MELTZER'S MUSINGS: DECEMBER 25, 2015
1) Merry Christmas to all HockeyBuzz readers, friends and family who celebrate the holiday.
2) The Hockey Time Machine website ran a portion of a vintage
Chicago Tribune article talking about the two sides of the Broad Street Bullies era Flyers. On
Dec. 17, 1975, the Flyers played a road game in Chicago. Philly won the game, 4-2, and physically imposed their will on the Blackhawks (although there were no fights in this particular game). That's the side of the Broad Street Bullies teams that the public knew very well.
After the game, Flyers captain Bobby Clarke summoned a
Tribune reporter. Clarke told the reporter that the Flyers players had seen a story in the paper that morning profiling a Chicago woman from the South Side who could not pay the heating bill for her apartment and whose children would not be getting any Christmas presents because she simply couldn't afford it.
Clarke handed the reporter $250 in cash, pooled together by all of the Flyers' players. The Flyers' captain instructed the reporter to make sure the money got to the woman in the article. Surprised, the reporter asked Clarke why the players were doing it.
"It's Christmas," Clarke said.
3) That same sense of off-ice caring and giving back has always been part of what makes the Flyers the Flyers. The Flyers Alumni Association has made a tradition of raising money for -- and volunteering within -- the Delaware Valley community throughout the year but especially during the holiday season.
In November, members of the Flyers Alumni from several different decades of team history -- ranging from Broad St. Bullies era players such as Bob "the Hound" Kelly, 1980s defenseman Brad Marsh, former Flyers player, coach, GM and current team president Paul Holmgren and 2000s players such as Brian Boucher and Danny Briere -- participated in the Alumni's
10th annual holiday food delivery shortly before Thanksgiving to the St. Francis Inn ministries in Kensington.
Earlier this month, the Alumni
donated -- and physically assisted in the renovation -- of a new "Flyers Alumni Family Room" at the Ronald McDonald House in Camden.
Over the last week, the Alumni carried on their ongoing annual holiday traditions of
helping Cityteam deliver toys and bicycles to less fortunate children in Chester, PA and
volunteering at St. John's Hospice at 12th and Race St. in Philadelphia.
On Dec. 27, the Flyers Alumni team will suit up for the 7th Annual Jeff Burd Memorial Game to raise money for a scholarship fund set up in Jeff Burd's name, the National Meningitis Association, USA Wounded Warriors, Wings of Steel Sled Hockey and the Neuro-Rehabilitation Center at Magee Hospital in Philadelphia. See below for more details.
4) The current issue of Flyers Magazine features a
photo gallery of members of the 2014-15 Flyers team at home with their families during the holidays. The Camden Courier Post spotlighted how Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has
flown his entire family from France to Philadelphia to celebrate Christmas with him.
5) Al Morganti wrote an excellent
article for Philly Voice on why Flyers fans should be appreciative of the legacy that Ed Snider has established both on an off the ice with the organization. Bottom line: both since the NHL expanded from six to 12 teams in 1967 and also in the years since the Flyers last won the Stanley Cup in 1975, they have the NHL's second highest winning percentage. Off the ice, the Flyers' brand is one of the most recognizable in North American sports.
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FLYERS ALUMNI IN 7TH ANNUAL JEFF BURD MEMORIAL GAME: DEC. 27
The seventh annual
Jeff Burd Memorial Game fundraising benefit between the Flyers Alumni and Cherokee Chiefs Alumni teams will take place at the Skate Zone in Voorhees on Dec. 27 from 4:05 p.m to 5:35 p.m. ET.
Last year, the younger legs of the Chiefs Alumni players carried them to a surprise comeback win over the Flyers Alumni team. More important, the 2014 game and after-party grossed $37,263. After direct expenses were paid, every penny of the proceeds went to the Jeff Burd Memorial Scholarship Fund, the National Meningitis Association, USA Wounded Warriors and Wings of Steel Sled Hockey.
The Jeff Burd Memorial Scholarship Fund is an educational fund co-created by the Burd family in remembrance of the 16-year-old standout student and Chorokee Chiefs player who passed seven years ago after a bout with meningitis. Each year, donations and matching funds for college are awarded to the Cherokee Chiefs player with the highest academic performance in school.
This year, in honor of the recovery of Flyers Hall of Fame left winger
Brian Propp, the Neuro-Rehabilitation Center for stroke patients at Magee Hospital has been added as a fifth beneficiary of proceeds from the game.
Apart from Propp, who is a longtime close friend of Chief's coach and event organizer
Scott McKay, a host of Flyers, Phantoms and Hershey Bears Alumni will be participating in the event, including Flyers Hall of Fame defenseman
Joe Watson,
Bob "the Hound" Kelly,
Brad Marsh,
Ray Allison,
Frank "the Animal" Bialowas and
Mitch Lamoureaux.
Longtime NHL referee and South Jersey resident
Kerry Fraser will officiate the game. Legendary Flyers public address announcer
Lou Nolan will be behind the SkateZone mic.
The after-party with the Flyers Alumni will be held at the Victory Lane Bar and Grill in West Berlin, NJ (795 Route 73) from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. with food and drink. Tickets to the game are $20, and admission to both the game and the after-party is a $45 donation.
For more details on tickets, sponsorships or making donations in lieu of attending the event, please contact Scott McKay by phone at (609) 377-6866 or via email at
[email protected].
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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