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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on May 21, 2004 9:59:38 GMT -5
Bobbie was a stud on the 1972 team that represented Canada against the Russians. He was the hero who broke Kharlomov's leg. He was small but tough and feisty, always giving the overworked 110%.
As a GM he has a record of success that those of us who don't like him often overlook. Considering the steals he did against the Hab's and the position of his team of old guys today...........
I take my hat of and say "Job well done!"
Give the devil his due.............
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Post by blny on May 21, 2004 10:12:20 GMT -5
I've never really questioned his hockey sense. He's a pretty astute judge. Atleast his scouts are. What most people have a problem with is his backwoods antics and lack of class. The whole situation with Roger Nielson is enough to turn one's stomach.
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Post by IamCanadiens on May 21, 2004 10:59:24 GMT -5
I think the way he dealt with the Lindros situation was brutal. At the time, Lindros still had value, and the return for him would have improved the Flyers. Instead he made it a personal issue and I believe the Flyers suffered as a result.
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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on May 21, 2004 18:51:55 GMT -5
I think the way he dealt with the Lindros situation was brutal. At the time, Lindros still had value, and the return for him would have improved the Flyers. Instead he made it a personal issue and I believe the Flyers suffered as a result. Bonnie Lindros is not exactly an innocent victim when it comes to negotiations. Put two buttheads in a room and guess what? "They butt heads!" No wonder Eric and Brett have so many concussions. Eric lost a year in Quebec too. |
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Post by seventeen on May 21, 2004 22:13:03 GMT -5
He also doesn't have a clue on what a good goalie looks like. Not the kind of flaw I'd suffer gladly in my GM.
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Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on May 22, 2004 9:15:24 GMT -5
He was the hero who broke Kharlomov's leg. That statement neatly sums up one of the main attitudinal problems plaguing NHL hockey. Clarke: unprovoked two handed slash breaking a player's ankle and effectively ending his career. Punishment - heroic status  Perezhogin: retaliatory two handed slash putting a player in the hospital over the weekend. Punishment - 1 year+ suspension.  |
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Post by rhabdo on May 22, 2004 9:24:17 GMT -5
Bobbi Clarke was a provocateur who took the cheap and dirty shots and then hid behind his Broad Street Bullies. Larry Robinson's demolition of Dave Schultz in the '76 finals was perhaps the most outstanding single event, although of course the Habs should have been able to win on sheer talent even without it. Another rough edge to Bobbi's personna: his dismissal of his old buddy Bill Barber.  |
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Post by CentreHice on May 22, 2004 15:52:43 GMT -5
Heard Bill Watters speak during the Leafs-Flyers series re: him being involved in Flyers' player agency back in the 70's. Bobby Clarke received a special/undisclosed deal from owner Ed Snider, over and above what MacLeish, Barber, and Leach negotiated. Clarke got a piece of the Flyers organization in his contract...something the others had no idea was on the table. When they did find out there was a lot of resentment that's still there today.
And Mr. B. is correct. Kharlamov was killing Team Canada....and Clarke took him out by breaking his ankle/lower leg. He was given orders (by Fergie?) and he carried them out...as premeditated an act as you'll ever see. I know to a player they said it was "war" over in Moscow...on and off the ice...but that was still a brutal play. I don't think it ended Kharlamov's career though, as I found this passage from a Flyers' site about Ed Van Impe, which is also indicative of the repulsive glorification of the Flyers of that era.
Although Van Impe skated as if he were stuck in mud and his shot had the fire power of a cap gun, he was a hockey player through and through. Teammates loved Van Impe, opponents vilified him. He used his stick as a weapon to warn intruders about entering the Flyers’ zone. A cross check to the back of the head or a butt end to the gut kept opposing forwards wondering what he might do next. His most famous blow was a ferocious elbow to Valeri Kharlamov that drove the Soviets off the ice in their legendary battle with the Flyers in 1976.
Perhaps the passage should read more correctly,
"Van Impe was one of the dirtiest players ever to have suited up in the NHL. In order to make up for his lack of skill, he levelled the playing field by using his stick as a weapon. Cross checks to the back of the head, butt ends to the gut were par for the course. His most infamous blow was a cheapshot elbow to the Red Army's most-skilled player, Valeri Kharlamov, that drove the Soviets off the ice. Why they returned to face more butchery is beyond this reporter."
