 2-0 lead in the series with home victories and took to the road. Buffalo usually has mild weather in mid-May, but there was an early season heat wave gripping the area and Buffalo's home rink, the Memorial Auditorium, lacked air conditioning. Because of various factors – the Buffalo heat, the lack of air conditioning, a crowded arena and the fact that hockey is played on ice – Game 3 of the 1975 Stanley Cup Final has become legendary for what happened inside "The Aud" that night and it had very little to do with the hockey game.
The game took place in a heavy fog inside the building. The goaltenders struggled to see shots, players had to look for teammates to complete passes. The game had a surreal feel to it.
"Talk about a bizarre series," said Sabres center Jim Lorentz, who is remembered more for one incident that night than any other in his entire 10-year career. "Not only were we besieged with fog throughout the series, but in the one game in Buffalo, a bat started flying around the Aud. Now I don't know how the bat got into the building or whether someone brought it into the building or took up residence there, no one seems to know.
"This thing was fluttering around and it was annoying.It was distracting not only to the spectators, but every once in a while it would decide to visit the ice. I remember in the second period, he made a trip down to the ice and Bernie Parent, the Hall of Fame goaltender for Philadelphia, decided to swipe at it with his goalie stick. Well he didn't get it, but a little bit later on in the second period we were waiting for a faceoff in the Philadelphia end and I saw the thing start at the other end of the rink and it started coming down ice. You have to understand that this bat had been flying around for quite some time and it was really out of breath so to speak and was performing more like a crow than a bat. In another words it was flying in a straight line and losing altitude in a hurry.
"It happened to get near me or fly by me during a faceoff and I just reached up and swatted the darn thing with the stick and of course it crashed to the ice dead and I remember everybody stood there. Everyone looked at each other. The officials weren't going to pick this thing up, I certainly wasn't. Finally, I think Rick MacLeish took his glove off, picked the bat up and buried it in the penalty box."
Mother Nature had a big hand in how this series was played, which is a bit unusual considering hockey is played indoors under controlled conditions.
The Sabres had a great regular season, finishing 49-16-15 for 113 points, tying the defending Stanley Cup Champion Flyers (and Montreal) for the most points in the League. Philadelphia was 51-18-11. Because they had won two more games, the Flyers would have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. And because Philadelphia had home ice, not Buffalo, the 1975 Final has a uniqueness that may never be duplicated.
Buffalo took care of Chicago in five games in the quarterfinals and knocked off Montreal in six games in semis to reach the Final. Philadelphia swept Toronto and outlasted the upstart New York Islanders in seven games on the way to a meeting with the Sabres.
The Flyers took a 2-0 lead in the series with home victories and took to the road. Buffalo usually has mild weather in mid-May, but there was an early season heat wave gripping the area and Buffalo's home rink, the Memorial Auditorium, lacked air conditioning. Because of various factors – the Buffalo heat, the lack of air conditioning, a crowded arena and the fact that hockey is played on ice – Game 3 of the 1975 Stanley Cup Final has become legendary for what happened inside "The Aud" that night and it had very little to do with the hockey game.
The game took place in a heavy fog inside the building. The goaltenders struggled to see shots, players had to look for teammates to complete passes. The game had a surreal feel to it.
"Talk about a bizarre series," said Sabres center Jim Lorentz, who is remembered more for one incident that night than any other in his entire 10-year career. "Not only were we besieged with fog throughout the series, but in the one game in Buffalo, a bat started flying around the Aud. Now I don't know how the bat got into the building or whether someone brought it into the building or took up residence there, no one seems to know.
"This thing was fluttering around and it was annoying.It was distracting not only to the spectators, but every once in a while it would decide to visit the ice. I remember in the second period, he made a trip down to the ice and Bernie Parent, the Hall of Fame goaltender for Philadelphia, decided to swipe at it with his goalie stick. Well he didn't get it, but a little bit later on in the second period we were waiting for a faceoff in the Philadelphia end and I saw the thing start at the other end of the rink and it started coming down ice. You have to understand that this bat had been flying around for quite some time and it was really out of breath so to speak and was performing more like a crow than a bat. In another words it was flying in a straight line and losing altitude in a hurry.
"It happened to get near me or fly by me during a faceoff and I just reached up and swatted the darn thing with the stick and of course it crashed to the ice dead and I remember everybody stood there. Everyone looked at each other. The officials weren't going to pick this thing up, I certainly wasn't. Finally, I think Rick MacLeish took his glove off, picked the bat up and buried it in the penalty box."
I thought the Blackhawks were in the Western Conference.
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