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Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on May 22, 2004 16:24:44 GMT -5
And Mr. B. is correct. Kharlamov was killing Team Canada....and Clarke took him out by breaking his ankle/lower leg. He was given orders (by Fergie?) and he carried them out...as premeditated an act as you'll ever see. I know to a player they said it was "war" over in Moscow...on and off the ice...but that was still a brutal play. I don't think it ended Kharlamov's career though... CH, you are correct. Too many PanGalactic gargleblasters over the eons affected my memory on that. However, did a little research on Kharlamov: Valeri Kharlamov awed Canadian audiences. His slick foot and stick work and amazing speed and shot accuracy places him as perhaps the single most talented player in the entire tournament. It is arguable that Kharlamov was as talented as Gretzky or Lemieux. Kharlamov was also feisty, leading the Soviets in penalty minutes with 16. Kharlamov's effectiveness was limited in games 8 due to a fractured ankle courtesy of Bobby Clarke. Had he been healthy....who knows? "I am convinced that Bobby Clarke was given the job of taking me out of the game," said Kharlamov. "Sometimes, I thought it was his only goal. I looked into his angry eyes, saw his stick which he wielded like a sword, and didn't understand what he was doing. It had nothing to do with hockey." Aside from the goaltender Tretiak, it was Kharlamov who impressed the Canadians the most. "He was fast, so hard to defend against out there," remembered Don Awrey, who was burned several times by #17. "I admired the way he used to come from behind and how he kept everyone on their toes. he was simply outstanding!" - www.1972summitseries.com/kharlamov.html* I had a chance to speak with Bobby Hull for about an hour today while he was signing autographs. We spoke about a lot of things, including his memories of the 1974 series between the WHA and the Soviet national team. Hull had nothing but good things to say about Valeri Kharlamov, saying that Kharlamov was one of the best individual players that he has ever seen. Hull also mentioned Bobby Clarke's victious slash on Kharlamov in the 1972 series, suggesting that he strongly disapproved of Clarke's actions. - www.russianjerseys.com/cgidir/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=15;t=000059;p=* Born in Russia. Left-wing. Third place in the All-Time World Championship scoring table with 89 goals International Career : Played for the USSR in the World Championships 1969-79 and the Olympics 1972-80. Played for the USSR in the 1972 Summit Series and in 1974 against Canada (WHA All-Stars). Club Career : Played for CSKA Moscow. Medals : Won Olympic gold in 1972 & 1976. Won World Championship gold 8 times. Honours : Elected to the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1998 (player). Olympic leading scorer in 1972. World Championship All-Star A Team left-wing in 1971, 1972, 1973 & 1976. His number 17 jersey has been retired by CSKA Moscow. - www.azhockey.com/Kh.htm* Ilya Kovalchuk wears #17 in his honor. |
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Post by ethan on May 22, 2004 18:59:32 GMT -5
Bobby Clarke's cowardly and disusting slash on a player much more talented than he could ever hope to be was pathetic and I am amazed that to this day some people still see it as "heroic"... I'm sorry, but as an athlete, and as a decent human being, actions like that can only cause feelings of disgust and shame... Regardless of the emotions of the time, it was a sporting event, one in which Canada might very well have lost were it not for Clarke's actions... Because of that, any pride we may have felt for that victory is forever tainted, and I for one will never see it as a glorious moment in Canadian sporting history... instead I feel nothing but shame.
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Post by CentreHice on May 23, 2004 0:12:53 GMT -5
The ultimate slap in the face to most of Clarke's peers is that he continues to flaunt a personal friendship with Alan Eagleson during games.
Many have said if he wants to be friends with him...fine...just keep it away from the rink. Having him as a guest in his private box is beyond appropriate.
A few reasons people are upset....a few Eagleson
high(low)lights
And never forget the case of Alan Eagleson, the hockey power broker who was slicker than the ice. While he was the executive director of the National Hockey League Players Association, he also was the agent for about 150 players, a promoter of international tournaments, a corporate lawyer and a Canadian political figure. No matter what he did at any hour, it was almost by definition a conflict of interest with whatever he did an hour earlier or an hour later, but he never conceded that.
Charged with skimming players' pension funds and disability payments...decades of corruption that made Eagleson a multi-millionaire while leaving many of his former clients broke and destitute....he pleaded guilty in 1998 to three counts of mail fraud (and was fined $700,000) in a Boston court, then pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud in Toronto. He did six months in a Canadian prison.
And yes, Bobby Clarke was one of his clients. I found this quote on a website that spells out in greater detail what I heard Bill Watters say on MOJO a couple of weeks ago.
Bill Watters delivered some intriguing information on Leafs TV this week about the contracts negotiated by the Philadelphia Flyers' top players in the 1970s — and the side deal given to captain, now general manager, Bobby Clarke.
According to Watters, who worked as superagent Alan Eagleson's No. 2 during the 1970s, clients Rick MacLeish, Bill Barber and Reggie Leach each received seven-year, million-dollar contracts from the Flyers that paid them $147,000 annually. Clarke had the same deal, but he was paid extra money "under the table" by ownership.
The secret agreement came to light when Comcast bought the club from Ed Snider a few years ago. MacLeish, Barber and Leach were not impressed.
Apparently, Watters had no knowledge of what Eagleson was doing re: the skimming and bilking...at least he wasn't implicated in any of the charges.
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Post by Doc Holliday on May 31, 2004 12:28:16 GMT -5
Clark's actions and Eagleson (was it him?) flipping the fingers to the spectators after the win is the main reason why, when everybody want to celebrate this "great victory", I tend to look the other way... To me it's bitter sweet... at best.
Sometime it's not just about winning...
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Post by blaise on May 31, 2004 16:17:37 GMT -5
Clarke's Flyers are among the teams I root against, along with the Leafs and Bruins. A Flyer, Leaf-, and Bruin-free finals restores my good mood .
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Post by Forum Ghost on Jun 8, 2004 12:48:54 GMT -5
Bobby Clarke's cowardly and disusting slash on a player much more talented than he could ever hope to be was pathetic and I am amazed that to this day some people still see it as "heroic"... I'm sorry, but as an athlete, and as a decent human being, actions like that can only cause feelings of disgust and shame... Regardless of the emotions of the time, it was a sporting event, one in which Canada might very well have lost were it not for Clarke's actions... Because of that, any pride we may have felt for that victory is forever tainted, and I for one will never see it as a glorious moment in Canadian sporting history... instead I feel nothing but shame. Well said ethan... I feel the exact same way. What Clarke did to Kharlamov was gut-less and as a Canadian, I feel embarassed every time I hear about it. |
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